A Valentine’s game weekend showed the Drake Club Hockey players’ love for the sport. Drake’s hockey team went up against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers last Friday. UNL was a formidable opponent, shutting Drake out and scoring 7-0 on the Bulldogs. The next day, the Bulldogs won 4-3 against the Cornhuskers.
Todd Henderson, head coach of Drake Club Hockey, said that the Bulldogs knew playing the Cornhuskers would be tough. The two teams faced off two weeks prior in Lincoln, and Drake lost 6-0. This most recent game the team had 10 skaters as opposed to eight.
“We started off a little bit better, but we got tired,” Henderson said.
Both teams showcased speed and attack on the ice during the Feb. 14 game. UNL’s offense ultimately dominated Drake.
At the end of the first period, Drake was down by three points and had been playing mainly defense — with 25 shots by UNL to Drake’s 3. They came into the second period with new energy thanks to a talk in a locker room, according to Carter Osgood, one of Drake’s goalies and number 32 on the team. He said they planned to approach the second period by slowing it down and re-energizing.
“No matter how many times we got scored on, we always bounced back and found a way not to keep our heads down,” Osgood said.
The trend of being outshot continued. UNL had 49 shots to Drake’s 11 by the end of the second period. But Drake’s defense held strong throughout, and it wasn’t until the last four minutes that UNL scored two goals.
Due to UNL’’s aggressive offense and large number of shots on goals, Osgood saw a lot of action, making 56 saves in total.
“Seeing 60 shots in a game, it’s not something you do every day, so you have to look at the positives and know that I made some saves that I probably shouldn’t have,” Osgood said. “Yes, there were some goals that I probably want back, but you’ve got to look at the highs in games like this.”
Drake kept their energy up during the third period and continued to take shots at a goal. Unfortunately, the game ended in a shutout for the Bulldogs.
Next week, the Bulldogs face Wheaton College for senior night. Four seniors from the class that revived the program will graduate this year.
“Our coaches, we go through a lot of training through USA Hockey. They never mention how difficult it is when your seniors graduate and they move on with their lives, and we never get to see them again. And it’s rough,” Henderson said. “But I’m happy for them that they’ve achieved graduation and [are] going on to bigger and better things.”
Despite the seniors departing, Henderson said that next year, the team will be bigger than ever as the club is actively recruiting.
“We’re just trying to get through the rest of the season,” Henderson said.
Coaches have been attending high school showcases to find potential club members.
“We’ve got about 10 of them, all really, really good players,” Henderson said. “So we’re going to be very competitive with everything on our schedule next year.”
Henderson encouraged students to attend the free games.
“They’re your peers, your classmates. And when you cheer for them, they hear you. And they see you in the crowd and it means the world to them,” Henderson said.
