Over the weekend, the Kent State hockey team took on the Timberwolves of Northwood University Friday and Saturday with both games playing out similarly. The Flashes ended up dropping both games in close matches.
With the losses, Kent State dropped to 7-8 on the season, which puts the Flashes in fourth place in the College Hockey Mid-America standings.
“We knew it was going to be a tough matchup and a tough opponent,” coach Zach Nowak said. “Realistically, this it’s where we want to be; being able to beat teams like that.”
Friday, the game started relatively slow with no goals being made in the start. Around the end of the first period, the Flashes scored on the Timberwolves, making it a 1-0 game.
At the start of the second period, the Timberwolves scored on the Flashes making it an even game. The Flashes played hard and ended up scoring before the end of the second, and getting the upper hand, making the score 2-1.
In the third, the Timberwolves scored on the Flashes to make it even again. The Flashes took a penalty and ended up going down four-on-three because of it. The Timberwolves used this opportunity and scored twice, ending the game with a 4-2 score.
“Not a great penalty for us to take late in the game, and that hurt us,” Nowak said. “Once again, they’re a really skilled team.”
Saturday had a very similar start to Friday, with no teams making a move early. The Flashes ended up scoring a goal on the Timberwolves near the end of the first making it 1-0.
In the second period, the Timberwolves scored on the Flashes, making it even. Not much later, the Flashes also scored on the Timberwolves, ending the second period with a score of 2-1.
The third period was pretty slow, with the Timberwolves scoring one goal on the Flashes near the end, tying the game up with a score of 2-2.
This sent the game to overtime, where the Flashes had a shot on goal but couldn’t bury it. The Timberwolves ended up getting a two-on-one with three minutes left in overtime and then scored to win the game, 3-2.
“It was definitely tough for the whole group because they felt like they played really hard, and they did.” Nowak said. “We made some mistakes and didn’t quite block the shots that we needed to block when we needed it.”
The weekend proved to be a difficult one, with the Flashes dealing with a lot of injuries – freshman forward Cole Bianchin injured his upper body and graduate student forward Tommy Kilway injured his leg.
A few players from the weekend stood out, including freshman forward Kornel Kaibas from Hungary. Kornel scored a goal during the power play over the weekend. Another notable player is senior goalie Nick Beck. Beck faced 94 shots on goal over the weekend and blocked 88 of them.
The Flashes will take on Saginaw Valley in back-to-back games at the Kent State Ice Arena. Friday’s game will start at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday’s will start at 6:30 p.m.
“We need to start having a better understanding of how we can utilize our body-to-block shots,” Nowak said. “We’re just going to have to review our shot-blocking efforts and lock back in.”
Jamie First is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
