Dawgs Dismantle Auburn

By: Tyler Farmer

After a convincing win against Clemson on Thursday night, the Ice Dawgs returned to action Friday night against Auburn. Thankfully for the Georgia faithful, the Ice Dawgs provided some foreshadowing of what took place in Mercedes-Benz stadium on Saturday. Friday night marked our 11^th straight win overall and 27^th straight home win. Beyond another conference game, it was also our annual teddy bear toss game. Thank you again to our wonderful fans for making the event so successful!

The Ice Dawgs controlled every facet of this game. Junior defenseman Drew Holcombe tallied an unassisted goal to get the scoring started with 14:05 remaining in the first period. Over the next several minutes, lady luck kept Auburn in the game because Georgia hit the post twice. With 7:35 to go, junior left winger Carter Penzien jumped up on a rebound, assisted by senior forward Alex Carey, to extend our lead to 2-0. Fourteen seconds later, junior center Christopher Santa Maria lit the lamp on assists from sophomore center Austin Krusko and senior left winger Stephen Bray. To conclude the scoring in the first period, senior Zach Flash provided the beautiful assist on Carey’s goal at the 1:47 mark. Going into the first intermission, the Ice Dawgs had a commanding 4-0 lead.

Thirty-one seconds into the second period, Santa Maria notched his second goal of the night, assisted by Krusko. With 12:08 left in the period, Auburn got on the board with a power-play goal. After an Auburn cross-checking penalty, Penzien answered back two minutes later with a well-placed wrist shot that was assisted by sophomore defenseman Aaron Phillips. Not even a minute later, Flasch deflected a Phillips slap shot to push the Ice Dawg lead to 7-1. With under four minutes remaining in the middle frame, Phillips got a goal of his own on the power-play off an assist from Penzien.

Holding an 8-1 advantage at the start of the third and final period, the Ice Dawgs continued to attack offensively. Early in the period, Santa Maria completed his hat trick after an assist from Holcombe. To their credit, Auburn continued to play hard and quickly responded. At the 16:45 mark, Carey scored again. Freshman right winger Jack Marrara assisted on the play. Shortly thereafter, Auburn scratched across another goal to trim their deficit to 10-3. Around the halfway point, Penzien added a power-play goal, thanks to a roughing penalty. The execution from Flasch and Carey here was straight class. At 8:24, Marrara joined the fun, and Carey once again assisted on the play. With seconds remaining, Santa Maria scored his 4^th goal of the night off an assist from Holcombe. Final 13-3 Ice Dawgs On Top!

Key Takeaways:

Simply put, Christopher Santa Maria was dominant.
Taking advantage of Auburn penalties, the Ice Dawgs scored four times on the power-play.
Our 13 goals scored is the biggest offensive outburst so far this season

Hightlights:

Early in the first period, senior defenseman Mathew Stockhoff unleashed a hit that would’ve made Kirby Smart proud.
The first goal scored was all grit and hustle from Drew Holcombe to keep the puck alive.
The highlight of the night, however, was the resounding success of the teddy bear toss, so we can spread joy within the local community!