Huskers Complete Weekend Sweep at Kansas!
The University of Nebraska Men’s Hockey Club got off to a fast start for their 2022-2023 season after completing a two-game sweep of in-conference rival Kansas over the weekend (9/9/22 and 9/10/2022).
In game one Friday night at Cable-Dahmer Arena, the Huskers raced to a 5-0 victory over the Jayhawks which was highlighted by a 27 save shutout from senior goalie and Omaha native Alex Kopf. Kopf, coming off of a strong finish to the 2021-2022 season that saw him lead the Huskers in to the National Tournament in St. Louis, earned the start for the Friday night opener and picked up right where he left off. Head Coach Reed Fuller had this to say of Kopf’s performance – “We knew going in to this season that goaltending and defense were going to be the strengths of our team. Alex earned the right to lead us out Friday night and it is no surprise to me that he took control of the game from the start. He is as locked in and focused as any goalie I’ve seen over the course of my career and is set up to have a phenomenal senior season.” Offensively, the Huskers were powered by goals from Justin Bonthius (Minnetonka, MN) with two, and one each from freshman forward Grant Webster (Lake Zurich, IL), freshman forward Jack Doogan (Orland Park, IL), and freshman defenseman Zack Brown (Cedar Rapids, IA).
Saturday night the Huskers scored 5 times in the first period, which served to be enough offense in a 5-2 victory of the Jayhawks. Goals for the Huskers came from Evan Detina (Gurnee, IL) with two, and one each from team captain Cody Walters (Omaha, NE), Justin Bonthius (Minnetonka, MN), and senior defenseman Jack Johnson (Omaha, NE). When asked about Saturday night’s performance, Coach Fuller stated “Obviously we got off to a hot start, but we quickly realized that continued success is very difficult to come by in this league. I think it is good that we were able to face a bit of adversity today and it will go along way in helping us prepare for the season ahead. Kansas is going to be a very tough and talented team when we see them again in Lincoln – and our guys will definitely need to be prepared for that. Overall, this weekend was a great first test for this group, and I am very proud of how they performed. A lot of young guys were thrown in to their first college action and conference games at that. We had veteran guys lead by example and help us to set the tone for what it’s going to take to compete all-season long. Coach Nate and I will take a look at the film, make some adjustments, and get back to work next week as we prepare for Nebraska-Omaha.”
On the weekend the Huskers (2-0-0) outshot the Jayhawks (0-2-0) by a total of 100 to 49. A total of 10 first-year players were in the line-up over the course of the two games for the Big Red. The Huskers return to the ice with their home opener against Nebraska-Omaha on September 23rd and 24th. Game time for Friday night is 7:00 PM and Saturday afternoon at 1:30 PM – both at the John Breslow Hockey Center in downtown Lincoln.