The Clemson club ice hockey team dominated the College of Charleston Cougars last Friday, 10-1, in its final contest ahead of the College Hockey South Division II playoffs this weekend. The Tigers netted four goals in the first period and six in the second to secure their ninth win of the season.
Clemson’s Kevin Arthur opened the scoring on Friday night with his first goal of the season halfway through the first, assisted by Matt Franco. Three minutes later, Will Van Sicklin doubled the Tigers’ lead with help from Sully Kopf and Jack Eggemeyer.
Within the final five minutes of the first period, Cam Iacobelli collected a power-play goal, and Mike McKeon added one of his own to extend Clemson’s lead to 4-0. The Cougars got on the board with 11 seconds left, courtesy of John Felicio, to avoid a shutout.
“We got off to a strong start,” Franco told The Tiger. “Charleston had a short bench, so we took advantage of that early. We scored four goals in the first period and didn’t let off the gas. Overall, we played well and got the momentum we needed going into playoffs.”
But a three-goal lead wasn’t enough for the Tigers. Clemson came out buzzing in the second period.
Matthew Ionta kicked things off just a minute and a half into the frame, followed by Franco at 15:30, Ethan Callahan at 12:22, Van Sicklin at 7:24, Ronan Bryant at 2:11 and Cade Heinold at 1:29. The additional six goals in the middle period increased Clemson’s lead to 10-1 with 20 minutes of play remaining.
“I think our passing and playmaking were things we did really well,” Franco said. “Usually, in high-scoring games, we tend to get away from our game plan when everyone is looking for a goal, but we stuck to our forecheck, played unselfishly.
“I think our main focus should be staying out of the box. Once we start taking penalties, that’s when we start letting other teams back into the game, so I think if we stay out of the box, we will be dominant come next weekend.”
Despite the Tigers’ offensive explosion in the second, neither team found the back of the net in the third period, and Clemson skated off the ice with yet another commanding win in hand ahead of playoffs this upcoming weekend.
“We just need to keep playing our game,” Franco said. “We all know what that is, and we need to stay level-headed going into playoffs. We can’t let our big wins get to our heads, especially when we will be playing teams that we haven’t seen yet this year. Overall, if we stick to our game plan and what has worked for us over the past couple of months, we will be the team to beat next weekend.”
The Tigers will begin their quest for the Ameritrans Cup in round one of the CHS Division II playoff tournament on Friday at 9:15 p.m. as they take on the Miami Hurricanes in Coral Springs, Florida.
