UNLV team aims for Division 2 club hockey championships
A lot of good things have happened to UNLV’s hockey club this season.
There’s the school-best 28-7 record. There was the game against Arizona State at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 9. There was the announced move from Division 2 to Division 1 club hockey for next season along with progress on moving the program to NCAA Division I varsity status.
But all of that shifts to the back burner. The team’s preseason goal — a first-ever trip to the American Collegiate Hockey Association D-2 National Championships in Columbus, Ohio, next month, is at hand. UNLV, the No. 3 seed, will need to win at 3 p.m. Friday against No. 11 Metro State and again at noon Saturday against the lowest remaining seed in the West Regionals at Greeley, Colorado, in order to advance to nationals, which are scheduled for March 15-19.
“We’ve been pointing to this all year,” said head coach Anthony Vignieri Greener after Wednesday’s practice at the Las Vegas Ice Center. “I think we’re past the disappointment of having not received one of the automatic bids to nationals and we’re focused on playing well in Colorado.”
Senior goaltender Terry Martin, who is 8-2 with a goals-against average of 2.20, said being bypassed for nationals may be a blessing in disguise.
“I think by playing additional games you’re not thinking about it,” he said. “You’re concentrating on the game that you’re playing in.”
The team went through a bad stretch after coming off winter break, losing four of nine. But sophomore right wing Cody Williams said the Rebels have bounced back. UNLV has won three straight heading into the single-elimination ACHA playoffs.
“We’re back skating and playing for each other and we learned from those losses,” said Williams, who has 33 goals and 72 points.
Vignieri Greener said the team is doing a better job staying out of the penalty box and that will be key in tournament play where giving up a power play goal or failing to convert when having the man advantage can be the difference between advancing or going home.
“You want to be smart but at the same time you don’t want to lose your identity of who you are,” he said. “We want to be a fast, physical team. That’s what got us to this point and you don’t want to change now.”
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
