By Abby Doperak · KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Ice Vols will face the Florida Gators at the Knoxville Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday, wrapping u…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Ice Vols will face the Florida Gators at the Knoxville Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday, wrapping up competition for the fall semester.
The Ice Vols celebrated their 60 th anniversary last weekend with a split series against Miami University. Tennessee won Thursday night’s matchup with a 3-0 shutout but dropped Friday’s game in a 6-5 overtime loss.
“We are feeling pretty good,” winger Matt Pavek said. “We had two hard days of practice and got our systems dialed in. I think we are ready to go for a big rivalry game against Florida.”
Miami became the second team that the Ice Vols handed its first loss of the season, joining previously undefeated South Carolina.
Tennessee enters the matchup with an 8-2 record against a 9-3 Florida team.
The Gators most recently faced the Georgia Bulldogs nearly two weeks ago, also splitting the series with a 12-5 win Thursday and 6-5 loss Friday.
Last season, Tennessee traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, to face the Gators. The teams split the series, with Florida earning a 6-4 win before Tennessee responded with an 11-2 victory.
“I think we are using that score as the standard,” Pavek said. “I think we are supposed to beat Florida at this point, so we are coming in with that mindset.”
The series will be Ice Vols’ final home series until the spring semester begins in 2027.
“We have a couple of players that are done after this semester,” Pavek said. “We are really playing for them. We have a couple of people going abroad, a couple of people that are just visiting here, so we are really playing for them.”
Tennessee will face Florida at the Knoxville Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday before moving to Cool Sports Icearium for an 11 a.m. matchup Friday. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.