UF hockey: Gators Sweep USF
Posted at 12:13 pm on 01/09/2013 by Daniel Sosa
Friday night came with anticipation; USF has had the upper hand in the UF/USF series for the past couple seasons, but this Gator team looked to change that precedent. The puck dropped in Orlando and the Gators took no time at all to get the game underway. 4 minutes into the game, Michael Jugan buried a power play goal to put the Gators up 1-0 early. By the end of the period the Gators had built up a solid 4-0 lead. The second period was no different; the Gators charged ahead to a 9-2 lead on goals by Michael Jugan, Scott Schilson, Michael Dutka and Matt Girello. The third period showed a bit of slack in the Gator attack as USF slimmed the gap, but the end result was a huge 11-7 Gator hockey win. The first line of Dutka-Schilson-Jugan proved dominant once again, finishing with 6-7-5 points respectively; each with a hat-trick. Dan Hill tacked on 2 assists to his season total while Girello and Dusome finished the scoring for the Gators with a goal each. Senior goaltender Jake Lewis fought off 55 shots, making a total of 48 saves in the game.
Sunday brought life to a previously quiet Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Gators came out of the gate strong again, with an early goal from Dan Hill. USF returned the favor however, adding 2 goals with only 2 minutes left in the first period. Facing a 2-1 deficit, the Gators capitalized on a late period power play with a goal by Scott Schilson. Entering the second period with a 2-2 tie, the Gators looked to push ahead; a quick goal by Joel Haines accomplished that task and put the Gators up 3-2. Scott Short and Michael Jugan added two more goals in the second period to push the Gators lead to 3. The third period ended up scoreless, giving the Gators the 5-2 win and series sweep of USF. Senior goalie Jake Lewis started his fifth game in a row and took home the win with 41 saves on 43 shots.
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