Sporting a 2-0 record in the second half of their season, the Keene State College Men’s Ice Hockey club team was looking to continue their success on home ice against rival University of New Hampshire on Saturday, January 23. KSC was looking for revenge following a 4-2 loss to UNH back in October.

The first period featured some physical play and some good goaltending. The UNH goalie made two saves while Keene was on the power-play to keep the Owls off the board. UNH managed to strike when a low shot created a rebound that was easily tapped in for the first goal of the game. Assistant Captain Sam MacNicoll tied the game with only three seconds left in the first period and the period ended with the teams knotted at one goal a piece.

Crae Messer / Sports Editor

UNH regained the lead quickly when a pass from behind the net was banged home, but first-year Nick DeCristoforo floated one in from the blue line for his first career tally and the game was tied again. UNH took back the lead again with an offensive zone faceoff win and a shot that eluded goaltender Dylan Strogen. Their lead was doubled a few minutes later when a shot was redirected and it found its way behind Strogen. Chris O’Hara cut UNH’s lead back down to one with a beautiful snipe. Unfortunately, UNH would regain their two goal advantage and the second period ended with the score 5-3 in favor of UNH.

UNH would add two more goals in the third period to push their lead to four goals. The third period also featured a surplus of penalty minutes between the teams. With a little less than five minutes left, Keene was given a five minute power-play. The Owls scored two goals off the sticks of Andrew Pierce and Tyler Duquette. It was a hard fought battle between the two teams that featured a lot of good physical play, but ended with a 7-5 score in favor of UNH.

Austin can be contacted at asanidas@kscequinox.com