The Jackrabbit club hockey team split last weekend’s series against Minnesota State Moorhead, with a 5-1 win Friday and a 7-2 loss on Saturday. The Jack’s will have a three-week break before they head up north to take on The University of North Dakota, as they hope to build upon their solid 3-1 standing.
“I think the season is going good so far,” defenseman Matthew Maag said. “The guys have been working hard at practice and have been buying into the coach’s system. I think that we are going to be playing some tougher teams, and we need to make sure we stay focused to give ourselves the best chance to make nationals.”
While UND is 1-2 and has been struggling to keep pucks out of the net with their 14 goals allowed, it will be important for the team to not overlook the Fighting Hawks.
“With this time off, we are going to regroup, practice systems, and get our injured guys back to full strength,” Chris Homer said. “After the loss… the game plan needs to change, no matter who we play.”
Game one started off in the first period with a goal from Thomas Schroeder but the Jacks quickly responded with a power play goal via Owen Schneider, assisted by Ashton Witte. Less than a minute after Schneider’s goal, Alex Heibult broke the tie with an unassisted goal which rounded out the first period.
The second period took ten minutes to see its first goal and only goal which came from an impressive top shelf shot by Witte with the feed from Max Kjelden.
The third period saw Kjelden score via the assist from Zach Struck and Garrett Everson iced the game with the fifth jackrabbit goal off the Max Mohr set-up.
Game two of the series saw the MU Dragons take a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period with wingers Parker Larson and Teddy Campion responsible. The Jacks put themselves back into the game with a goal from Struck but MU struck back with Justin Stalboerger goal to make the score 3-1.
Witte responded with a goal with the assist from Owen Schneider to make the score manageable, but it marked the last SDSU goal for the rest of the game with MU closing out the period with another Campion goal.
The third period saw Max Sheridan score for MU and the Dragons put the game away with two empty net goals.
“It’s tough to look past the loss… the turnovers killed us in the second game,” Matthew Magg said. “We have to tie up the little things. It’s the missed passes and turnovers that make it hard for a team to swing the momentum in the right direction.”
Saturday’s loss is in the past, however, and the team will now game plan for a new opponent.
“If we can use this time off to focus on where players are/need to be without the puck, I think we could be a dangerous team” Maag said.
They will look onwards to their November 1st and 2nd bout with the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.
