Category | Sports

Another successful hockey season

Published on March 11, 2008 by The Sentinel

    One year removed from the championship season of 2006-2007, The KSU
Ice Hockey program made the jump from ACHA Division-III to Division-II.

     
Moving up a division has provided stronger competition and focus for
the future of the ice hockey program. KSU has been the dominant school
for ice hockey in the state of Georgia for the last three years.

    A packed house greeted the KSU Owls as they kicked off the season last September. The Owls embarrassed Life University 9-2 in front of a sold out Ice Forum in Kennesaw. Clemson suffered the same fate as KSU handed out a 12-2 loss to the Tigers. These two games were merely a workup for the Grand Valley State Invitational Tournament in Michigan. KSU lost all four of the games they played at the tournament. The Owls saw their first loss of the new season, allowing 10 goals to the D-II national champion Michigan State. Despite these losses, the Owls came away from the tournament with the assurance that they belong at the higher level. Division-II hockey was not a guarantee of the success that KSU saw at the D-III level. Hard work was the key to the success of this year’s team.

    As the regular season carried the Owls through October and into February, the Owls won 16 of the remaining 24 games. Only losing games to Florida Gulf Coast, William Patterson, Liberty, and Miami (OH), the Owls finished 18-10-2 which qualified them for a return trip to the Southeast Regional Playoffs in Washington, DC. The Owls were scheduled to face off against Indiana State in the opening round of the playoffs. By winning both playoff games, KSU would see a return to the National Championship tournament. KSU was set to face The Indiana Hoosiers on Feb 22. The opponent for the second game would be decided by the results of the KSU-Indiana game.

    Indiana took the early lead only to see the Owls tie the score and then go ahead midway through the second period. The Hoosiers scored the equalizer with a minute to go in the second. Indiana opened scoring early in the third. Curtis Morrison kept KSU’s playoff hopes alive with a power play goal with 21 seconds left on the clock. The Owls chance to repeat as National Champions was brought to an end when Indiana scored the game winning goal in the overtime period. KSU still had one game left to play at Regionals, easily defeating Ohio State, 8-3.

    “We have won a national championship. We have nothing to prove and no expectations going into regionals,” Bill Morrison, the Director of the KSU Ice Hockey stated. “Our team is on the right track and we are looking to build on our success and keep Kennesaw as the top college hockey team in Georgia.”

    Kennesaw State University Ice Hockey finished the year ranked seventh in the Southeast Division. The team was quick to incorporate twelve rookies and two new coaches into the program. Only projecting the loss of one player, senior defenseman Curtis Morrison, the Owls have the deepest pool of talent in the south. Keep up all of the off-season action, including training camp and tryouts, by logging onto www.ksuicehockey.com for updates.

    Photo courtesy of KSU hockey