The Eastern Michigan University club hockey team took on fellow Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association team in the Kent State Golden Flashes, losing 4-1 at home despite leading in the first period.
The Eagles held the advantage going into the break, but the Golden Flashes used its veteran presence and poise to take advantage of the young Eastern Michigan roster and take the win back to Kent State.
First year head coach John Bartle realizes that a young roster may not mean a plethora of wins, but he has faith in the advancement of his program and sees future success for the Eagles.
“I knew going into this season we have a young team, three of the top six forwards are rookies, so I knew we would have a hard time scoring early in the season,” Bartle said after the game.
The Eagles got the game rolling when senior Tony Gasser took a penalty for slashing and the Boys in Green on the ice had to kill its first of many penalty-kills on the evening. The Eagles gave up five power plays to Kent State, but successfully killed off four,
Eastern Michigan opened the scoring five minutes into the first period, when freshman Matthew Passino put the puck in the net off a rebound from an initial shot from Luke Dmyto. The Eagles took its second penalty of the game when Tyler McIntosh took to the penalty box for high sticking.
Eastern finished the first period up 1-0, but being outplayed by the Golden Flash, trailing in shots 16-11.
Kent State came out guns blazing in the second period scoring two goals courtesy of Caleb Gannelli and Kyle Schaefer, allowing their team to go up 2-1. The Eagles has opportunity of its own, but were unable to find the net on three power plays in the second period.
The Eagles went into the dressing room down 2-1 after two periods.
Kent State added to its tally, with goals from Miles Radosevic and a second from Ganelli. Eastern Michigan finished its Saturday night losing to Kent State by a score of 4-1, relishing chances on the power play. The Eagles had four chances with a man advantage but couldn’t take the opportunity.
Eastern Michigan goalie Sando Arapovic finished the game with an impressive 36 saves as Kent State fired 40 shots to The Eagle's 37.
“We’re a young team and we have to work on putting the ball in the back of the net,” said Bartle. “We have a goal of making the national tournament, we have a lot of work today but it’s early. We have to be patient.”
