From the second the Zamboni hit the ice to the final horn, Spirit Ice Arena was buzzing as fans watched Texas A&M ice hockey’s regular season debut in a very physical two-game series on Sept. 14-15.
Aggie dominance started in game one on Friday. Their physicality stood out, with the Maroon and White bringing the boom. This frame was all Aggies, with goals from sophomore Defensemen Dylan Luu, junior Forward Nicholas Leone, and junior F Mason Burdett. Despite having two power plays in the first period, the Cowboys failed to generate any offense.
A&M values physicality and makes it a huge part of its gameplan, Burdett said.
“If you start being physical at the start of the game, you start wearing them down from the very start,” Burdett said. “You can start chipping away in the later parts of the game. You come out physical. You reap the benefits at the end.”
The Aggies did just that in game one. They got off to a physical start, with both teams hitting early and often while trading saves. The Cowboys drew first blood on a goal with 7:59 remaining in the period. The Aggies responded with a goal of their own thirty seconds later, courtesy of senior F Ethan Chen’s stickwork. At the conclusion of the first period, the score was tied up 1-1.
In the third period of game one, the Aggies struck again with another goal from Chen. The Aggies teed off on the Cowboys in the third, with violent hits from freshman D Ethan Han and sophomore F Ethan Ratliff. With 1:29 left on the clock, Senior F Matthew Perri put the icing on the cake with a goal which increased the Aggie lead to 5. After a defensive stop, A&M ran out the clock to come away with the 6-1 victory in game one.
The Aggies set the pace in the first period of game two by striking during an Oklahoma State power play, with Chen punching it in off an assist from Burnett for the early lead. The Cowboys quickly responded with a goal of their own, courtesy of Cowboy sophomore F Kole Ansell’s wrist shot. Senior F Marshall Rushing broke the tie in favor of the Maroon and White, scoring a goal off assists from freshman D John “Jack” Bowdich and freshman D Ethan Han. The Aggies left the ice after the first period with a 2-1 lead.
The second period of game two was the highest scoring of the weekend series. Oklahoma State challenged A&M by immediately capitalizing on a power play to tie the score 2-2, but the rest of the period to the final buzzer was all Aggies, as they scored four goals in a matter of minutes to end the weekend match-up 8-2 for game two and 6-1 for Friday’s game one.
The Aggies found the penalty box frequently in game two but allowed only one score in five penalty kill situations. It’s a scenario they prepare for in practice, Burdett said.
“Everything we do in the game we do in practice, and we do it a lot — repetition, repetition, repetition,” Burdett, an alternate captain for the team.
Rushing, the team captain, scored two of the four goals. Tensions rose at the end of game two’s second period, with players from both teams penalized for roughing. The Aggies took a 6-2 lead heading into the final period. A&M scored goal number seven with 10 minutes left in the third frame. Goal number eight came in the waning moments of an 8-2 victory for the Aggies.
A&M will look to repeat its series sweep when it hits the road to face North Texas on Sept. 27–28 at 8:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., respectively.
DJ is a journalism senior and contributed this from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.
