The Clemson club ice hockey team swept the Ole Miss Rebels at home last weekend, 3-2 and 7-5. Not only did the Tigers improve to 7-1-0, but they also punched their ticket to the College Hockey South Division II playoffs, scheduled for Feb. 21-23 in Coral Springs, Florida.
Though the puck dropped at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, both teams began the contest enthusiastically. Clemson’s Will Ralsten opened the scoring early in the first period, followed closely by Alex Wallace, to give the Tigers a comfortable 2-0 lead heading into the second.
The only goal of the middle period was from Ole Miss’s Jackson Heim, who found the back of the net halfway through the frame to cut Clemson’s lead in half. The Rebels equalized less than eight minutes into the third, but Mike McKeon, with help from Santiago Diaz, secured Clemson’s win while on the power play with just over three minutes to go.
With the late-night victory, Clemson secured its spot in the CHS Division II playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the North division. However, earning a bid to the postseason did not warrant indifference for the Tigers the following day; Clemson returned to the ice on Saturday afternoon determined to take home another win.
The following day, Diaz put Clemson on the board first halfway through the first period. Just seven minutes later, Ralsten added a shorthanded goal with 3:09 left to put the Tigers up 2-0. However, unlike the night before — or the morning of, really — Heim capitalized on the Rebels’ power play just one minute after Ralsten’s tally, and Ole Miss’s Quinn Moses tied the game at two with just one minute left in the first.
The teams traded goals throughout the middle frame: Christian Romeo reinstated Clemson’s lead with a power-play goal less than two minutes into the period, but the Rebels responded 34 seconds later to restore the deadlock. Bobby Trites added a power-play goal of his own for the Rebels at 12:22, but Clemson’s Will Van Sicklin remedied the deficit with his fifth of the season just four minutes later. Moses collected another goal on Ole Miss’s next man advantage, and Troy Gouveia returned the favor and threw one into the back of the Rebels’ net to close the period at 5-5.
Fortunately for Clemson, the Tigers came out ready to finish in the third. Van Sicklin potted the game-winner at 18:01 of the final frame, and Ralsten added his third of the weekend at 11:58 to solidify his team’s statement sweep.
The Tigers are back in action next weekend as they travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8.
