From Indiana Hockey
By Garrett Drake
VINTON, Va. — The Club Ice Hockey at Indiana University traveled nine hours via bus to partake in the Star City Showcase, featuring three teams from the ACCHL and three teams from Indiana’s league, the TSCHL.
The other representatives from the T were Louisville and Ohio State, with the ACCHL sending NC State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech who served as the host. On Friday, Indiana matched up with NC State. The weekend was not off to a great start, as they trailed 3-1 after the first period. Sophomore Andrew Chambers got the Hoosiers back in it with a deflection from an Austin Williams shot halfway through the period.
Moments later, Chambers netted his second of the game and Drew Micheli added to the score to give Indiana a 4-3 lead and force an NC State goalie change.
Things were looking good for the Hoosiers after Jack O’Flaherty’s deflection goal from Leo Warner put them up 5-3 with 13 minutes left in regulation. However, NC State was able to get two past Sammy Bilis in less than 30 seconds to even the score 5-5 with four minutes left. Nick Castracane ended the panic as he netted the game-winner with a backhander as the clock had just over a minute remaining.
The Saturday slate against Virginia Tech told a different story, as the Hoosiers never trailed en route to a dominating 9-3 victory. The high-octane offense was led by sophomores Will Gerami and Tommy MacDonald. Junior goalie Brendan McKaskey earned the win in his first start of the season and looked solid in net. Indiana was able to control every aspect of the game from the faceoff dot all the way to the goalie crease.
However, the Sunday scaries hit Indiana like a truck when they faced off against North Carolina. The Tar Heels shut down the potent Indiana offense while scorching the back of the Hoosier net in a 10-6 win. Believe it or not, this game was tied 1-1 at a time after Will Gerami scored yet another goal on the weekend from a Tommy MacDonald assist. North Carolina then erupted for three goals in the final minutes of the period.
The last one came in the nick of time, with the puck crossing the net as the clock read 0.1 seconds. The rest of the game was back and forth, with Indiana trailing by as much as six at the end of the second. An empty net goal in the final seconds capped off a 10-6 loss.
Indiana finished the weekend with 9.5 tournament points, which was not enough to win the showcase. The Hoosiers will travel to Lexington, Kentucky for two “Midnight Madness” games against TSCHL rival Kentucky.
(Originally published at https://www.hockeyiu.com/articles/indiana-takes-on-acchls-best-in-star-city-showcase-102322-l9nipbjj)
