Tech came up short in the 2005-2006 season finale with a 4-2 loss to Georgia. The Yellow Jackets, who lost four players from the first half, ended the second half with a 1-5 record, 15-7 overall.

The final game also saw a salute to the memory of Tyler Brown, a Tech grad who was killed in Iraq, as they raised the retired number “1” Jersey. Tyler’s mother Sally Brown and brother Brent Brown were on hand to watch the honor.

Seniors Dominic Scola, Kyle Stage and Captain Mike Zaucha were given recognition for their many years of hard play. The Seniors from Georgia were also recognized.

Georgia scored within the first 30 seconds to get the drama started early. From that point in the first period Georgia played aggressive defenense, closing down passing lanes and frustraing the Tech offense. Georgia chipped in two additional easy goals in the first period to take a 3-0 advantage into the second period.

Tech improved in the second period but still gave up a goal as the Ice Dogs jumped to a 4-0 lead after two.

Coach Stathis must have awakened his team between periods, as Tech showed a very strong effort in period three. They were keeping the puck in the offensive zone and finally broke through with 7:04 left in the game by a great effort by Tom Porter. He scored on a shot from the slot after working his way through the Georgia defense. Assists went to Mike Zaucha and B.J. Stapleton.

Less than one minute later, on a power play, B.J. Stapleton shot from the point and Brian O’Connor deflected the puck into the net to make the score 4-2. Stapleton and Whitney Yiu got the assists.

Moments later, Porter had a shot hit the inside post that was ruled no goal. Tech kept the pressure on and did not give up but time ran out on their effort.

Tech was out shot 39-25 in the game.

The Georgia Ice Dogs got strong goaltending from Harry Kierbow to shutdown the Yellow Jackets offense in a 5-0 victory at the Duluth Ice Forum.

The game was well played with a minimum of penalties for either team. Tech had many chances to score, especially in the first period. Overall, Tech hit three posts and had two apparent goals waved off.

The Jackets came out strong in the first period dominating the offensive zone, but a turnover in the defensive zone by the Tech defense gave Georgia their first goal with 2:44 left in the period for a 1-0 lead.

GT gave up three goals in the second period. The first came 4 minutes into the period on a rebound shot. The second came on a cycle play half way

through the period and the third on a penalty shot with 4:07 left. The 4-0 lead after two took most of the steam out of the Jackets game plan.

The third period was played basically even for much of the period as Georgia protected its lead. They did score on a breakaway with 4 minutes left in the game for the 5-0 victory.

Tech out shot Georgia 37-34.

Coach Stathis commented after the game that he felt the Jackets were a bit snake bit. It could have easily been a 3-1 Tech lead after the first period. Their goalie played great and we lost focus in the second period.

The Georgia Tech and Georgia re-match will be this Saturday 2/25 at the MIC. Face off is 7:40 PM.

The scheduled game at Clemson on 17 February was cancelled.

Due to a gametime change, Georgia Tech was unable to travel and still meet its commitment to play Georgia the next night.

Friday night’s in-state rivalry had more than the typical amount of competitive dislike.

The outlook for both clubs has changed over the past 6 weeks since Georgia Tech withdrew from the ACHA and more recently when Kennesaw was sanctioned by the ACHA for a rules violation. The tension showed on the ice during a penalty filled game that saw KSU win 7-3.

A few days prior to the game, Kennesaw State received news that they would be disqualified from the ACHA National Tournament due to a player eligability violation.

KSU is known for a physical style of play, and they brought an extra dose of rough housing that saw seven of their players disqualified during the game along with three Tech players.

KSU jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first period by controlling the puck and taking advantage of Tech mistakes.

During the second period the agreesion intensified and the referees began to try to take control. KSU players started

receiving penalties throught the remainder of the game.

This was the final game of the season for KSU. The most deliberate act of frustration came midway through the third period when KSU player, Rod Johnson, was ejected for fighting after ripping the helmet off a GT player. Johnson’s actions drew blood and his rage continued as he threw some punches before the referees could take him off the ice.

After the penalties, the Yellow Jackets played the Owls even on the scoreboard at three goals apiece and outshot KSU 14-7 in the second period and 8-5 in the third.

