UK hockey comes up short in two game weekend series against Louisville

By Charmaigne Grimm

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UK hockey (0-3-1) faced off against the University of Louisville (3-0-1) in a two game series over the weekend. The Cats fell to the Cardinals 4-2 on Friday in the first round but came back to tie the Cardinals 7-7 in the second matchup.

Friday’s game was played in front of a sellout crowd at the Lexington Ice Center. The teams did not disappoint as a physical first period ensued.

Junior forward Jansen Earle put the Cats on the board, scoring the only goal during the first period.

But the Cardinals would respond. Just over thirty seconds into the second period, Louisville’s junior forward William Kawam went top shelf behind UK sophomore goaltender Tucker Boyle to pull the Cardinals even with the Cats.

With 8:22 left in the second period, rookie sophomore forward Cory Day put the Cats back in the lead. The Cats would end the second ahead of the Cards 2-1.

“We started off strong for the first forty minutes and couldn’t put together a full sixty minute game,” said Earle.

Day went into the box for tripping under two minutes into the third period, allowing Cards sophomore forward Derek Piekarczyk to pull Louisville even with the Cats once more.

With Cats’ junior defenseman Dylan Higgins in the penalty box for tripping, Piekarczyk scored his second of the night to give the Cards the 3-2 lead.

The Cardinals would score again in the third to give them the victory over the Cats 4-2.

“We played hard for most of the game but penalties in the third killed us,” Day said.

UK travelled to Louisville for game two of the series Saturday night.

Freshman forward Beck Schultz would score his first goal of the night with 16:26 to go in the first period to give the Cats the 1-0 lead early in the first.

Four minutes later, Kawam would score on Boyle to pull the Cards even. With seven minutes left in the first, sophomore defenseman Mike Rooney would give Louisville the 2-1 advantage.

“We really need to work on our penalty kill and staying out of the box,” said Day.

Freshman forward Nathan Newport would give the Cards a 3-1 lead before Cats’ freshman forward Ryan Hall would bring the Cats back within one to exit the first 3-2.

Kawam and Piekarczyk would net goals within thirty seconds of one another halfway through the second to pull the Cards ahead 5-2.

“We really need to work on defense. We gave up a lot of odd man rushes this weekend,” Hall said.

On a penalty to Cats senior defenseman Gray McLaughlin, Hall would score his second of the night shorthanded pulling the Cats within two.

With just under two to go in the second, junior forward Mike Klyczek scored to give the Cards a three goal advantage once more.

A minute later, Hall would score his first collegiate hat trick and the Cats would exit the second period down 6-4.

“It was a huge game for me. I was excited to move up to the second line and prove what I could do. I was glad to be able help the team out,” said Hall of his hat trick game.

Hall’s line would score six of the seven goals for the Cats Saturday night.

The Cats’ Schultz would score his second of the night five minutes into the third before Cards freshman forward Henry Smith would score to pull the Cards ahead 7-5.

“We need to be disciplined from this point forward,” Earle said.

Hales would score with five minutes left to pull the Cats within one of the Cards.

With 1:45 to go in the game, Cats senior defenseman Jacob Cohen and Kawam dropped the mitts. Both were ejected from the game Saturday night and will be suspended for the next game for each team. For Cohen, this will be this coming Friday’s game against Loyola-Chicago.

With 7.8 seconds left in regulation, Schultz would score his first collegiate hat trick to send the game into overtime.

After a five minute four on four sudden death overtime, the Cats and Cards ended at a seven goal tie.

The Cats are back Friday and Saturday at home against Loyola-Chicago. Saturday’s game will not be played at the usual midnight and will instead have a 5:45 p.m. puck drop.