TAMPA, Florida. - The Tampa Spartans Men’s Hockey Team scored 7 goals on Friday night to take the home opener vs. UCF.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: UCF 4, Tampa 7

Records: Tampa (1-0-0), UCF (0-1-0)

Location: Clearwater Ice Arena | Clearwater, Fl

HOW IT HAPPENED GAME 1:

1st Period

●      Alternate Captain Grant Parrish scored on a backhand shot on a rebound from a shot by Ryan Andrews to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

●      The UCF Knights would go on to score a shorthanded goal on a broken play to even the game at 1.

●      At the end of the 1st period the Spartans and Knights were tied at 1.

2nd Period

●      Spartans Captain Christian Kukas gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead on a slap shot from the blue line.

●      UCF did not take long to respond and tied the game at 2 on a one timer from the slot.

●      Jake Karant took back the lead on the next shift with a back door goal assisted by linemates Billy Cody and Gus Aldridge.

●      The Spartans extended their lead on a rebound goal from Michael Pettijohn from Ryan Andrews and alternate captain Stephen Buck on the powerplay.

●      Grant Parrish got a pass from Christian Kukas and he buried one in the back of the net to make it 5-2

3rd Period

●      UCF started the 3rd Period off with a goal only two minutes into the period to cut Tampa’s lead down to 2.

●      Alternate captain Josey Davis answers for the Spartans with a shorthanded goal from Stephen Buck.

●      Tampa scored again on a shot from Junior Frank Catalina with an assist from Senior Evan Hoffberg

●      UCF scores with under a minute left in the game to make the final score 7-4 Tampa on top

HOW IT HAPPENED GAME 2:

1st Period

●      Tampa starts off the scoring early with a goal from alternate captain Stephen Buck with assists going to Ryan Murray and Evan Hoffberg

●      Tampa captain Christian Kukas scored on a slap shot from the point on a pass form Michael Pettijohn

●      Senior Ryan Murray put one in the top corner with Stephen Buck getting the assist making it 3-0 to end the period

2nd Period

●      Spartans Billy Cody extends their lead over UCF to 4-0 on an assist from Christian Kukas

●      Tampa sophomore Ryan Andrews gets his first of the year on an assist from Stephen Buck

●      UCF got their first of the game to break the shutout with a 5-1 score with the Spartans on top

●      Another got added on for Tampa by alternate captain Grant Parrish with assists from Kukas and Pettijohn

3rd Period

●      The only goal in this period comes form Billy Cody for hs second of the game with an assist from sophomore Jake Karant making the final score 7-1

UP NEXT:

●      The Spartans head to Georgia for a matchups with UGA and GT.

●      Stay tuned for postseason updates and information about the 2021-2022 season.

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