In the Battle of the Bourbon Barrel, the Kentucky Wildcats beat their biggest rival the Louisville Cardinals in back-to-back games, claiming their third straight series win over the Cardinals.
On night one, the Wildcats played at their home ice rink with a sold out arena, while, on night two, the Wildcats traveled to Louisville and got the road win. The hockey Cats defeated the Cardinals 5-1 on the first night after having fallen to the Cards in September.
“Both of the programs are very competitive,” UK Head Coach Tim Pergram said. “Anything between UK and UofL, it’s going to be competitive. So our boys knew they had to bring it. They want to keep that barrel, you know, they’ve had two years in a row. We want to keep the barrel here in the Ice Center. This is our house, so we defended it. Got a tough task tomorrow. We’ve got to go up and beat Louisville in their barn. That’s not an easy task.”
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The first goal of night one came in quick within five minutes of the first 20 minute period from Alex Clingerman, while Macklin Yelle logged the second goal of the game. From there, sophomore Jake Laube notched the third goal to close out the first period.
The second period started back up after a 15 minute break and the Cardinals got a quick goal in to make it 3-1. Shortly after that, Laube found an opportunity to score his second goal of the night. The scoreboard stayed 4-1 for the remainder of the second period.
Both teams came out more aggressive and hungry in the third period, with a lot of attacking and defending for both teams. Despite that, Clingerman slotted in the dagger for his second goal of the night for the 5-1 final.
“The one thing we’ve been working on for the last two, three weeks, is really possession hockey, and that’s what we have been doing,” Pergram said. “We were possessing the hockey, essentially in their zone, and our passing was very good tonight. That was one of our better nights of passing. We had great positional play, and we were essentially looking for the open man, looking for the back doors, looking for high slots, essentially playing in the house.”
Throughout the contest, the passing and possession from the two teams was very intense, with both showing aggression to win. That aggression even reached a boiling point as a Cardinal was ejected from the game while two Cats followed.
“He was talking to us and he was telling us that we need to just let mistakes go, just roll off your back and you know, be a goldfish and just forget about it,” captain Marc L’Heureux said. “Just go out there and be there for your team, if you make that bad play, come back to the bench and be there for the guys, even though you might be a little pissed off, just always be there and get up for the boys.”
Despite being short two players, nothing could stop the Wildcats from moving forward and securing the win.
“Yeah, we changed up a little bit (with) our forecheck, but we’re essentially running a 1-2-2 aggressive,” Pergram said. “Then we pulled back and went to a neutral zone trap, which essentially leaves the house open when that happens.”
After the game, Pergram was pleased with the win and noted that he intended to review what worked and make necessary changes to ensure a similar result on the road in Louisville.
“I’ll be breaking down the game in about an hour and a half, and then we’ll look at the lineup adjustments,” he said. “Then we’ll all be getting food, bus, prep and we’ll be back here in probably 12 hours loading up. We’ll have to rest, hydrate and hopefully study a little bit as well and get those good grades and we’ll come back and try to play another one, so this is part of the haul. We know the intensity, they’re beat up, but as soon as we say, ‘Ding, ding, ding,’ they’re ready to go.”
Returning for night two of the Bourbon Barrel at Louisville, the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Cardinals 5-0, securing the barrel and a spot in the TSCHL playoffs.
“Yeah, I mean, since that last game (versus Louisville), it’s been on everybody’s mind,” goalkeeper Riley Allen said. “Every time you look at it and practice, you kind of see that whole weekend. That’s your time to go back and get some payback on them. The boys really look forward to it. We’ll start getting to practice, it’s rolling around and it’s that Thursday or that Friday morning, right before the game and everybody’s pumped up.”
The first period went very slow for both teams, with a lot of back-and-forth and opportunities to score. By the end of the first period, the score remained 0-0.
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This changed when the second period came around as the freshman Yelle scored the opening goal of the night for the Wildcats.
In the final period of the game, L’Heureux and Charlie Chinian logged back-to-back goals for the Wildcats before Cole Bartnick came in with the fourth goal of the night. Then, the game-clinching goal was from Alex Kasapis.
The Wildcats used their momentum from a big win at home and the rowdy atmosphere to push themselves to take care of business on the road.
“It’s something special,” L’Heureux said. I mean, when you go out there for your first game, you feel the full force of everybody cheering you on. You know, people you see at class and talk to you about hockey, and it’s really cool. It’s one of my greatest experiences and I’m gonna cherish it forever.”