By Abby Doperak · OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. – The Tennessee Ice Vols swept the Ole Miss Rebels in their first road series of the season. Tennessee traveled to Mississippi to…
OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. – The Tennessee Ice Vols swept the Ole Miss Rebels in their first road series of the season.
Tennessee traveled to Mississippi to face Ole Miss with a 2-0 record after sweeping Auburn at home the previous weekend. The Rebels entered the series with a 2-4 record after sweeping Alabama and losing to Florida and Arkansas.
The weekend began on Friday night at the Mid-South Ice House. The first period featured smart shot attempts from the Ice Vols. The game remained scoreless until 10 minutes into the period, when Jack Ahne found the back of the net to give Tennessee a 1-0 lead. One minute later, Matthew Pavek scored to extend the lead to 2-0.
The first period ended without a penalty for either team.
Tennessee dominated the second period as Jacob Kulas scored twice to extend the lead again to 4-0. Kieran Crossan added another goal for the Ice Vols, followed by Brett Strick, who scored with just four seconds remaining in the period. Tennessee entered the final period with a 6-0 lead.
Just four minutes into the third period, Crossan scored his second goal of the game to make it 7-0. As tensions rose between the teams, physical play increased, but penalties remained limited.
Tennessee goalie Lincoln Simons held Ole Miss scoreless through the first two periods before the Rebels scored with seven minutes remaining to cut the deficit to 7-1. Pavek responded with his second goal of the game, restoring Tennessee’s seven-goal lead at 8-1.
Ole Miss scored one more before the final buzzer, bringing the final score to 8-2. Tennessee outshot Ole Miss 54-27.
“Obviously starting a new year can be a little slow to start,” Pavek said. “But I think we have built a lot of good chemistry on the ice, but more off the ice. Just getting to know everyone has really helped our success with our offense and our playmaking.”
Tennessee carried its momentum into the second game of the series. Jake Premo scored just three minutes into the first period to give the Ice Vols a 1-0 lead. Crossan and Stick also scored in the opening period, putting Tennessee ahead 3-0.
All eyes were on Patrick Green, who returned to goal for the Ice Vols after recording a shutout in his previous game against Auburn. Although Tennessee held a three-goal lead, Ole Miss outshot the Ice Vols 12-11 in the first period. Green stopped every shot he faced.
“We’ve really been nailing our defensive zone during practice and our system plays,” Pavek said. “I think the way our defense has been playing hard, getting pucks out and clearing the front of the net has been really contributing to our success in our defensive zone.”
The second period remained scoreless until nine minutes in, when captain Byrce Cooper found the back of the next to extend Tennessee’s lead to 4-0. The game grew more physical as big hits and penalties followed.
Ole Miss responded with a goal of its own, cutting the deficit to 4-1. As the game became more physical, captain Marius Angelin kept Tennessee’s offense moving by scoring to make it 5-1.
Less than two minutes later, Alekss Simanovics scored his first goal of the series to extend the lead to 6-1. With one minute remaining in the period, Tennessee received a penalty, leaving the Ice Vols short-handed to begin the final period.
Both teams continued to play aggressively in the third period, but neither was penalized during the first half of the period. Ole Miss scored again with eight minutes remaining, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 6-2. Despite the physical play, the score remained unchanged for the rest of the game, securing the road sweep for the Ice Vols.
The series marked the first road weekend win for Tennessee’s new roster and new head coach Rod Simmons.
“With Rod, he is especially good at holding in our emotions no matter if we are up or down,” Pavek said. “He likes us to play as if it was 0-0 and I think that has really helped with the mentality of playing really hard all three periods. I think all the rookies have really bought into the system Rod has brought in, as well as the whole team, and I think that will contribute to a lot of success this year.”
Tennessee now holds a 4-0 record and looks ahead to next weekend’s home series against Alabama. The Ice Vols will face the frozen Tide, which enters the matchup with a 5-1 record.
“Coming off back-to-back weekends with pretty big wins, there are always still things to improve,” Pavek said. “Especially going against a good team like Alabama that is good off the rush. We have to work on our transition game to get up on them.”
The Ice Vols will return to Knoxville next weekend to continue their season against Alabama.