Mt. Laurel, NJ – The Temple Owls split their first set of back-to-back weekend games with a 4-3 defeat to the Cornell Big Red Saturday, Sep. 20 and a resounding 11-0 victory over the NJIT Highlanders Sunday, Sep. 21.
Saturday at The Igloo, Cornell took advantage of a slow start from the Owls to enter the second period up, 2-0. Temple improved its play immediately in the second, and players started to move their legs and forecheck.
Junior forward Shawn Fowler scored the Owls’ first goal on a 3-on-1 rush. Freshman defenseman Blayden Reid carried the puck up the left wing and took a shot from the circle that rebounded to the right post. Fowler buried it home to cut the Big Red’s lead in half.
Flying freshman forwards Brandon LaBumbard and Jason Zambella each added power play goals in the last four minutes of the middle period. LaBumbard’s left-circle snipe tied the game, but then Cornell scored off a deflection just seconds later to retake the lead at 3-2. With under 40 seconds remaining in the period, Zambella took advantage of a miraculous save from Ben Auerbach shorthanded to retie the game at 3-3 heading into the third period.
Cornell scored within the first minute of the third and held on to a slim 4-3 lead through the final buzzer.
Temple quickly shrugged off the loss with a dominant 11-0 victory over NJIT.
Temple coach Pat Carroll elected to give two of his top players a rest, scratching Auerbach and senior forward Charles Ghiazza.
Even without two of its statistical leaders from last season, Temple controlled the flow of the game. The 11-goal rout saw near-equal contributions from both returners and new players. Senior forwards Brendan Ondick and Jack Pearce each scored twice. Sophomore forward Andrew Kaeser and junior forward Garrett Russell also contributed for a total of six goals from returners.
LaBumbard and Zambella both recorded their second goals for the Cherry and Ice. Freshman forwards Mike Walker and Michael Irey and junior forward Aaron Crosson also scored.
Freshman goaltender Joey Galitski recorded an 18-save shutout in his first collegiate game.
“I just gotta give props to the forwards and D for backchecking and playing their tails off for me,” said Galitski. “Without them, I wouldn’t have done what I did today.
“When your defense is playing so well, you have to do little things to keep you going. I’ll do laps around the side, keep moving, keep moving, keep drinking water to keep me active and just keep following the puck.”
The Owls return to action in the Philadelphia College Showcase at Hatfield Ice 8 P.M. this Saturday. Details will be published on the schedule and format for the formerly-named City 6 tournament tomorrow.
About the Temple University Ice Hockey Club
The Temple University Ice Hockey Club was founded in 1940 and has played in the top division of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the top league for club hockey in the United States, since 2015. Temple plays in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA) alongside geographical rivals in Villanova and Drexel. The Temple Owls play at The Igloo at Mt. Laurel at 3033 Fostertown Road, Mt. Laurel, NJ. They have made the playoffs in four-straight ECHA seasons.
You can watch Owls games live on the TUICE Network at TempleIceHockey.com or the Temple University Ice Hockey Club YouTube Channel.
Originally published on TempleIceHockey.com