Tech’s first goal came in period two from Hunter Gahl on a 5 on 3 advantage with an assist to Tom Porter. In the third period, Tech scored twice with the first coming from Captain Mike Zaucha (assist to Pat Kelly) and the second from Drew Baker (assist from Zaucha and Gahl).

Overall, Tech was out shot 36-34. The game was stopped with 11:07 left in the third period due to time limit curfew.

The scheduled games against Florida on 3 and 4 February have been cancelled.

Due to a scheduling conflict, it was agreed to let Florida out of their obligation to come to Atlanta.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (14-4) lost their second in a row with a hard fought close game against Florida Atlantic University 5-3.

FAU got an empty net goal with 13 seconds left in the game for the two goal margin victory. Up until that time, both squads provided plenty of energy and hard checking for a close exciting contest.

FAU opened the scoring at the half way point of the first period, but the Yellow Jackets responded just 3 minutes later on a shot by Mike Zaucha with an assist from Kyle Stage and Paul Dietrick.

The second period opened with a power play opportunity for FAU and they converted with just 30 seconds into the period to take the 2-1 lead. FAU scored again with 7:30 left on a turnover in the GT defensive zone for a 3-1 margin.

The Yellow Jackets didn’t give up and

scored on a impressive end to end skate by Mike Zaucha for an unassisted short handed goal to bring Tech with one at 3-2. However, FAU maintained the 2 goal edge scoring with just one minute left in the period.

The third period started with hard hitting and ferocious checking as FAU tried to protect their two goal lead.

Georgia Tech went on a power play mid way through the period and took advantage of the extra man on an inside shot by Hunter Gahl on a great pass from Whitney Yiu. That brought the Jackets within one.

Coach Stathis pulled the goalie with one minute left to try to tie the score, but an empty net goal gave FAU the 5-3 victory.

Tech was out shot 44-36. Tech goalie made 41 saves.

The Georgia Tech hockey club has voluntarily withdrawn from rankings consideration due to an unforeseen circumstance within the hockey club family.

Personal and sensitive information relating to this decision can not be shared at this time. Please note that the team’s decision is honorable and in no way involves any impropriety.

The Yellow Jackets are proud of their cross state rivals, Kennesaw State and the University of Georgia and wish them nothing but the best and good luck at nationals.

We will be cheering for them both and

sincerely hope they each make it to the championship game.

Good luck to all teams who qualify for nationals and good luck to Florida Gulf Coast University as they will serve as the host team for the 2006 ACHA D-3 National Tournament. We know FGCU will run the national tournament with professionalism and class and we are equally proud of that outstanding organization as well.

More information regarding the team’s decision to withdraw from the rankings will be posted here in the future. Thank you to everyone who is aware of our situation and who have expressed kind words of encouragement to our team.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (14-3) took second place in the Memorial Health Classic Tournament held in Savannah, GA.

Tech won the opener on Friday with a 7-0 shutout of the Florida State Seminoles. However, the Yellow Jackets dropped the second game on Saturday to rival University of Georgia, 4-2.

In the Florida State game, the Jackets started strong with 4 goals in the first period and dominated both ends of the ice.

Captain Mike Zaucha started the scoring five minutes into the game and Whitney Yiu followed four minutes later for the 2-0 lead.

Tom Porter got a shorthanded goal at the half way point in the first period and Brendon O’Leary closed out the opening period with a rebound shot for the 4-0 advantage.

Florida State got some strong goal tending in period two to keep Tech scoreless. But the third period saw the Jackets take charge with two key goals by Senior Kyle Stage and a down low shot by Mike Zaucha for the 7-0 victory.

Brian O’Connor had three assists in the game, followed by two assists from Dan Sweeney and single assist by Whitney Yiu, Josh Krisinger, Christian Gattung, Brendon O’Leary and Paul Dietrich.

Nick Rice recorded the shutout with 21 saves. Tech had 44 shots in the contest.

That win and Georgia’s win over Florida, set up the classic match-up in the finale with the Jackets versus the Ice Dogs for the championship of the Tournament.

A sellout crowd of over 8,500 saw a defensive battle in the opening period.

Georgia got on the board first with 4:45 left in the first period on a short handed rebound shot that eluded goalie Nick Rice.

