A season goal for the UAH club hockey team has been achieved. Now it’s time for a new goal: Winning a championship.
The Chargers are in the College Hockey South Division 2 playoffs this weekend at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center. They’ll take on the Tennessee Ice Vols on Friday night at 9:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup.
Playing at home is a big deal for UAH.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to play for a championship this weekend, and to be able to do it in Huntsville makes it even more special,” UAH head coach Tim Flynn said. “Our goal from the beginning of the season was to get here, and the guys have worked extremely hard to be in this position so I’m very proud of them. It should be a pretty fun experience for the whole team, but especially the local players and we have a lot of talented players from Huntsville. To get to play in front of friends, family, their former coaches and teammates I think is something they’re all excited about.
“A big thank you to the Huntsville Sports Commission for putting this event on, and the people at College Hockey South for hosting these types of tournaments in Huntsville, and obviously the Huntsville Ice Sports Center for all their hospitality and coordination.”
The Chargers may be the No. 7 seed against the No. 2 seed Vols, but they have shown they can pull off the technical upset. The teams split their season series in two close battles, with UAH winning 4-3 in overtime in Huntsville in September and Tennessee winning 5-3 in Knoxville in November.
“We’ve played them twice this year, which can be a good and a bad thing,” Flynn said. “We know a little about them and they know a little about us. It is playoff hockey so I expect the intensity to ramp up a bit. We need to get back to playing on our toes, dictating the pace and tempo and having a little more urgency than we’ve had the last three weeks. Every mistake is amplified this time of year.”
UAH’s spring semester has been up and down, going 3-3 in its last six games, all on the road. The Chargers are coming off a series split against Ole Miss.
Keaton Watts had four points against Ole Miss to take the Chargers’ lead in scoring with 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists). His brother Kolton is two points behind, and Henry Hoff is heating up after a five-point night in UAH’s victory last Friday.
Cameron Crawford had a busy series in goal last weekend, making 107 saves in two games against the Rebels. He sports a season save percentage of .909 to go with a 3.57 goals against average.
More from 256 Today: Blast from the past: UAH to face Vols in College Hockey South playoffs
College Hockey South Division 2 Playoffs
Eight teams are in the tournament, the top four from the North Division and the top four from the South Division. Florida Atlantic, the top-ranked team in AAU College Hockey Division 2, and Tennessee are the top seeds by way of winning the South and North divisions, respectively. The other six teams were seeded in order of their placement in the latest AAU D2 MyHockey rankings.
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased for a whole day’s games ($15) or a weekend pass ($30) either at the Ice Sports Center or online.
Streaming
All games will be broadcast on the College Hockey South YouTube channel.
Schedule
Friday – Quarterfinals
No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Clemson, Rink 1, 6 p.m.
No. 4 Central Florida vs. No. 5 Tampa, Rink 2, 7 p.m.
No. 1 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 8 Vanderbilt, Rink 1, 8:30 p.m.
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 7 UAH, Rink 2, 9:30 p.m.
The teams will be reseeded for the semifinals, with the lowest remaining seed matched against the highest remaining seed.
Saturday – All games on Rink 1.
7th Place Game: Lowest seeded Friday loser vs. second lowest seeded Friday loser, 11 a.m.
5th Place Game: Highest seeded Friday loser vs. second-highest seeded Friday loser, 1:30 p.m.
Semfinal 1: 4 p.m.
Semfinal 2: 6:30 p.m.
Sunday – All games on Rink 1.
3rd Place Game: Semifinal losers, 10 a.m.
Championship Game: Semifinal winners, 12:30 p.m.
Pictured: UAH’s Kolton Watts battles Tennessee’s Kenneth Richter for the puck at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center on Sept. 22. Photo by Todd Thompson/RiverCat Photography.