The Flashes battled through penalties, and took advantage when they could, to complete the weekend sweep with a 4-1 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

“I think it puts us in a good position for the end-of-the-year standings,” said head coach Jim Underwood. “Those are six points that we earned that Eastern can’t get back from us.”

Sophomore goaltender Sky Buller stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced while the Flashes were out-shot by the Eagles 40-37. Sophomore defenseman Caleb Gannelli and junior defenseman Bobby Rhue each had tremendous games in the points department.  

Gannelli posted a two-goal night and added an assist as well.  

Rhue dished the puck out well tonight adding three assists to his stats to begin the season.  

“Those two guys are partnered together for a reason,” Underwood said. “They complement each other and are both great two-way defensemen.”

The Eagles scored first at 11:42 during the first period. The Flashes weren’t able to score until the second period with Gannelli putting up the first goal with the assist from Rhue.  

Rhue and Gannelli assisted sophomore forward, Kyle Schaefer, for the Flashes’ second goal of the game.  

Kent State’s next two goals came in the third period.

Senior forward Miles Radosevic netted the team’s third goal with junior forwards, Curtis Swan and Casey Barile, getting the assists.

The fourth and final goal for the Flashes came, again, from the hands of Gannelli. He scored the team’s only power play goal as they went one-for-five on the man-advantage.  

Rhue and junior forward T.J. West assisted the fourth goal.

The key aspect of both games this weekend for the Flashes was being strong when they were a man down.   

“Penalty kill was phenomenal this weekend,” Underwood said. “We killed all 14 of our penalties.  Sky Buller was our best penalty killer this weekend.  He played great last night and even better tonight.”

The Flashes return to practice this week to gear up for next week’s home opener on Oct. 9 against the Western Michigan Broncos.  

Chris Yamnitsky is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].