Though the Palmetto Series won't show it, South Carolina's finest rivalry hits the ice Friday when USC faces Clemson in Irmo.
Clemson prevailed in last season's three-game series with consecutive victories on Nov. 4 and Nov. 19, but the Gamecocks captured the Feb. 18 final match with a 5-2 win in front of a spirited crowd in Irmo. Any momentum aside, Carolina will have to keep up with an explosive Tiger offense to capture its victory of 2017-18.
The Tigers will enter Irmo riding high after decisive home victories over Duke and North Carolina on back-to-back nights last week. Clemson dominated the Blue Devils from start to finish Friday, tallying their first goal 47 seconds into the game and adding five more by the end of the first period on the way to an 11-1 decision.
The following night, Clemson avenged a close Jan. 21 loss to the Tar Heels with an 8-1 victory, scoring six unanswered goals as forward Andrew Racicot registered a hat trick.
Racicot lead the Tigers in scoring last season with 16 goals and 11 assists in 18 games. Through two games, he stands tied with forward Chandler Paff for the team lead with seven points.
The answer to Clemson's new life could be found behind the bench. The Tigers are under new leadership with head coach Matt Loughran, whose hockey pedigree includes stints as general manager for three minor league hockey teams and fourteen years in the front office for the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. For his service as the Rangers' director of team operations, Loughran had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1994.
The Gamecocks are still in search of their first victory of the season after Friday's 7-5 loss to UNC Charlotte. In a game that saw Carolina incur 10 minor penalties, the 49ers jumped all over goaltender Jared Ward in his first start for Carolina. At the other end, UNC Charlotte goaltender Daniel Ritter frustrated Carolina shooters thoroughly in the opening 40 minutes, maintaining a shutout until late in the second period as his team built a 6-0 lead.
Sophomore goaltender Bobby Lombardi replaced Ward in the third period, ending the rookie’s night at 16 saves on 22 shots. The 49ers took just four minutes to beat Lombardi when forward Michael Rea chipped in his first goal of the game to stretch the lead to 7-1 with 15:18 to go.
It was all Carolina from there as the Gamecocks scored four times in the final 6:14 to narrow the margin to 7-5 as they dropped their first game of 2017-18. Forward Alec Martone chipped in the game's final goal on the power play 2.5 seconds before the final horn.
"If you don't work hard, it's not gonna work out for you," said Carolina head coach Allan Sirois. "I think they did that in the third period and you could tell the passion came in, and they really, really played well. We can see the potential. It's there. It's just we didn't do it there for 40 minutes. You can't win a game that way."
Sirois is hopeful the momentum his players generated with their late rally will carry over into Friday's matchup.
"I told them they played desperate, they played with heart, and hopefully we keep that," Sirois said. "I believe we will because they know how important Clemson is, and we will have a definite lineup, also."
Puck drop is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. on Friday at Plex HiWire ice rink in Irmo.