Bulls Victorious after this Weekend's War on I-4 Series
The Bulls played their second round of the War on I-4 this weekend. They played two games against the University of Central Florida Knights and came out successful.
Orlando, FL- On Saturday, the Bulls headed east to Orlando to play at UCF’s home ice, the RDV Ice Den. Both teams showed up ready for their first rival game of the weekend.
The first period began with starters #11 Holman, #25 Mikheev, #28 Rhoads, #3 Breen, #6 King, and #33 Jenal. The players were working hard yet the game remained scoreless for half of the first period. With 14:42 remaining in the first period, #5 Nelson headed to the penalty box for cross-checking. 28 seconds after the USF penalty was killed, the Knights received a penalty of their own. The Bulls finally took lead with 11:58 remaining in the first period when #28 Rhoads scored, assisted by #11 Holman and #5 Nelson. #22 Weightman was called for tripping with 7:32 remaining. A knight headed to the box with exactly 5 minutes remaining, putting the Bulls on a power play. Goalie #33 Jenal caught the puck with just 56 seconds left, allowing the Bulls to end the period 1-0.
UCF came into the second period strong when they tied up the score less than five minutes in, moving the score to 1-1. With fifteen minutes remaining, the Knights were called for interference. The Bulls played 5-on-3 hockey for some time when UCF received a 5-minute major for game misconduct. The Bulls had two close goals with about 9:25 left. UCF had yet another penalty for game misconduct; a knight headed to the box for five minutes with 7:37 remaining in the second period. #28 Rhoads put the Bulls ahead again when he scored a goal from #25 Mikheev and #9 Welch. The game moved into the third period with a score of 2-1 USF.
#28 Rhoads received a penalty for tripping 38 seconds into the third period. With 11:39 remaining, Rhoads was sent to the box again along with #3 Hunter Chard from UCF, leaving the teams to play 4-on-4 hockey. #12 Woodall scored with 10:09 remaining in the third period; it was now 3-1 USF. Just 1:18 later, the score increased to 4-1 when #19 Young scored unassisted.
The Bulls swept UCF on their home ice with a final score of 4-1 USF.
Tampa, FL- The Bulls headed back to Tampa to play the Knights on Saturday. Three special guests attended the War on I-4 finale: Michael Kelly, the vice president of athletics at USF; Greg Wolf, the in-game host for the Lightning; and Sonya Bryson Kirksey, the Lightning anthem singer.
The starters for this weekend’s home game were #13 Barlett, #22 Weightman, #24 Parker, #5 Nelson, #9 Welch, and #31 Richard. UCF was called for elbowing less than five minutes into the first period. Halfway into the period, the shots were 9-5 USF, but the score was still 0-0. With 8:10 remaining in the first period, #6 King headed to the box for cross-checking. USF was on the power play when a Knight got boxed for tripping. Then, #25 Mikheev was called for boarding, negating the power play and leading to a 4-on-4 spell. When there were just over two minutes left in the first period, #8 Kupferman scored for the Bulls with an assist from #26 Hultberg. #6 King and a Knight were boxed for roughing with just 43 seconds left in the first.
The second period began 1-0 USF and with 1:17 remaining of 4-on-4 hockey. UCF received a penalty, putting USF on the power play. #24 Parker scored a power play goal with assists from #12 Woodall and #22 Weightman. The Bulls were now ahead 2-0 with 15 minutes left in the second period. Two minutes later, #14 Barlett was sent to the box for high-sticking. The Knights scored, but the Bulls were still ahead by 1. Another knight received a penalty for interference. After returning to even strength, two Knights were sent to the box for roughing. The Bulls were on a 5-on-3 powerplay. With 6:26 remaining in the second, #28 Rhoads was sent to the box for five minutes after being called for kicking. To continue with the string of penalties, a Knight and #22 Weightman were both sent to the box for roughing. Another UCF penalty-- two minutes for a hit from behind. #6 King received the same penalty shortly after. UCF tied up the score 2-2 with a little over a minute remaining. #13 Barlett scored with exactly one minute left in the period. Assisted by #22 Weightman and #4 Moss, Bartlett’s goal put us ahead 3-2.
Four minutes into the third period, UCF tied up the game again. The score was now 3-3. With 11:48 remaining, UCF managed to pull ahead 4-3. A minute later, UCF was sent to the box for holding. Another knight joined his buddy in the box, also for a holding penalty. 5-on-3 hockey was played for the eight seconds that the two UCF penalties overlapped. With 7:42 left in the third period, #22 Weightman scored with the help of #9 Welch. The game was now tied 4-4. 28 seconds later, the Knights took back the lead. The score moved to 5-4 UCF. With 2:17 remaining in the game, UCF was called for slashing. #22 Weightman added a point for the Bulls with an assist from #25 Mikheev. The third period ended with a tie of 5-5, leading to overtime.
Five minutes of 3-on-3 hockey began for overtime, but it did not last long. #5 Nelson scored within 11 seconds and ended the game with a score of 6-5 USF.
This weekend’s War on I-4 series was a huge success for USF. What a great weekend to be a Bull!
