UAH (8-8-1 overall, 6-4-0 CHS) at Georgia Tech (4-16-1, 2-7-1)
Where: Atlanta IceForum
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. CT; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. CT
Watch: TBD
The UAH club hockey team finishes the regular season this weekend at Georgia Tech with a spot in the College Hockey South Division 2 playoffs in sight.
One point (tie or overtime loss) against the Yellow Jackets will put the Chargers into the tournament, which will be held at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center on Feb. 16-18.
UAH is in third place with 12 points in the CHS Division 2 North, where the top four teams qualify. Fourth-place Clemson (11 points) and fifth-place Middle Tennessee (nine points) happen to face each other in a series this weekend: A Clemson victory would clinch playoff berths for both the Tigers and UAH.
UAH holds the tiebreaker over Middle Tennessee by virtue of the Chargers’ sweep over the Blue Raiders in September. UAH and Clemson split their series in October.
STATS: UAH | GEORGIA TECH
The Chargers spent last weekend at Ole Miss with mixed results, winning 4-1 and losing 6-1.
“Very happy to get two points on Friday at Ole Miss,” UAH head coach Tim Flynn said. “They gave us everything we expected. We were able to pull away in the third period and get a big win.
“Saturday was a bit of a different story. I think there are a lot of frustrations about the outcome, but the biggest thing is we just decided to take a night off in a game where we could have clinched a playoff spot. We’ve talked through what needs to change, and where our minds need to be to be successful. Full credit to Ole Miss, that’s behind us now and our focus in on getting points this weekend against Georgia Tech.”
The Yellow Jackets are in last place coming into this series and are eliminated from CHS playoff contention. Their last action was a couple of one-goal losses at Embry-Riddle in Florida. This series will be Georgia Tech’s final games of the season.
“We’ve had a good week of practice; the guys are excited for the opportunity this weekend and know what’s in front of us,” Flynn said. “Georgia Tech is similar to Ole Miss in that their record doesn’t quite indicate what they’re capable of. They’ve added some players in the second half and have been playing some good hockey the last few weeks. It’s going to take a team effort to get the results we want and continue our season.”