Tech came back with 2:06 left on a power play goal from Tom Porter to tie the score. Porter scored on a slap shot from top of the circle. Mike Zaucha got the assist.

Georgia picked up two goals in the second period with an odd man rush and a breakaway goal to take a 3-1 lead into the final period.

Georgia and Tech both scored in period three which was more physical than the previous two. Tech’s score came on a two man advantage with a slap shot from Mike Zaucha.

Overall, Tech played well for most of the game while Georgia took advantage of some key breaks for the win and the championship. Georgia out shot Tech 32-22.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (13-2) opened the second half of the 2005-2006 season with an impressive 15-2 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies.

Of concern for Coach Stathis was the five week layoff for the Christmas break, but the Yellow Jackets looked sharp at both ends of the rink. It took a little over 10 minutes into the game for Tech to score, but once they did, the flood gates opened up.

GT scored six goals in the first period, 6 more in the second and 3 in the third. The Aggies scored their only two goals in the third period.

Paul Dietrick made his first start for the Jackets and had a hat trick in the game as did Captain Mike Zaucha. Tom Porter came back after missing four games and contributed two goals and one assist. Brandon O’Leary also had two goals and an assist.

Single goals came from Pat Kelly, Brian O’Connor, Dan Sweeney, Kyle Stage and Josh Krisinger. Assists in the game came from Sweeny with four, B.J. Stapleton with three, O’Connor with two; Stage with two and single assists from Drew Baker, Whitney Yiu, O’Leary, Christian Gattung and Kelly.

Tech out shot the Aggies 46-18. Nick Rice was in goal for the Yellow Jackets and made 16 saves.

Northern Colorado has informed Georgia Tech that they have cancelled the scheduled games on 19 and 21 January at The MIC due to financial problems.

They will not make the trip.

Tech will not practice on the Tuesday 17 January, after the Savannah tournament, as previously scheduled. Please note the following changes:

• The practice on Tuesday, 17 January is CANCELLED.
• The game with Northern Colorado on Thursday night, 19 January is CANCELLED…but the team will practice at the normal time Thursday night.
• The Saturday game on 21 January is CANCELLED and no games will be rescheduled.

Give Tech credit for rebounding on Saturday night with a 7-4 victory over the University of South Florida.

Both teams shared goals in the first period that ended 1-1. The Jackets goal came with just 4 seconds left on a shot by Whitney Yiu with assist to Brendan O’Leary.

The second period started the same as the first with each team getting three goals each for a 4-4 tie after two periods.

Tech’s three goals came from Dan Sweeney (assist to Josh Krisinger and Yiu); Josh Krisinger (assist to Yiu and Grant Weaver) and Brendan O’Leary (assist to Mike Zaucha and B.J. Stapleton).

After a spirited talk by Coach Stathis between the 2nd and 3rd period, Tech came out killing off a penalty and got a great short handed goal by Brendan O’Leary (assist to Brian O’Connor and Hunter Gahl).

The Jackets got another short handed goal with 5:41 left in the game by Drew Baker (assist to Stapleton and Zaucha) to take a 6-4 lead. Tech got one more score on a power play goal by Mike Zaucha (unassisted).

Nick Rice made 41 saves in the contest. Tech had 57 shots.

Tech is now off for the Christmas break. The next game will be Saturday, Jan 7th at 6:00 PM at the Marietta Ice Center against Texas A&M.

In the Friday night game at Kennesaw State, the Jackets played poorly and tentative as the Fighting Owls snapped GT’s 10 game winning streak with a 7-1 victory.

The very physical game was penalty marred, and the Yellow Jackets fell behind early and couldn’t muster much offense. KSU scored four goals in the first period, two were power play goals.

They added two more special team goals in the second and one more in the third before Tech broke the scoring drought on a power play goal by Whitney Yiu (assist to Hunter Gahl).

All in all, the Jackets just gave up two even strength goals, but they never got into a rhythm in the game and let the Owls dominate special teams play. Tech was out-shot 38-22.

Georgia Tech (11-1) won a thriller over the Texas Longhorns in a shootout 5-4.

It was a roller coaster ride for the Jackets. They opened a 4-0 lead midway through the third period but gave up four (4) power play goals to the Longhorns within a five minute period that tied the score 4-4.

