On Friday, despite a hat trick from Alex Carey, and holding a 4-2 deficit going into the 3rd period, the UGA Ice Dawgs slipped away from the Frozen Tide 9-3 iin Athens, GA. Bama out shot te Dawgs in the first period, but although scoring chances were even the Frozen Tide took the early 2-0 lead. Georgia struck back on Carey’s first goal, but Bama added two more before Carey’s second of the night. Bama tallied an early power play goal in the 3rd and never looked back scoring another three unanswered goals before Carey netted his hat trick . Bama would add one last goal to make the final 9-3. The loss took the Ice Dawgs below .500 at 7-8.
Hoping to eliminate remnants from Friday night’s disappointing loss, the Ice Dawgs dropped their second SEC game of the weekend at the Classic Center to the 4-6 Auburn Tigers Saturday afternoon. Georgia defeated Auburn on September 27th 6-1, but the Ice Dawgs fell short in a 3rd period comeback effort losing 9-8 to the Tigers.
Auburn struck first, with back to back goals by sophomores Michael Ritter and Harris Montanye. As the first period winded down, Georgia took advantage of power plays, with two trips to the penalty box by Sonny MacCurrach. His teammate, Trevor Hightower added a five minute major for boarding. The Dawgs caplitalized with three power play goals by David Bakin, Stephen Bray, and John Wutchel.
The first period penalties stopped, but the Georgia offense did not. Bakin continued to lead the UGA offense as he assisted Zach Flasch in his goal, before scoring the second time of his night, making the game 5-2 at the end of the first period.
Another Hightower penalty sparked the third Bakin goal earning his hat-trick, but it would be Georgia’s last goal till the end of the third period. While the Ice Dawgs offense sputtered, the Tigers gained momentum. MacCurrach scored for the Tigers on a pass from Parker Brown, followed by goals from Andrew Inches and Michael Ritter to cut Georgia’s lead to 6-5 to end the 2nd period.
In the first half of the third period, the Auburn offense did not slow down with help from several Georgia defensive miscues and missed assignments. Auburn took the lead on tallies by Brayden Pichel, Montanye, and Inches. A late surge by the Dawgs with goals from Bray and Alex Carey bought the Dawgs to within one, but final flurries by Georgia were turned aside and Auburn held onto the 9-8 win.
The 7-9 Ice Dawgs will have to wait till Friday, Dec. 12 when Tennessee come to Athens. Georgia hopes to end their losing streak and move up in the SEC East standings.
