By Char Grimm | @KernelGrimm

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UK hockey (9-15) slumped to a pair of defeats to No. 6 Toledo on Friday and Saturday, going down 8-4 Friday and 8-1 Saturday.

Exiting the first period Friday night, the Cats were ahead, 1-0, courtesy of senior defenseman Sean McLaughlin who sniped the puck top shelf behind Toledo’s senior goaltender Craig Trego.

Seven minutes into the second, it seemed as if UK would pull off the upset victory when junior forward Matt McLaughlin managed to jam a rebound off of Trego into the back of the net, putting the Cats ahead 2-0 with just under half the game played.

The Rockets were quick to respond to the goal, however, and cut the Cats’ lead to one. Within five minutes, Toledo had scored two more goals, creating a 3-2 lead.

“We had them beat in the first, but you can’t win games in 20 minutes,” said junior goaltender Aaron Tenfelde.

After a hooking call on senior defenseman Brandon Tigrett, the Rockets capitalized on the ensuing power play and extended their lead to 4-2.

However, with five minutes left in the second, captain Sean McLaughlin scored his second of the night, cutting  the Toledo lead down to one.

With 10 minutes to play, freshman defenseman Dylan Higgins was beaten to the puck by a Toledo skater who was quick to put in the cage past Tenfelde. Less than a minute later, the visitors would make it 6-3.

With 7:41 to play in the game, the Rockets made it 7-3 and UK head coach Rob Docherty took a timeout in an attempt to regroup.

Sean McLaughlin earned a hat-trick soon after, creating a score of 7-4.

“We need to learn to play 60 minutes,” he said.

With one minute left, the Rockets scored once more, to make the final score 8-4.

Saturday night, the Cats appeared closer to playing that full 60 minutes, despite a losing score of 8-1.

Sean McLaughlin posted the only tally for the Cats.

“The bounces just weren’t going our way,” Docherty said.

UK hockey is back in action next weekend against No. 2 Penn State. Both games will be played at the Lexington Ice Center.