From GCU Club Sports
By Jim Howell
Letting them come up for air? Not an option.
Using a relentless offensive attack, the 12th-ranked Grand Canyon University D1 Men’s Hockey team spent nearly all of its two nights at the Kroc Center Ice Rink in San Diego, California, circling around the opponents’ goal in a pair of dominant wins over San Diego State University. The Lopes’ barrage totaled a whopping 77 shots on goal in Friday night’s 5-2 victory over the Aztecs, and GCU followed that up with a 5-1 win Saturday that saw 63 more Lopes’ shots at the SDSU net. The weekend sweep extended the Lopes’ season-high winning streak to four games, and moved GCU (7-4 overall, 6-1-1 WCHL) into a 3rd-place tie in the Western Collegiate Hockey League standings with their next road opponent, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Friday: GCU 5, San Diego State 2
21-5. That was what the scoreboard flashed in the shots on goal category after the the 1st period Friday. However, the more important part of the scoreboard showed a surprising 2-2 score. In fact, the Aztecs actually used one of their five shots to score first four minutes into the game. It took eight minutes for GCU senior Cam Neaylon to finally tie the game, and Tyler Huffer handed the Lopes the lead with three minutes left in the period, but SDSU’s Drew Gunderson used the Aztecs’ last shot of the frame to tie it with a minute left.
If the Aztecs thought the 1st period would either tire out or frustrate the Lopes, they were wrong. Granted, 27 more shots in the 2nd period only produced one more Lopes’ goal (from Jack Riley with five minutes left), but GCU wouldn’t quit, getting goals from Tommy Wardas and Caden Henrikson in a 29-shot final period. With all of that surrounding the Aztecs’ net, GCU freshman goalie Adler Hoagland was rather lonely on the other end of the rink, posting 11 saves on the 13 shots SDSU managed.
Friday: GCU 5, San Diego State 1
It’s not very often that you’d say 63 shots is an off-night, but compared to what Aztecs’ fans watched GCU do to their team Friday night, they welcomed the change. Not that it mattered on the scoreboard, since on this night, the Aztecs were well out of the mix by the time they scored their lone goal in the second period. By that time, GCU’s Tyler Misialek had pumped two goals in the first 24 minutes of play past SDSU netminder Nicholas Heinzle, and in between those, Caden Surchik scored two minutes into the 2nd. Once again, the 14 Aztecs’ shots on goal weren’t nearly enough, and Lopes’ goalie Jacob DeMoranville swatted away all but one of them. Henrikson and Jack Thomas finished off the scoring for the Lopes, and both Owen Hanson and Ricky Nelson provided a pair of assists.
Fall Break has emptied the GCU campus for the week, so the Lopes will wait a week before finishing out the four-game road swing in the Silver State against UNLV 10 days from now. GCU will wind up the fall portion of its season at AZ Ice Arcadia on Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14 against defending ACHA National Champion Minot State University. Puck drop for the rematch of last year’s 2nd-round nationals matchup is scheduled for 7PM both nights.
(Originally published at https://gcuclubsports.com/news/2024/11/26/mens-ice-hockey-gcu-mens-ice-hockey-begins-road-trip-with-efficient-sweep-of-san-diego-state.aspx)
