A late-period breakaway sealed the fate of the Florida Ice Hockey Club in its first 2026 playoff matchup.
The Gators opened the College Hockey South playoffs with a 7-4 loss against the Florida Atlantic University Hockey Club on Friday night at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs.
The late-night game started off slowly, with both teams cruising on the ice and both goaltenders making scoring difficult for either team.
Gators’ freshman goaltender Zachary Shield made some timely saves throughout the contest, including his block against junior forward Jackson Nieuwendyk with 14:46 left in the first period. The second-generation Florida hockey player has a goals against average of 3.68 and an average save percentage of 0.893%. As FAU began to apply pressure, Shield was pelted at with pucks, making three saves in about 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, Junior goaltender Rocco Bruno was in the net for the Owls. Coming into the night, his numbers were slightly better than Shields, with a 3.52 goals against average and a 0.899 save percentage.
But that didn’t shake Florida’s offense. UF junior winger Michael McCoy kicked off the offensive surge with the Gators’ first goal of the night with 12:55 remaining in the first period.
With 3:36 left in the first period, the shots on goal amounted to 17-7 in favor of FAU. Both teams then headed to the locker room, only to return revved up.
The second period started similarly until, 12:31 was left in the period, and a shorthanded goal by FAU’s junior forward Jake Murphy blew past Shield, neutralizing the score 1-1.
Florida Atlantic continued to drive the shots on goal. With 9:06 left in the second period, it led 22-17.
Florida’s defense could only handle so many, and soon FAU was able to find the back of the net.
The Owls were ahead for the first time after sophomore forward Jason Theander tipped it in with the assist from freshman forward David Ros with 7:47 left in the second. But the fun was only just beginning.
Florida answered back with not just one, but two goals. At the four-minute mark, Florida captain and junior defenseman Noah Horwitz turned a loose puck into a goal. Almost 35 seconds later, a backhanded goal by Gator Liam Lecauchois made it over the glove of Bruno and made it a 3-2 game.
However, with 29 seconds left in the period, FAU’s sophomore defenseman Brady Baehser buried it in the net and tied it 3-3 for the Owls.
That late goal seemingly shifted the tide for FAU.
Junior forward Leon Biller began the scoring in the final period around the 11-minute mark, putting FAU ahead 4-3.
Biller and Baehser kept their scoring going, racing in on a breakaway, beating Shield, and solidifying the Owls’ lead.
Down 5-3, Florida felt the heat and called their first timeout. However, it was not enough to spell the Owl attack.
Horwitz scored one more for the Gators with less than two minutes left in play, but it did not bring UF closer, as FAU found the back of the net twice more to secure the victory.
The Gators will compete Friday against Tampa University, who won the Division One AAU Championship last year. Puck drop is at 8:30 p.m. at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs.
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.
