The UNC club ice hockey team (11-5-1) hammered the Maryland Terrapins (9-9), 5-0, at the Orange County Sportsplex on Saturday night.
Goalie Joel Hughes had a clean sheet on the night and five different Tar Heels found the net over the three periods of play.
The Tar Heels started the night on the defensive side and worked well to transition out their defensive zone and impede on the Maryland half. Their puck handling paid off in the fourth minute when senior Leighton Walsh slung in a shot to get UNC on the board.
“One thing we are really priding ourselves on – and you alluded to that earlier – is the fact that we are not just a one or two man team,” head coach Adam Dauda said. “We are really deep and all four lines can score and our defense can score.”
Maryland was able to find a modicum of success on face-offs in the UNC zone but were foiled by Hughes. The Tar Heels peppered the Maryland goal across the latter half of the first period and were eventually able to squeeze out a pair of points in the last five minutes of the period.
Sophomore forward Patrick O’Shaughnessy found the back of the net after the puck ping-ponged between first-year defenseman Cam Glonek and senior forward Cole Kosowski, ending up in the possession of O’Shaughnessy in a one-on-one against the Maryland goaltender. O’Shaughnessy chipped the puck over the tender’s head to make the score 2-0.
“[O’Shaughnessy’s] really good at protecting the puck and is always dangerous with it in the [offensive] zone,” Dauda said.
The Tar Heels were able to transition efficiently and play the puck well, charging up and down the boards and found the net again — a shot by junior forward Zach Mangel — to give UNC a comfortable three point lead going into the first intermission.
Heading into the second period, the Tar Heels kept up their shooting bombardment, keeping the Maryland goalie on his toes. First-year forward Matt Grady added to the UNC score in the 11th minute with a laser to the top right hand side of the net.
