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Eagles send Spartans home empty-handed

The Florida Gulf Coast University D3 hockey team set out to take on the Florida Atlantic University Owls at 8:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 at the IceDen in Coral Springs. At 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, The Owls travel to Germain Arena for the second game of the two-game series. Tickets are $5 at the door but are free with your Eagle ID.
The Owls come with a losing record of 0-5-0, having lost in their matchups against the University of Miami, the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida. Forwards, Hunter Sheehan and Kenneth Renae pose an offensive threat for the Eagles. Goaltending for FAU looks to be of little resistance, and FGCU should look to exploit the struggling Owl’s goaltenders. Theo Slocum, Owls’ net minder, posts a 9.69 GAA, while backup goalie, Steven Krzeminski, posts a GAA of 8.68.
“We can’t take them lightly,” Captain Mike Piatek said. “Teams in this league tend to play their best games against us. We’ve accumulated over 120 shots in 2 games and we need to continue that throughout the season.”
The Eagles competed in their first away game on Friday, Oct. 10 against the University of Tampa Spartans. FGCU posted their second undefeated weekend, punishing the Spartans with scores like 8-2 on Friday and 10-2 on Saturday. The Eagles outshot the U of T 122-30, throughout the weekend matchup.
“The guys came out, skated hard, and took a lot of shots,” Coach Kevin Mixon said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys, and we’re getting a chance to see where they all fit. We need to continue to build on our systems, roll lines if we can and keep fresh legs on the ice.”
After a scoreless first period, FGCU senior Paul Moneuse put the Eagles on the board after putting one past University of Tampa’s goaltender Gregory Lemrow. Four minutes after, assisted by Mike Piatek and Mike Divico, Moneuse put another one in the net. With four minutes left in the second period, Brett Sutton, assisted by Alfonso Diaz and Trevor Mullaly, sniped the Eagles’ third goal past Lemrow.
The third period gong show continued with the second goal scored by Sutton followed by two from McAleese. Shortly after, freshman Tyler Reichl put his first of the season on the board making the score 7-0 in favor of the Eagles. In the 15th minute of the third period, Piatek closed out scoring for FGCU when he put the puck past Lemrow on a pass from Moneuse. With less than three minutes to play, UT’s Caleb Rudder was finally able to put one behind Eagles’ goalie Tyler Toyota. Shortly after, the Spartans were able to get their second and final goal of the evening with a goal by Matthew Antonacci.
Saturday night’s game was greeted by another great home crowd attendance. Scoring commenced with an unassisted goal from Eagles’ defender Marshall Edmondson, putting the puck behind Lemrow in the first minute of regulation. Shortly after, James Williams, assisted by Dan Sbrocchi and Zach Capco, put another one past the already shaken Tampa goaltender. In the second minute of the first period, Tampa bounced back with a goal scored by Drew Hunsberger. FGCU retaliated with back-to-back goals scored by Trevor Mullaly and Mike Frank closing out the period with a score of 4-1 in favor if the Eagles.
The second period started with a quick, unassisted, goal scored by the Spartans’ Darren Gazaille. For the University of Tampa, it was downhill from there. FGCU went on to score two powerplay goals, one from from Mullaly and the second by Brett Sutton.
The third period started with a second goal from Sutton, assisted by McAleese and Mullaly. In the eighth minute of the third period, assisted by McAleese and Christian Casey, Mike Frank got his second of the night, sniping one behind backup goaltender Oli Karlsson. Karlsson went on to allow two more FGCU goals; one, during the sixteenth minute of play from McAleese, and a second from Williams. The Eagles finished off their meeting with the University of Tampa by outshooting the Spartans 59-11.

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