The Rockets closed out their first semester and the first half of the 14-15 season this past weekend by sweeping the University of Dayton.  UT v. UD has been a growing rivalry as the Dayton Flyers always seem to find ways to frustrate the Rockets.  During their time in the TSCHL, the two teams often split the season series.  That would not be the case this year as the Rockets took both games by scores of 6-4 and 6-1.

 

The Rockets hosted Dayton at the Toledo Ice House on Friday night and wasted no time in finding the score board.  Senior assistant captain Sven Weisser scored on the very first shot of the game just 35 seconds into the first period.  That first goal seemed to awaken the Flyers though as they would battle back and take a one goal lead before the end of the first 20 minutes.  

 

The Rockets struggled to find a rhythm during the second period despite spending most of it on the power play.  Finally, at the 10:15 mark, Zach Born found the back of the net with help from Pete Wychocki and captain Garryt Kujawa for a power play goal.  Dayton would not back down though and took the lead again with just under 5 minutes to play in the period.  This time, the Rockets wasted no time in responding as Austin Fletcher found Born for his second goal of the night.  The 2^nd period would come to an end with everything tied at 3.

 

In the third period, the Flyers would strike first but it was all UT after that.  First, Zach Kinney scored to tie things up with assists from Born and Brent Bain.  Exactly a minute later Born would finish his hat trick with an unassisted power play goal.  Less than a minute after that, senior Kyle Swansegar would add an insurance goal giving the Rockets a 6-4 lead.  The Rockets and senior net minder David Rieckhoff weathered a trio of penalties to end the game but were able to keep the Flyers off the board for the remainder of the game.

 

The Rockets used their momentum from Friday’s win to get off to a fast start in the Saturday’s contest at Dayton.  Swansegar scored in the first few minutes of the first period to get things rolling.  Before the end of the first, Born would add a back door goal as well with help from Tyler Textor and Fletcher.

 

After earning the two goal lead in the first period, the Rockets never looked back as Zac Cherney played well in net and the team cruised to a 6-1 victory.

 

The Rockets are now off until January when everyone returns from the holiday break.  They will start the second half of their campaign with a home game on Jan 16 v. the University of Pittsburgh.