Last night’s game ended in dramatic fashion for the ice hockey club, but resulted in the Owls ending a two-game losing streak.
With the score tied at 3 late in the third period, junior forward Stephen Kennedy picked up a loose puck at the slot and shot it past the Rider goaltender to seal a Temple victory with just 22 seconds left in the contest. The Owls are now 8-4-4 on the season.
“I’m excited,” coach Ryan Frain said. “I was very happy with the way the guys played basically the entire game.”
The game started how it ended, with a Kennedy goal. The native of Ambler Pa., opened the scoring with a tip in goal 5 minutes, 37 seconds into the contest.
Later on in the period, a scrum in front of the Rider net ended with sophomore forward Dave Brewer slipping it past the Rider goaltender to give the Owls a 2-0 advantage heading into the second period.
After a dominating first period, Temple had moments of lapse in the second.
“There were a couple of minutes here and there in the second period where we kind of fell off,” Frain said. “And we took some bad penalties.”
The result was two unanswered goals by Rider to tie up the score at 2-2.
But with 9:55 left in the period, junior forward Patrick Golden scored his second career goal for the Owls to retake the lead.
Rider would again tie the game up in the middle of the third period, until Kennedy’s eventual game winner with 22 seconds left in regulation, his second of the night and 19th on the season.
“It’s the same scene,” Frain said. “The kid just wants to be on the ice and wants the puck on his stick at all times.”
In defeating a good team and a Mid Atlantic North rival, last night’s victory is a momentum boost that Frain believes can help carry his team through the rest of the season.
“I know it was only a one-game weekend,” Frain said. “But if we put that same effort and intensity out there every night we’re going to be hard to beat this year.”
The Owls will look to keep this momentum going as they will take on another MACH rival in a Friday night home matchup against Monmouth at 9:20 p.m.
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