Starting Friday and ending Saturday evening, the Florida Ice Hockey Club was looking to take home the cup at the 27th annual Savannah Hockey Classic.
After a strong start with a 5-4 comeback win over the Tennessee Ice Vols Friday, the Gators fell short in the tournament final, losing 4-1 against South Carolina Gamecock Club Hockey, who took home the Ghost Pirates Cup at Enmarket Arena.
Florida has played in this tournament since 1999, but this year, for the first time, six collegiate teams competed.
Against the Ice Vols, the Gators made an impressive comeback, made even sweeter as UT dominated the Gators 11-2 in their last matchup.
The Vols started relentlessly on the attack and looked to defend their champion title. On two separate occasions, the Gators were down by two points and did not have a shot on goal until there was 4:34 left in the first period.
With 6.4 seconds left in the first period, junior Michael McCoy passed the puck to freshman Brian Pine, who lit the lamp, putting the Gators on the board.
The Gators took that momentum with them until the final minutes of the game, with Jack Fortescue and Kegan Lampien having third-period goals. Junior goalie Connor Lee’s eye-catching saves ultimately stopped 31 out of 35 shots.
“Beating a team that just busts you like that kind of boosts the morale a lot and brought us all together as a team again,” freshman forward Ronny Kemly said.
But on day two against the Gamecocks, the Gators could not produce another comeback.
South Carolina came out of the gate hot, with Matthew Baxter scoring in the first period. They continued applying pressure and preventing Florida from doing any damage.
The Gators were down 4-0 until the third period, when Michael McCoy scored with 1:47 left, cutting their deficit and spoiling the chance of a Gamecocks shutout.
Florida had opportunities, including several breakaways, but Gamecocks goaltender Tyler Temoyan would not let up. Temoyan was later announced as the MVP of the tournament after saving 36 out of 37 shots in the championship game.
The Gators have already faced the Gamecocks twice this season, with both contests ending in losses. Gators captain Noah Horwitz addresses that SC is a “fast and aggressive team”, which is something the Gators will have to navigate in the near future when they face off again.
This was South Carolina’s first appearance in the tournament, generating new competition for the rest of the teams to watch out for.
“I think going forward, they'll definitely be one of the main teams that consistently make the championship game for sure,” Gators senior winger Jackson Choi said.
Despite the championship loss, the Gators are keeping their eyes on the bigger picture.
“We're just going one weekend at a time, honestly, and then we'll see where we stand in about a month or two for playoffs,” Choi said.
The Gators will compete next against Boston College on Jan 23 at 7 p.m. at the Community First Igloo in Jacksonville, FL.
Contact Nicole Scura at nscura@alligator.org. Follow her on X @NicoleScuraa.
Nicole is a sophomore journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator and she is the beat reporter for the University of Florida Ice Hockey Club. In her free time, Nicole enjoys figure skating, watching football (Go Bucs!), traveling and linedancing.
