The NC State Icepack traveled to Lynchburg, Virginia for its second game of the season after dominating East Carolina last week. Despite a strong effort from the red-and-white, Liberty wasn’t messing around in its season opener and ultimately defeated the Wolfpack by a score of 7-2.
NC State (1-1) took on the Flames (1-0) on Friday, Sept. 15 in an intense atmosphere packed with spectators. Liberty made an impressive run to the semifinal round in the ACHA Division I tournament last season and were the fifth seed overall, so there was no doubt that this game would be a challenge for NC State.
The red-and-white’s initial strategy was to keep up with the Flames’ offense by playing up the defensive end — a successful strategy for most of the first period. Liberty kept pounding shots the entire period towards the Wolfpack goal, protected by junior goalkeeper Isaac Tawyer.
Senior defenseman Jackson Cowen was put in the penalty box early on, giving Liberty an opportunity to capitalize on a power play. While the Flames didn’t manage to score, they wore down the NC State defense enough to put the puck in the net with 11 seconds left in the first.
The Flames got off to an aggressive start in the second period, scoring three consecutive goals before the Pack defense gained control of its side of the ice. Due to a Liberty penalty, NC State was able to get some momentum going on offense during its first power play of the game.
Freshman forward Holden Koufman got the Pack on the board with a score during NC State’s second power play with 11 minutes left in the second period. Liberty put up another goal and the Pack switched Tawyer for graduate goalie Eric Daniel. Daniel was able to keep up with the Flames’ aggressive offense for the most of the night, but still allowed two more goals.
Liberty put on a great performance, but the Pack was able to score once more before the end of the night. Freshman forward Nick Shook scored NC State’s second and final goal against Liberty. Despite the Pack’s best efforts, Liberty put up seven goals against it to win the matchup.
The Icepack will be back in action at home against the Kentucky Wildcats on Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.
