In its second defeat in program history to the University of Mary Marauders, the NC State Icepack experienced a 4-0 loss at Invisalign Arena in Raleigh on Thursday, Oct. 13.
“They have a 27 game winning streak, so you need a lot of things to go your way,” said head coach Tim Healy. “We didn’t have the puck luck today, but I think there’s a lot we can take from this, and we keep getting better. I think we keep getting better each game.”
It’s no surprise that the back-to-back reigning ACHA Division II national champions were a tough opponent from the jump, but the Icepack managed to fare pretty well against the Marauders at the beginning. Throughout the first period, NC State pushed an aggressive forecheck and managed to keep the game squarely at 0-0 for nearly about 12 minutes.
The Icepack’s defense couldn’t last forever, though — despite some incredible saves from goaltender Eric Daniel, the Marauders scored two goals in three minutes late in the first period. NC State saw its first power play shortly after UMary’s second goal, and despite a terribly close shot on goal from forward Alex Robinson, the Icepack wasn’t able to score.
If the game wasn’t aggressive enough, play shuddered to a halt with less than a minute to go in the first period after UMary defenseman Ryan Wolf exited the ice, leaving a massive trail of blood. It appeared he took a skate blade to the face, and cleanup alone paused gameplay for about 20 minutes.
Shortly into the second period, Icepack announced via Twitter that forward Zach Robinson would not be returning to the ice. This proved to be a big blow to NC State’s already-overwhelmed offense as forward Garrett Auriene was ruled out just before puck drop with an injury sustained during practice prior to the game, and the Marauders kept the puck in possession for the bulk of the second period.
A frustrating game can definitely lead to a violent release of pent-up aggression, and tonight’s match was no different. About halfway into the second period, forward Zach Herman threw the first punch in a not-so-friendly fistfight that resulted in his ejection and a five-minute power play for the Icepack. Defenseman Jackson Cowen headed to the box in place of Herman and forward Charles Monteith, who was also involved in the altercation.
The Marauders doubled their score across those five minutes Cowen spent in the penalty box. It wasn’t a surprise, by any means — if they could score two back-to-back goals in regular play, they were more than capable of doing so on a one-man advantage. Even so, Daniel really pulled his weight for the bulk of the second period despite NC State’s slippery defense and disadvantaged offense.
The third period remained fairly uneventful until the back half, when NC State saw three power plays over the span of 10 minutes. Even so, it wasn’t enough for the Icepack to post a last-minute goal. All in all, the best part about the final 20 minutes of the game was its scorelessness.
The Icepack will be back at Invisalign Arena on Friday, Oct. 14 to face UNC-Wilmington.
