Coastal Carolina University’s club hockey team played against their rival, the Liberty University Flames, on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Carolina Ice Palace in Charleston, South Carolina.
Pierce Ryan, senior defenseman for the team, said there has been a standard set for the team in previous years, and their goal every season is to win a championship.
That goal has always gone hand-in-hand with beating Liberty, which has caused the rivalry to form.
“I also think that in recent history we played them in high intensity games like the ACCHL championship game the last three years, games like that always build rivalries,” Ryan said.
The Chants lost the first game on Friday night 5-4 in overtime after the Flames overcame a late deficit in regulation. The game got off to a fast start with a goal for Coastal less than four minutes into the contest scored by center Owen O’Brien.
The Flames started off hot after the break. They tied the game with two goals before the second period’s halfway point.
The tie did not last long as winger Liam Walsh scored for the Chants a minute and a half later, and they held a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.
At 3-3, Coastal answered quickly with a power-play goal from defenseman Sawyer Tantleff, but the Flames tied the game again with less than four minutes remaining to send it to overtime.
Senior student Blaine Sutton was among the nearly 50 fans in attendance for the game and called it a tough loss for the home team.
“Tough way to lose after they outplayed them all game and a questionable goal call for Liberty in the third period,” Sutton said.
The Chants bounced back on Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 win in another tightly contested game. The first period saw a flurry of goals from both teams and Coastal took the lead 3-2 heading into the first intermission after two goals from winger Jake Higgins and another from O’Brien.
The Chants held on in a goalless third period to close out the win thanks to goalie Jack Shapiro and a stout defensive play in the final moments after a penalty with a minute-and-a-half to go gave Liberty an opportunity to equalize on a power play.
There were over 60 fans in attendance for the game including Mary Beth O’Brien, who traveled from Boston to watch her son play. Mary Beth said she has traveled for her son’s games for his whole life and still tries to make it to a few games a year if possible.
“It was a great weekend. I think Liberty is always a really tough competitor and the games were really close but it was nice to see them pull out the win today,” she said.
The team improved to 2-1-1 on the season and will play their next game on Saturday, Feb. 17 against High Point University in Greensboro, North Carolina.
