Written by: Mickey Gonzalez

This weekend consisted of a home and home series against the University of Tampa Spartans. The Knights walked away from the series with one win and one loss.

          Thursday’s game took place at UT’s home rink in Clearwater. Josh Pezzulo scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Andrew Schneider and Chris Zalik. Vaclav Liprt got another goal for the Knights, with assists from Gonzalo Ruiz and Shane O’Donnell. UT managed one goal before the period end, bringing the score to 2-1. The last period was a tense fight for victory, with some back-and-forth penalties, but no one scored. The game ended in a Knights’ victory: 2-1.

          Friday’s game brought UCF back to home ice. UT pushed to come back from their loss in the prior game, gaining an early lead with two goals in the first two periods. The Knights went into the third period desperate to bring themselves back into the lead. They were, perhaps, too desperate. Of the four goals UT got in the last period, two were during UCF penalties. Two minutes into the period, Pezzulo received a penalty and was removed from the game for misconduct. Less than a minute later, Drew Bengtson received a disqualification for fighting. A little over a minute after that, Zalik was also removed from the game for misconduct. Towards the end of the game, UCF re-found their stride. Hunter Chard, assisted by Tyler Walkinshaw, got the Knights’ their first goal of the game. Liam McGrath, assisted by Joseph Zanicchi, followed it up with a power play goal. Unfortunately, the late push wasn’t enough to overthrow the Spartans. UT got one final goal with seventeen seconds left in the game. The end score was 6-2; UT win.

          Hopefully, the Knights can recapture the energy of Thursday’s victory going into this weekend’s home and home series against the Embry-Riddle Eagles.

          Come support your UCF Knights this Saturday night at the RDV Sportsplex Ice Den after the homecoming football game against Navy! Hockey begins at 10:00pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Students get FREE ADMISSION with a UCF ID!