Texas A&M hockey looked to repeat its dominance on the ice on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Spirit Ice Arena after a 14-6 win against the North Texas Mean Green the day prior. The Aggies finished the sweep and closed their final game of 2023 with an 8-1 victory.
North Texas came out with a passion after its previous beating by A&M.
Junior defenseman Zachary Lord got things started early for the Mean Green, delivering a big hit on A&M senior forward Marshall Rushing in the first period.
In the same period, sophomore goalie Daniel Sanchez managed to stonewall a dynamic A&M offense for a good chunk of time. However, after seven minutes, the Aggies eventually found the back of the net with a slapshot by freshman Matthew Filek.
The Maroon and White capitalized on a power play, which saw junior Christian Spearman receive credit for the goal, giving the Aggies an early 2-0 lead after the first period.
The Mean Green’s offense struggled, as they were forced to defend often against the Aggies. UNT scrapped against the Aggies, but relied heavily on its goalie. Its inability to find any offense held it back in the first period, as it could not seem to finish off any attacks, always missing the key pass.
The second period was more of the same for the Aggie faithful in attendance. Graduate defenseman Jacob Norwood was the first Fightin’ Farmer to score in the second period. Other Aggies wanted to get in on the scoring, as Filek and sophomore Mason Burdett followed suit.
Around halfway through the second period, Sanchez went down after being injured in a scrum which gave UNT a power play. The Mean Green took full advantage by scoring their first goal of the day by junior Darien Sciarrino. However, what some might have seen as a turning point was anything but for the fans in green and black.
A&M scored back-to-back goals before the end of the second period from graduate Ethan McDonald and Spearman, putting A&M up 7-1 heading into the third period of play.
After two periods of constant defense, North Texas appeared fatigued, allowing multiple easy transition goals for A&M.
A&M parked the proverbial bus in the third period, spending much more time on defense to halt any hope of a North Texas comeback. The Mean Green had their offensive possessions in the period but were unable to do anything with them.
Tensions were rising among the Green and Black as they were unable to find the back of the net despite countless attempts. Lord threw the one and only punch of the game after finding himself at the bottom of a dogpile.
The Aggies scored two more times before the final period horn rang, going to Spearman and Rushing.
A&M is off for the holidays before returning to Spirit Ice Arena on Jan. 5 and 6 to take on Washington.