Kentucky club hockey swept the University of Louisville Friday and Saturday by the scores of 3-2 and 7-1 respectively to win the season series 2-1 and maintain the Bourbon Barrel Trophy.
On Friday, Jan. 19, at the Iceland Sports Complex in Louisville, the first period ended 0-0.
Louisville would then score one goal in the second before the Wildcats would score three goals in the final period.
Louisville scored with 10.9 seconds left in the final period, giving Kentucky the 3-2 victory.
With the season series tied 1-1, the Lexington Ice Center was buzzing with fans having been lined up for 2-3 hours before the doors opened in the cold for midnight mayhem.
The freezing temperatures were no match for the various “C-A-T-S!” chants while “L’s down” hand symbols were thrown while fans waited.
Kentucky associate head football coach Vince Marrow talked with the team before the game before also ceremoniously dropping the puck to get the game started.
“Coach Marrow came in – the Big Dog – and we had a very motivated locker room,” Kentucky head coach Tim Pergram said.
That motivation certainly showed as, from the first puck drop, the game was tense.
Collin Costello picked up the first penalty of the game with 17:44 left in the first period before captain Gabe D’Amico and Kyle Burke would score the first two goals of the game.
Louisville would answer with their only goal of the night with 10:50 left in the first period before Gabe Rodriguez would extend Kentucky’s lead to 3-1.
Jake Laube scored the first and last goals of the second period while Jack Noel would score the second with Kentucky controlling the puck for most of the second period.
“Second period, we only had four shots to their 25, so that’s not where we need to be either,” Louisville head coach Brian Graham said.
Kentucky and Louisville combined for nine penalties in the first and third periods.
“We were getting chipped on a lot so it’s one of those things that – I mean – you hit a breaking point,” Graham said. “Just not the game that we wanted to play and it’s the game that UK wanted to play and they did what they were supposed to do.”
Laube’s two goals in the second earned praise from head coach Tim Pergram.
“He’s young, He’s only 18 years old,” Pergram said. “He is now learning the rigors and physicality and he’s finding his spots.”
The third period saw five ejections with Louisville’s Jon Patch being the last player ejected. D’Amico would then score the final goal of the game for the Wildcats, earning the 7-1 victory.
With the win, Kentucky hockey will head to Athens, Ohio, to face Ohio University at Bird Arena on Jan. 26 at 11 p.m. ET.
