Tar Heels Late Comeback Falls Short Against South Carolina
By: Brian D’Aguanno
HILLSBOROUGH, NC – A late comeback by the Tar Heels wasn’t enough to push them past South Carolina’s Cock Hockey, as they fell 5-4 in a thriller on Saturday evening.
Cock Hockey took a 1-0 lead at the 12:07 mark of the first period when Brendan Flaherty (#3) made a nice move around a UNC defender and ripped a shot low glove past rookie goaltender Ander Andreev. A late South Carolina goal in the first period at the 19:09 mark by Josh Wilkins (#7) extended the lead to 2-0.
South Carolina picked up right where they left off in the second period when John Riggins (#25) faked out his defender and scored far side just over seven minutes into the period.
With a 3-0 lead halfway into the game, it looked like South Carolina was going to run away with the game, but the Tar Heels responded with a goal of their own.
UNC Captain Patrick O’Shaughnessy (#21) deked a South Carolina defender and made no mistake with a beautiful far side shot that hit the post and found the back of the net at the 9:23 mark to put the Heels on the board and make the game 3-1.
South Carolina was quick to respond when Nick Kaye (#10) hit the tape of Ben Riccitelli (#23) who found the back of the net at the 16:33 mark to give South Carolina a 4-1 lead.
The Tar Heels kept their foot on the gas, capitalizing at the end of the second period when defenseman Will Hilton (#26) blasted a shot from the point while Matt Grady (#22) found the rebound and was able to tuck it in at the 19:52 mark.
Heading into the third period, the Tar Heels found themselves down 4-2 but not out.
The Tar Heels wasted no time getting back on the scoreboard when Nic Gingras (#9) ripped a beautiful shot from just inside the blue line on a pass from Adam Zukowski (#7) at the 3:35 mark, making the score 4-3.
Just as the Heels were gaining momentum, South Carolina answered back with a goal on the man advantage when Marco Pineda (#9) finished top shelf on a cross-crease pass from Jake Puskar (#8) to make the game 5-3 in favor of the Cocks.
At the 6:35 mark of the third, the Tar Heels responded with a beautiful penalty shot goal by Nic Gingras (#9), who went backhand to forehand and finished blocker side. Gingras got his second goal of the game, cutting the lead to 5-4.
Despite the late rally, time ran out on a Tar Heels comeback, giving South Carolina a 5-4 win. Despite the loss, the Tar Heels showed resilience in the second and third period.
“We kind of just picked it up a notch and we were a little more aggressive on the puck,” said forward Nic Gingras, who had two goals in the contest. “We couldn’t get the job done but obviously we are happy with what we did in that second and third period, so we are going to try and build on that.”
The Tar Heels will be on the road next weekend as they are set to take on M1 Liberty on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
