By Macy Linder
On Friday, November 4, The University of Georgia Ice Dawgs traveled to Marietta, Georgia to play in a regular season game against the Kennesaw State Owls. The Ice Dawgs defeated the Owls 14-0.
Last season the Ice Dawgs defeated the Owls 15-0 in the Atkins Ford Arena at the Classic Center in Athens, Georgia.
“There’s a bit of a history there, so it feels good to come out on top in such a dominating fashion,” said senior forward Matthew Bigda.
The Ice Dawgs came out on fire offensively in the first period.
There were goals by junior forward Josh Mesaros, freshman defenseman Truman Haugan, freshman forward Dylan Punzenberger, sophomore defenseman Jack Gannon and two goals for Bigda to top off the end of the period.
Sophomore forward Robby Witwer suffered a leg injury that cut his playing time against KSU short. This injury could potentially affect the rest of the season for Witwer.
Mesaros said that the team wanted to win for their teammates that fell to injuries during the matchup.
After the first period, the Ice Dawgs led the Owls 6-0.
The second period was more of an offensive challenge for the Ice Dawgs with only one goal scored, finishing the period leading KSU 7-0.
Bigda scored his third goal of the night, achieving a natural hat trick, assisted by Gannon and Mesaros.
The Ice Dawgs reclaimed their offensive dominance in the third period by scoring seven more on the Owls.
Goals for the Ice Dawgs were scored by sophomore defenseman Luke Burnett, sophomore forward Trevor Gutmann, junior forward Daniel Crawford, freshmen defenseman Bill Martin with two and Mesaros receiving the second hat trick of the night.
“I thought this matchup was very similar to last season. We knew they didn’t have the best record, but made sure to go in there not overlooking them. We try to play to a certain standard each game and the guys did that,” said head coach and general manager John Camp.
Georgia will travel to Huntsville, Alabama to compete in the Veterans Cup against Georgia Tech and Alabama. The Ice Dawgs will play Alabama on Nov. 11 at 8:30 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 12 at 4:00.
“I am looking forward to the games next weekend,” Camp said. “Alabama knocked us out of Nationals last season and we always have a big rivalry with Tech.”
