RJ Craig
The Lady Ice Dawgs finally hit the ice for the first time since last season, but things did not go as they wanted, losing both games to the Alabama Frozen Tide this past weekend.
GAME 1
The Dawgs knew they would be in for a tough battle entering the weekend, which was certainly the case on Saturday afternoon.
“We knew Alabama was gonna be a really tough opponent, and we went into [the game] with that mindset,” senior forward Katherine Davis said.
In the first period, Alabama pounced early. In the first minute, Alabama junior winger Morgan Gryzbowski put the Frozen Tide on the board, assisted by freshman center Anna Zahorchak.
Over the next ten minutes, Alabama’s freshman fleet of Claire Carson, Samantha Lantz, and Trinity Alexander led the scoring barrage, accounting for three of the next four goals.
Ten seconds following Trinity’s goal for Alabama at the 3:57 mark, the Dawgs finally put up their first goal, courtesy of freshman winger Georgia Verheyden, assisted by sophomore forward Oukes, to bring the score to 5-1.
However, Lantz scored yet again, a short-handed goal, in the final minute of the period, following an interference penalty against Alexander to put Alabama up, 6-1.
The second period saw Alabama add to their lead, with a goal from sophomore Emily Scott in the opening minute.
Two minutes later, graduate Naomi Derksen scored with Carson and Alexander assisting. Carson would tack on a goal of her own about halfway into the period, assisted by Alexander and Zachorak.
A chaotic final minute saw Georgia manage a goal at 0:57, scored by Oukes, followed by an Alabama goal by Derksen thirteen seconds later.
After two periods, Alabama held a 10-2 lead, and unfortunately for the Dawgs, things did not improve in the third period.
The Frozen Tide outscored the Dawgs 5-0 in the third. The same culprits as before—Zachorak, Alexander, Lantz, Carson, and Scott—each notched a goal.
The Dawgs succumbed to Alabama, 15-2, in their first-ever meeting against the Frozen Tide.
“[They’re] a very physical team who has a lot of experience and they have a lot of players who’ve played before,” Oukes said. “We knew it’d be a good test of where we are to see how we’ll compare to other teams in our league and some things we need to work on specifically.”
Despite the loss, the Dawgs enjoyed being back on the ice.
“It felt really good to be back on the ice since last season, especially since I haven’t really played a game since December,” Davis said, who, due to a study abroad in the spring semester, was unavailable for the spring portion of last year’s campaign.
GAME 2
On Sunday afternoon, the Dawgs looked to turn the tables in the second game of the doubleheader.
Even so, the Frozen Tide had other plans, taking an early 2-0 lead in the first period, with unassisted goals from Lantz and Carson.
Alabama kept up the scoring in the second with goals from graduate center Kate Sabre and Grzybowski, but the Dawgs snapped back with a pair of goals.
Oukes netted her first of the game on the assist from sophomore winger Dana Stott followed by an unassisted goal by freshman Georgia Verheyden to make it 4-2.
“We were starting to work together, and it really proved that…we can definitely get to a higher level,” Oukes remarked after the game.
However, four straight Alabama goals ballooned their lead to 8-2, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Oukes scored two more goals for a hat trick in the third period, but the Dawgs ultimately fell 12-4.
Oukes and Verheyden shined bright for the Dawgs, with Oukes scoring three goals and Verheyden finishing with two points (1G, 1A) in the loss.
While still not a particularly close game, it was closer than the first one, even while the Dawgs’ power play failed to convert any chances (0-3).
“It kind of proved that things were starting to come together and click. The turnaround from our game Saturday to our game Sunday was astronomical. We were totally different team Sunday in the best way possible…and I think we can only go up from here,” Oukes commented.
The Dawgs will keep their heads up and look to bounce back in their upcoming road trip to Columbus, Ga. for the second annual Columbus Classic on Sept. 27-29.
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