by Travis Weber
Daily Lobo
Pucks and fists flew at the Ice Wolves' first home game of the season.
UNM hosted the Texas Tech Red Raiders this weekend in its home opener at Outpost Ice Arena. The two-game series was cut short after multiple suspensions stemming from several fights during Friday night's game.
Texas Tech was leading 10-6 in the third period when the game got violent.
"Texas had been playing dirty and trying to fight all period long," Matt Stockham said in the locker room after the game. "They got what was coming to them."
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With just two minutes left in the game, a Tech player shoved Stockham into the goal post. Stockham came up swinging.
Fights broke out all over the ice after both benches cleared. The melee lasted about five minutes before officials regained control.
Things got worse when Texas Tech coach Mike Hiebert slapped UNM's Jason Shultz in the face, and the brawls started right back up, ending the game.
"You can't hit a player if you're a coach," team organizer Tim Ross said. "That guy will be suspended for the year."
That wasn't the only suspension. Saturday's game was canceled, because every player on both teams was suspended one game for fighting.
The game started out feverishly as the Ice Wolves put early pressure on Tech.
But Tech started the scoring with an early counterattack goal just two minutes in, opening up the floodgates for the remainder of the period.
"You are faster than these guys," head coach Dwight Stockham told his team.
But speed was the Ice Wolves' downfall in the first period, as they kept pushing the puck and getting burned on the counterattack.
The Ice Wolves finally got on the board during the second period after an early goal by Tech made it 5-0. Shultz started the scoring for UNM five minutes into the period.
Tech's lead was 8-4 at the end of two periods.
The third period started off ugly and never got pretty, as Tech's players found themselves in the penalty box early and often. The Wolves found themselves with a two-man advantage just six minutes into the period.
"They had a lot of penalties in the third period, and it really helped us out." Stockham said.
UNM cut the lead down to two with just nine minutes left in the game.
The Ice Wolves travel to Amarillo next week for a two-game rematch with Tech.
