After a shortened winter break the Virginia Tech Ice hockey team returned early to Blacksburg to prepare for two games against the Ice Cats of the University of Kentucky. On Friday January 16th, the team travelled to Lexington for the first game which took place at midnight. The Ice cats opened the game at a fast pace and early on the Hokies were unable to keep up. Kentucky took a 2-0 lead in the first ten minutes of the game with both goals coming from forward Tony Valerino. The Hokies were able to cut the lead to 2-1 with a nice slap shot goal from junior forward Jack Wydler ending the first period.
In the second period the Hokies began to settle down and the play began to even out between the teams. The Hokies were able to get many scoring chances but were unable to cash in on any of their opportunities. The only goal of the period would once again come from Kentucky forward Tony Valerino completing his hat-trick on a power play, finishing the period with a score of 3-1.
The Hokies started off the third on the penalty kill and this would be a common theme for the period. The Ice Cats were able to score two minutes into the third on the power play making the score 4-1. Virginia Tech would get one goal in the third with a nice play from freshman forward Andres Morales but it was not enough as Kentucky would add two more goals of their own with a final score of 6-2. The Ice Cats received an excellent effort from forward Tony Valerino who finished the game with 4 goals and an assist.
The following day the two teams met again with the game also occurring at midnight in Lexington. At the start of play it was obvious that the game would be much closer than the previous day's game as the Hokies were able to come out at a face pace. The Hokies were able to control the majority of the play in the first period and scored the only goal to take a 1-0 lead coming from senior forward Matt Harrison. The Ice Cats were able to recover after the first period and played a strong second scoring 2 goals while the Hokies were unable to score any. One of Kentucky's goals in the period came on the power play and the period finished up 2-1, Kentucky.
At the start of the third period the Hokies fought their way back into the game with a goal from sophomore forward Rick Onorato to tie it back up at 2 all. The game would stay tied until the 4 and a half minute mark when the Ice Cats were able to get the go ahead goal from forward Taylor Vit. Virginia Tech continued to play hard but Kentucky was able to close the game out with another goal from Taylor Vit ending the game at 4-2.
On January 23rd, the Virginia Tech Ice hockey team will play the University of Virginia Cavaliers at 7:30 at the Roanoke Civic Center. The following night the team will get a chance to avenge their earlier season loss against the Pirates of East Carolina. The game is also senior night for the Hokies. There has been a change to the team's schedule as they will no longer play in the tournament at Texas Tech as they had financial difficulties and could no longer pay for ice. The team will instead travel to Philadelphia on January 30th to play Temple University at 2:35.
