
Tar Heels Split Weekend with Back-to-Back Shootouts Against Alabama
By Sarah Stephens
Hillsborough, N.C. — Coming fresh off a 3-2 shootout win against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday, the North Carolina Tar Heels fell to Alabama 3-2 in a shootout Saturday.
Friday evening at the Orange County Sportsplex was the first home game for North Carolina since Sept. 6. The Heels were searching for redemption to capture a win during a period of droughts. Friday evening featured special guests, including the UNC women’s ice hockey team and Carolina football’s Max and Jake Johnson.
Friday night’s game was a defensive back-and-forth, with goaltender Lucas Brown fending off 39 shots on goal, including 11 in the first period. Alabama landed the first goal of the night, with Will Hinton matching it shortly after during the first period. The Tar Heels ended the first period tied 1-1.
The second period started off with a similar pattern, with the Crimson Tide striking first, but Adam Zukowski sent the puck into the net 30 seconds later at 9:45 to deliver a second tie, 2-2, going into the third period.
UNC looked to break it wide open.
But with the third period coming to a close, neither the Tar Heels nor the Crimson Tide could find the net. Going into the first overtime with 3-on-3 play, there were many close calls for UNC. But close wasn’t close enough, and they ended the third period, yet again, tied 2-2.
“They battled hard tonight,” head coach Steve Rice said.
This led up to a shootout where Will Smith won the game for the Heels, ending the Tide’s dream of securing their first ACCHL win.
“I think it brought some positive energy into tonight’s game,” Smith said.
Saturday afternoon was Kids Night, complete with a postgame autograph session. The game started off with a ceremonial puck drop from UNC’s mascot — and honorary captain — Ramses. This kicked off Tar Heel Hockey’s final game against the Tide, as they aimed to capture another home win.
Patrick O’Shaughnessy sent the puck past the Alabama goalie early in the first period to put a stop to Alabama’s trend of being first on the board.
Brown continued to defend the goal for the Heels with back-to-back saves from shots that Alabama failed to sink. Near the end of the first period, Alabama snuck in a goal past the crease to end the period tied 1-1.
45 seconds into the second period, O’Shaughnessy struck early again. Firing off a shot that was blocked, he made another attempt to send the puck into the net, which he succeeded in as the puck went into the corner of the net.
With an increase in physicality, Alabama scored on the power play, delivering a 2-2 score at the end of the second period.
The third period began with a stalemate, with both teams struggling to gain any ground. Despite multiple penalties on both sides, the puck never found the net. UNC continued applying pressure to Alabama’s goal. Similarly to Friday night, the third period ended with another 2-2 tie.
“I think we’re still trying to find our team identity,” Rice said.
In 3-on-3 overtime, Brown defended against a penalty shot to maintain the tie. Despite efforts from Hilton, the Tar Heels followed the same suit as Friday night — a shootout.
Alabama snuck the puck around Brown, easing it into the bottom right side of the net. Alabama successfully defended against Nic Gingras and O’Shaughnessy, and the Tar Heels lost their second game.
“I think we did a good job of getting in people’s way … made it hard on offense,” O’Shaughnessy said.
The Tar Heels will play against N.C. State on Friday, Oct. 24, at Invisalign Arena.
“I think we’ve played some of our best hockey this year, but we’re still not quite there yet,” Smith said.