The Kent State Hockey Club dominated the second game of the weekend against the Western Michigan Broncos to split the weekend with a 7-4 win Oct. 10.

“I felt our guys responded well to the loss last night,” said head coach Jim Underwood. “We had a lot of energy to start out the game. Our offense sustained pressure and our defense played outstanding.”

The Flashes started the scoring off in the first period. Junior forward T.J. West buried the first goal with the assist going to sophomore forward Jake Haneline.

The remainder of the first period brought much back and forth battling between the Flashes and the Broncos.  At the end of the period, shots favored the Broncos 10 to eight.

Kent State started the second period with a bang, scoring just 46 seconds into the period on the power play.  Sophomore defenseman Caleb Gannelli buried the team’s second goal with junior defenseman Bobby Rhue collecting the assist.  

With 13:20 left in the period, Haneline and West connected again for Kent State’s third goal of the game. This time, Haneline scored with the assist going to West.  

The Broncos were finally able to respond with a goal scored on the power play with 11:33 left in the period. But, a little over two minutes later, sophomore forward Jon Buttitta put the puck in the net, unassisted, to give the Flashes the three-goal lead again.  

The period of scoring did not end there. The Broncos brought the game back to within two after a goal scored with 1:02 left in the period. The period ended with shots still favoring the Broncos 25 to 19.

“One of the big things was killing off the 5 minute penalty we had at the end of the first and to start the second with a power play,” Underwood said. “This was a great chance to change the momentum into our favor. We came out and scored a goal 46 seconds into the second period and I think that is what changed the momentum of the game.”

The Flashes opened the third period just like they did the first. Senior forward Miles Radosevic capitalized on a power play opportunity that carried over from the second period with an assist going to his brother, senior defenseman Andrew Radosevic and sophomore defenseman Mike Sullivan.  

Western Michigan responded with a tip-in goal with 16:12 left in the period. Buttitta put the advantage back to three goals with freshman forward Xavier Sudlow and Haneline getting the assists. Western then buried their fourth goal of the game on the power play with 2:04 left in the game.  

The Broncos decided to pull its goalie to gain an extra attacker, but the Flashes took advantage and Haneline scored his second goal of the game in the empty net. The game ended with the shots still in favor of the Broncos 35 to 28.

Haneline and Buttitta both had huge games for the Flashes. Haneline led the Flashes with two goals and two assists in the contest, which adds to his assist from the previous night.  Buttitta ended the victory with two goals, adding to his goal and assist from the first game against the Broncos Oct. 9.

“Both Jake Haneline and Jon are centers on our top two lines.  When both are scoring watch out,” Underwood said. “They add depth to our lines. It’s also nice to know if one isn’t performing, we have the other one back him up.”

Starting sophomore goaltender Sky Buller stopped 31 of the 35 shots the Broncos threw his way to gain his third win of the season as the Flashes move to 3-1 on the season so far. The Flashes have earned 10 out of a possible 12 points in their first four league games.

Kent State will take the next week off and prepare for their next game against Duquesne University Oct. 23.

“I think, given that we just came off 4 games, we will give them some days off and to be a college student for once,” Underwood said. “We are only practicing twice this week and are going to focus on individual skill that will work into our system.  And after next Monday, we will get back into our normal routine of practice for the week we play Duquesne.”

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