Written by: Mickey Gonzalez

UCF finished their 2018 play with a Thanksgiving Tournament held in the RDV rink. The Knights played three games over the weekend, which resulted in three different outcomes.

Friday’s game against Kennesaw State started at the Knight’s usual home game time – 10:00pm. The first goal came from the Owls, during four-on-four play. Later in the first period, KSU caught another penalty. Brandon Blaszczyk, assisted by Christopher Robinson and Shane O’Donnell, seized the opportunity and got a power play goal, typing up the game. UCF brought themselves ahead with another goal in the second period—scored by Vaclav Liprt and assisted by Donovan McClellan and Tyler Walkinshaw. KSU scored once again in the last period. Neither team, try as they might, managed the one goal needed to win by the final buzzer. Both teams went into overtime determined to start the tournament with victory. However, both teams, once again, failed to score in the five minutes. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.

Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech began a bit earlier in the afternoon, at 4:00pm. The first period was a scoreless battle, and ended with the score still at 0-0. The first two goals of the game were back-to-back power play and short-handed goals from Georgia Tech. UCF quickly followed it with their own power play goal by O’Donnell. Scoring in the third period went through a very similar pattern. The Yellow Jackets managed two more goals, which Gonzalo Ruiz, assisted by McClellan, followed up with a UCF goal. After a back-and-forth competition in the beginning of the game, Georgia Tech jumped ahead, and UCF just couldn’t catch up. The end score was 2-4.

Sunday’s game had the players on the ice bright and early at 11:00am. The Knights were facing their final opponents of the tournament—and 2018—the Charlotte 49ers. Charlotte gained and early lead by scoring the first three goals of the game. But UCF was determined to finish off the semester strong. Ruiz put in the first goal for UCF, with an assist from Walkinshaw, and the tide turned. Soon after, Joseph Zanicchi, assisted by McClellan and Andrew Schneider, got in another UCF goal. Walkinshaw and McClellan, with his third assist of the game, got the puck in the net with less than a minute left in the second period. And the score was even once more. UCF managed to increase their scoring streak by two more goals in the third period. The first was a power play goal from Schneider, assisted by McClellan. The second was Walkinshaw’s second goal of the night, with an assist from Tyler Avron. Charlotte players got one more goal before the game’s end, but it wasn’t enough to regain their initial lead. The game ended with a UCF victory: 5-3.

The weekend’s tournament really gave UCF a chance to demonstrate their skill as the semester comes to a close. Even though they didn’t win every game, the Knights put up good effort and competition. The final three games of 2018 gave the players good insight into what they can keep up and improve upon moving into 2019.

Come join your UCF Knights for a very special War on I-4 game! The Knights will be playing the USF Bulls at the AMWAY CENTER on January 6 at 4:00pm, immediately following the 1:30pm Solar Bears game! Students can get discounted tickets at orlandosolarbearshockey.com/ucf. This is an event you won’t want to miss!