by Travis Weber
Daily Lobo
The UNM Ice Wolves were defeated twice by the Red Raiders of Texas Tech in their first home games of the year this weekend at Blades Ice Arena in Rio Rancho.
With both games being played late at night, the visiting Red Raiders managed to win each game by two goals. The Ice Wolves hung with them, though, and made both games interesting. ˇˇˇˇˇˇˇˇ
Game one began at 11:45 Friday night, and it started quickly for the visitors, who scored within the first two minutes in what would turn into a classic shootout.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Ice Wolves answered with two of their own at the 2:36 and 7:18 marks of the first period, to take their only lead of the game.
The next 20 minutes would be riddled with UNM penalties, which in turn would allow the Red Raiders to score five unanswered goals.
The Ice Wolves rallied to finish the game strong, outscoring Tech in the third period, but would fall just short, ultimately losing 9-7.
The Ice Wolves are in their fifth year at UNM and head coach Tom Medcof has seen all five years as either a player or a coach.
Medcof said he is impressed with the program and the direction it is headed in.
"This year we had over 30 guys come out for the team and about a dozen of them are freshmen," Medcof said.
He credits his team's recent growth to the development of the New Mexico High School League, which has helped cultivate local talent.
"It has kept kids in the state so they don't have to leave to play somewhere else," Medcof said.
The second game of the series, which was on Saturday night, saw more fans in attendance and a much more physical match.
Although the final score was 8-6 in favor of Tech, the Ice Wolves fought valiantly, closing the gap to as close as two after falling behind 4-0 in the first ten minutes.
"We should have beat this team tonight," Medcof said. "But there were just too many penalties."
The teams combined for an action-packed game which included 32 penalties, three fights and one ejection.
"Our forechecking was a lot better tonight," Medcof said. "Which made us fight for the puck a lot more."
Medcof said UNM club hockey players are on the rise.
"They are improving every game," he said. "This is probably the most skilled team I've ever seen here."
After having the weekend off following the Thanksgiving holiday, the Ice Wolves' next home game is set for Dec. 6th, at the Outpost Ice Arena in Northeast Albuquerque. They will play the Air Force Falcons at 5 p.m.
