FGCU’s Division II hockey team returned to Hertz Arena Friday, Nov. 1- 2, to face the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. The Eagles had two high-scoring wins against the Razorbacks, which raised their season record to 6-3.

The Razorbacks started the period with a goal by forward Jack Lehman on a power play. Less than two minutes later, the Eagles’ forward, Adam Beauvais, scored his first goal of the season

A goal in the tenth minute by forward Jordan Comilla put FGCU in the lead. Comilla’s goal was followed by a power play by Arkansas’ forward Brenden Coon with Eagles’ forward Ryan O’Halloran in the box for a slashing penalty. Jaiz Barner, a forward for the Eagles closed off the period, scoring a goal to lead 3-2.

FGCU dominated the second period, adding four goals to the scoreboard. O’Halloran secured the first goal of the second period. Shortly after, forward James Tilley scored an insurance goal for the Eagles. In the thirteenth minute, O’Halloran completed a short-handed goal with an assist by Comilla. In the remaining minute of the game, Shayne Tomlinson put another shot into the goal to bring the score for the Eagles to 7-2.

A game that started with only a few penalties from each team, became intense during the third period with seven penalties for FGCU and five for Arkansas. 

Forward Trevor Borlace of the Razorbacks scored the sole goal of the third period. Borlace took advantage of a power play, which was the result of a roughing penalty by Eagles’ goaltender Keegan Wise. This goal brought the final score to reflect a 7-3 win for the Eagles.

The Eagles outscored the Razorbacks by nine goals throughout game two against Arkansas. 

The Eagles opened the second game of the weekend by scoring a total of four goals. Comilla put the Eagles on the board first. Beauvais scored the second goal of the first period.  FGCU’s captain and forward Jack Cohen, scored on a power play with Arkansas’ forward Ayden Frolik in the box for cross-checking. The last goal of the period was obtained by Comilla. They went into the locker room leading 4-0. 

Nearly two minutes into the second period, Eagles’ defenseman Andrew Jensen scored a goal.

“To have a kid like Andrew on the back end defending, that can shut down other teams’ top lines, but also be able to produce offensively, it’s a treat for us, and he’s only going to get better going forward,” FGCU coach Eric Mabie said. 

 Cohen put the puck in the net once again for his seventh goal of the season. O’Halloran scored on a power play, which resulted from Arkansas’ forward Brenden Coon’s disqualification. Coon received a 10-minute misconduct with a 5-minute major added together for a total of 15 minutes, due to face mask grabbing.  Eagles’ Barner also scored on a power play, from the same penalty. The Razorbacks, Frolik, scored in the last 3 minutes of the period. This brought the score to 8-1 for the Eagles. 

Arkansas switched goalies in the last period. Graden Reis saved 30 of the 38 shots throughout the first and second period. Sam Haynes was the goalie for the third period and defended half of the shots.

 The two goals scored in the third period were by FGCU. Tilley was the first to score in the third. Beauvais followed Tilley’s goal, with his third goal of the season; all three were against Arkansas’ Razorbacks between the two games. The game was finalized with a FGCU win of 10-1.

The Eagles are traveling for the UMass showcase at Mullins Center. The showcase will be from Friday, Nov. 8 through Sunday, Nov. 10.  

“We’re heading on the road here this coming weekend for three big games up in the Northeast, and we have three quality opponents,” Mabie said. “So just trying to keep building that momentum that we have going forward and still establishing our games where we want to get it, is what we’re focused on right now.”