Game 1
The 2-1 Texas A&M hockey team started off its second two-game series of the 2023-24 season against 2-1 East Texas Baptist in Shreveport, Louisiana at George’s Pond at the Hirsch Coliseum on Friday, Sept. 22.
The Aggies were able to defeat the Tigers 4-3 in a back-and-forth matchup that had the Aggies leading from the first period onward. This was after the Maroon and White came off the first two games of their season, splitting a series 1-1 with TCU.
In the first period, the Aggies were able to put up two goals off of their offense. The Tigers answered back with one goal of their own in the first period to make it 2-1.
Going into the second period of the match, the Aggies and the Tigers couldn’t get much done as both teams were able to stay sharp defensively, especially around the crease.
The second period saw the Tigers fighting their way to a tie as they made key defensive stops on the Aggies. East Texas Baptist was eventually able to tie it 2-2 with a goal from junior defenseman Jason Guntow around the halfway mark of the second period.
A&M quickly recovered to make it 3-2 off of a goal from freshman Nicholas Leone in a fast breakaway where three Aggies punished the Tigers for only having one defenseman to help their goalie.
At the beginning of the third period, senior forward Ethan McDonald hit a goal off a putback to make it 4-2 for the Aggies.
The Tigers shortened their deficit to 4-3 from sophomore forward Blake Lind taking it all by himself up the ice with three Aggie defenders in his proximity.
A few more quick breakaways and defensive stops from both A&M and East Texas Baptist kept the game competitive until the final buzzer. However, neither team could add to the score as the Aggies came out on top.
This series is the first of two this season that A&M will face off against East Texas Baptist, with the first game of its next series taking place later on in the season on Friday, Nov. 3.
Game 2
The A&M ice hockey team dropped its second game of the season against East Texas Baptist on Saturday, Sept. 23, by a score of 4-1.
The game’s first period was scoreless as both teams struggled to put anything together offensively. Each team’s defense showed up to the game ready to go, and they proved that by making several impressive plays early on in the first period.
As the opening period came to a close, ETBU was rewarded with a power play, its first of the game.
In the second period, ETBU broke the scoreless tie at the 22nd minute, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead; however, the Aggies responded quickly with a goal of their own in the 24th minute, knotting the score at 1-1.
The next several minutes were scoreless as both squads continued to put up stonewalls on the defensive end. However, the Tigers retook the lead with a goal in the 36th minute to put them up 2-1. ETBU gained its second power play of the match with 3:35 remaining in the second, but A&M was able to hold it scoreless until the end of the period.
Entering the final period, the Tigers still held a 2-1 lead over the Aggies. Near the midway point of the period, a fan in the audience got a bit too excited and pushed some glass out onto the ice, and the Tigers were rewarded with yet another power play shortly after, giving ETBU a power play in each period.
The Aggies did not yield during these two minutes, and once again, the Tigers were unable to take advantage. The match was filled with a lot of intensity, as there were several skirmishes during the game with players getting into it repeatedly.
Around the 53rd minute, A&M was finally gifted with a power play of its own, but it was not able to drive the puck to the back of the net during this time. The great defense continued until the last few minutes of the match, where the Tigers scored back-to-back goals in the 57th and 58th minute.
The dagger and final goal came from senior ETBU forward Carson Loos, who has been named a Texas Collegiate Ice Hockey All-Star three times. The goal sealed the 4-1 victory for ETBU. With the victory, the Tigers improved their all-time record against the Aggies to 11-7-1.
Despite a great defensive showing, the Aggies were unable to do much with the sticks, as the one goal the team drove in was the lowest in a game so far this season.
The Aggies will look to start a new winning streak when they begin a two-game set against the Baylor Bears on Friday, Sept. 29, at 8:15 p.m. These two contests will be the final matches of their early-season road trip.