The Oakland University Division I Men’s Hockey team kicked off the 2012-13 season with a weekend sweep of the Kent State Golden Flashes.
The Golden Grizzlies traveled to Kent State Friday night, where they defeated the Golden Flashes 7-3.
On Saturday, Oakland hosted their first home game of the season against Kent State, where they defeated the team 8-3.
“It’s a good start and a start we want,” Head Coach Jeremy Bachusz said. “Hopefully down the line, we can continue to build confidence and do well.”
Kent State is a new team to the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League this year, making them a fresh opponent for Oakland.
“What we focused on before the games was our own systems and our style of play,” Bachusz said. “We didn’t know a lot about Kent State.”
Almost every player on the team recorded either a goal or assist over the weekend, with ten different players recording at least one goal. Forward Anthony Colizza recorded four goals and two assists over the weekend series.
“I saw a lot of really good things about the team and I also saw some really bad play,” Bachusz said. “These are some things we need to work on this week in practice. Tighten up a little bit defensively and try to simplify our game a little bit. We tried to do too much this weekend and it was a little bit frustrating.”
Oakland outscored Kent State 15-6 over the two-game span.
“It was nice to get the sweep,” goalie Corey Hrischuk said. “I didn’t think we played up to the level that we are capable of. It was a good start.”
Hrischuk saved 14 of the 17 shots on goal he faced in Saturday night’s home opener.
Hrischuk and Bachusz both said the team has a lot of building to do in terms of chemistry and defensive play, but are optimistic moving forward in the season.
Oakland’s next game is Saturday at the ONYX Ice Arena in Rochester, Mich. They’re playing against the University of Michigan-Dearborn at 8:30 p.m.
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Contact Sports Editor Damien Dennis via email at djdennis@oakland.edu or follow on him on Twitter @djdennisOU