The Clemson club ice hockey team finished its fall semester slate last month with a 6-2 win over Georgia Tech. With the win, the Tigers recorded their best first-semester record in club history: 10-4-0.
The Tigers have already won more games in just one semester than they did in the entire 2022-2023 campaign, as they finished last season with a 9-10-0 regular season record.
Although the season started on the wrong foot with a devastating 3-1 loss to Division I Georgia in September, the Tigers took it in stride and went on to win their next seven straight. They swept Florida State, Coastal Carolina and Ole Miss in back-to-back weekend series and defeated Georgia Tech on Oct. 6.
Their second loss came during a long stretch on the road to Alabama Huntsville. The Chargers walked away with a 4-2 win on the first day of the series back in late October but were shut down the following day when Clemson took home a 5-1 win to mark its eighth of the season in just 10 games.
The following weekend, Clemson returned home to take on Delaware, its second Division I opponent. In an absolute barnburner, the Tigers defeated the Blue Hens 2-1, securing their ninth win and first against a DI team.
Alas, Clemson opened the month of November with a harsh battle against in-state rival South Carolina and collected its third and fourth losses, 6-2 and 5-4 in overtime.
The Tigers wrapped up the semester on a high note, defeating Georgia Tech 6-2 for the second time this semester. In the contest, Clemson’s leading goal scorer, Herb Kopf, recorded his 11th goal of the season, more than doubling his total of five from last season. Similarly, Cade Heinold — the team’s current point leader — recorded his 22nd point, just two shy of matching his total from last season (24).
The team’s successes have motivated them each week, and Clemson plans to continue breaking records, both individual and collective, in the second half of the season.
Clemson will return to the ice on Jan. 19, 2024, for a rematch against Georgia at the 440 Foundry Pavilion in Athens, Georgia.
