In a game that featured two ejections and multiple fights, the NC State club hockey team beat archrival UNC-Chapel Hill 6-5 Monday night in PNC Arena with the Tar Heels looking to spoil the Icepack’s ACCHL Tournament hopes.
“For all intents and purposes, their season is over, but they would love to spoil ours,” NC State head coach Mike Gazzillo told PackTV.
Senior Luis Gimenez led the way for the Icepack (10-6) with three goals and two assists. Senior Sam Banasiewicz scored a goal of his own to go along with three assists, while freshman Cam Mazikowski and graduate student Ryan Lenzmeier each contributed one goal and sophomore Ian O’Rourke chipped in an assist.
NC State started off the first period strong, scoring first at the 17:12 mark on an unassisted goal by Lenzmeier. The Icepack spent the first half of the period in Tar Heels (6-13) territory, registering 13 shots before the Tar Heels even had a second shot.
Just under 10 minutes into the first period, UNC center Ben Sisemore answered with an unassisted, shorthanded goal of his own by way of a one-on-one with NC State junior goalie Joey Hall.
With 42 seconds left in the first, UNC wing Jonah Graffius slipped one by Hall to give the Tar Heels a 2-1 advantage that they would finish the period with. Gimenez almost answered with a goal of his own less than 20 seconds later, but his shot ricocheted off the goal post and the horn sounded soon after.
The second period saw the Icepack dominate the Tar Heels from start to finish, outscoring UNC 4-1 in the period.
Banasiewicz got the scoring started in the second for the Pack with a breakaway goal off of an assist from Gimenez at the 13:00 mark of the period.
Mazikowski followed that up with a power-play goal thanks to another assist from Gimenez, who scored a goal of his own just over a minute later at the 7:31 mark after a perfectly executed two-on-one with Banasiewicz to put the Pack up 4-2.
Sisemore answered with a slapshot goal, his second score of the game, from the right wing to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Icepack.
With 2:25 left in the second period, Gimenez scored his second goal off of a Banasiewicz assist to put the Pack up 5-3. The score would remain in favor of the Pack through the end of the period.
NC State was able to score four goals on only 14 shots in the second period, while the Tar Heels only mustered one goal on 16 shots thanks in large part to 11 saves from Hall. Carolina goalie Gabe Harousseau was only able to save eight of the Pack’s 14 shots in the period.
UNC scored the first two goals of the third period, one each by Ricky Chen and Peter Kelly to tie the game up at 5-5 with 6:42 left to play.
Then, things got interesting.
After an interference penalty with just under five minutes remaining in the game, UNC’s Nick Keith and NC State’s Eric Webb were ejected from the game for fighting, with each player landing a punch to the other’s head during a scrum near the boards.
After a 10-minute delay to sort out the penalties and disqualifications, play resumed.
Soon after the game picked back up, Gimenez netted a hat trick on a goal with 3:51 remaining. Gimenez’s goal proved to be the game winner, as the Icepack held on for a nail-biting 6-5 win.
A win over your archrival may be an ideal scenario for some, but Gazzillo was not too pleased with what he saw from his team Monday night, citing the team’s 2–5 effort on the power play as a reason why.
“I don’t think we played very well,” Gazzillo said. “I don’t think we were firing on all cylinders.”
Gazzillo went on to praise Banasiewicz and Gimenez for their goal-scoring on the night, saying it was nice to see the two of them get back on track after missing some time due to injury.
A pep talk from Gimenez to the team during the first intermission gave the Icepack the motivation it needed to outscore UNC 5-3 the remainder of the game.
“We had a little pep talk from our coaches that gave us a little extra motivation,” Gimenez told PackTV.
The Icepack has four games remaining in the regular season before the ACCHL tournament and is looking to finish the season strong.
“Our goal is to win every game we have left and finish 8-0 [in conference],” Gimenez said.
The Icepack returns to action Feb. 2 against Duke at the Raleigh IcePlex.
Ryan Lenzmeier, a graduate student studying history, hits the puck during the club hockey game against UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday in PNC Arena. The Wolfpack beat the Tarheels 6-5 for their second Backyard Brawl win this season.
