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FGCU & Kennesaw State Rivalry Renewed
Eagles split tough weekend with Owls!
January 21, 2007
After the exciting conclusion to the 2007 Gulf Coast Clash, the FGCU Eagles were pumped to take on their closest rivals, the Kennesaw State University Owls. Last season, the Owls triumphantly walked away with the 2006 Gulf Coast Clash Cup and left the Eagles waiting for a chance to avenge their loss. FGCU's chance finally came, almost a year later, as the Owls traveled to Germain Arena to play one of the most intense games of the Eagles' season so far.

On Friday night, the Eagles flew out of their locker room win high intensity as they lined up for the opening face-off. This was an interesting series as both teams have highly potent goal scorers and good goaltending. Both sides played a physical game, but Friday night was a tribute to FGCU's speed and skill as they were able to dominate the Owls. Just over a minute into the first period, Tyler Mackereth began the scoring drive as he buried the puck past the netminder off of a slick pass from Mike Marrero. This line would score three more times in the period as Marrero and Mike Lendino both tickled the twine before the end of the period to give the Eagles a commanding lead. With only twenty-two seconds left in the period, Lendino skillfully raced down the ice, picking his way between the Owls' defenders and eventually slipping one past Kennesaw's goalie to put the Eagles up 4-0.

The second period was a goaltending battle as both net minders closed the door on several good scoring opportunities, which resulted in a scoreless frame.  FGCU played strong defense to maintain their four-goal lead as Kennesaw valiantly assaulted the Eagles goalie in an attempt to get on the scoreboard.  In the third period, Kennesaw managed to squeak a puck past Andrew Kobrin, but it was quickly answered less than a minute later by FGCU's familiar line of Allan Penney, Justin Moore, and Matt Maida.  As the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles had won convincingly over the Owls by a score of 5-1.
Senior Tanner Bacik battles with a Kennesaw player in front of the Owl's net.
Eagle netminder Andrew Kobrin stands his ground as an Owl player crashes into the goal.
Defenseman Jim Easton takes his man out of the play with a good hit in the defensive zone.
Brett Galbraith is caught buzzing around the Kennesaw net looking for a loose puck.
Jordan Proudfoot skates past the Kennesaw State Owls bench with watchful eyes.
The capacity crowd at Germain Arena made the weekend series even more exciting!
Paramus, New Jersey native Brian Scholtz is featured above pressuring the Owl defense.
FGCU newcomer Chase Traeger puts a shot on the net during the Saturday night contest.
Saturday night, however, the Owls were determined not to leave Ft. Myers with two losses. They came out of the gate hard and capitalized on almost all of their opportunities. Rookie net minder Jordan Hume was given the start and could not prevent the onslaught from the Kennesaw offense in the first period. By the halfway mark of the first period, the Owls had managed to stun Hume and the Eagles by scoring four unanswered goals. Before the buzzer sounded at the end of the first period, Allan Penney, assisted by Tanner Bacik, managed to put FGCU on the board.  In the second period, Mike Lendino had two beautiful goals. The first came short-handed as Lendino managed to walk both Kennesaw defenseman and bury one past Owls net minder Hartley to pull the Eagles within two. Later in the period, Lendino would intercept an Owls pass to earn a breakaway and made no mistake burying the puck behind a helpless Hartley. The second period surge from the Eagles would put the Owls back on their heels and make it a one goal game. With the score 4-3 in favor of Kennesaw, the Eagles pressured for the entire third period and had several missed scoring opportunities. At the end of the game FGCU was victim to a questionable call and had a potential tying goal called back because the Kennesaw net was off the pegs when the puck went into the net. Although FGCU put up an courageous comeback effort, the four goal deficit proved to be too much to overcome and Kennesaw narrowly earned the victory by a score of 4-3. Kennesaw proved to be worthy opponents and the healthy rivalry between the two teams will only continue to grow as Kennesaw is rumored to be moving up to Division II next season.