Being somewhat gun shy from all of the penalties called in the third period, Tech played tentative in the last few minutes of the game and in the five minute overtime.

But Hunter Gahl scored the only goal in shootout for the 5-4 victory. Nick Rice made five saves in the shootout to secure the win.

It was the tenth straight victory for Tech as the team played aggressive in the first two periods and got some key goals from defenseman Hunter Gahl scoring two within three minutes in the second period for a 2-0 lead.

Gahl went top shelf on the first goal (assist to Christian Gattung and Grant Weaver). The second came with 8:23 left in period two on a hard slap shot from the point with assist to Dan Sweeney and Josh Krisinger.

Tech made it 3-0 in the 2nd period on a power play goal scored on a top of the slot shot from Dom Scola with a sharp pass from B.J. Stapleton.

Tech came out strong in the third period and scored with 14:40 left on a rebound goal from Mike Zaucha with assists from Whitney Yiu and Drew Baker.

That made it 4-0 and it appeared an easy win for the Yellow Jackets. But then the penalties came and a never-give-up attitude by the Longhorns that tied the score 4-4.

Texas out shot the Jackets 35-31.

Georgia Tech (10-1) shutdown and shutout the Cincinnati Bearcats in a two game sweep, 5-0 and 14-0.

It was the ninth straight victory for Tech and the first shutouts for goalie Nick Rice.

In the opener on Friday night, the Jackets were a bit sluggish throughout the game making poor passes and not taking advantage of power play situations.

Two goals were scored in the first and third periods, with a single goal in the middle period for the 5-0 win. Tech out shot the Bearcats 42-13.

Goals for GT in game one: Kyle Stage, Dom Scola, Christian Gattung, Dan Sweeney and Brendan O’Leary. Assists in game one: Hunter Gahl, Scola (2), O’Leary, Weaver, Zaucha, Gattung and Yiu.

In game two, Tech took it to the Bearcats, scoring in the first 30 seconds and never looked back. The fourteen goals were a season high for the Yellow Jackets as the team clicked both offensively and defensively from the start.

As slow as GT looked in game one, they were working on all cylinders in game two. The Jackets out shot Cincinnati 75-12 and scored two (2) power play goals of the 14 total.

Goals were scored by Brendan O’Leary (hat trick), Drew Baker (hat trick), Whitney Yiu (2), Brain O’Connor (2) and single goals by Dom Scola, Grant Weaver, Kyle Stage and Christian Gattung.

Assists in the game were by: Scola (4), Hunter Gahl (3), Dan Sweeney (3), B.J. Stapleton (2), O’Leary (2), Yiu (2), and single assists from Pat Kelley, A.J. Piplica, O’Connor, Weaver, Gattung, and John Paul Warrick.

The anticipated game of the series was the opening game on Saturday night. Tech played undefeated Division II ACC opponent Duke University. Both teams won the night before and the winner of this game would win the mini- tournament.

The beginning of the first period was a feeling out time for both teams. Tech seemed to dominate the offensive zone, out shooting Duke 18-11.

Excellent goal keeping from both goalies kept the game scoreless until 3:22 in the period when Tom Porter put the Yellow Jackets on the board with a power play goal to take a 1-0 lead. Assists came from Brendan O’Leary and Hunter Gahl.

Tech opened the second period killing off a penalty and played much of the period with special teams trying to protect the one goal lead. The period ended without any additional scoring.

The third period saw more special team play as Tech fought off a 5 on 3 power play for over a minute. Halfway through the third, Duke finally got on the board on a corner shot that just got by goalie, Nick Rice to tie the score.

Tech fought hard to get the lead back. With 4:05 left in the game, Drew Baker pushed a shot past the Duke goalie with an assist from Tom Porter. The Yellow Jackets didn’t let up and put the game away on a tenacious goal by Dominic Scola (assist from Brian O’Connor and B.J. Stapleton).

The final score was 3-1. Tech out-shot Duke 38-33. Nick Rice made 32 saves and kept Tech in the game during many penalty kills.

The win was the sixth in a row for the Yellow Jackets and they are ready to face the Cincinnati for a two game series at the MIC on November 11th and 12th.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-1) took the ACC/SEC Challenge 2005 by beating the North Carolina and Duke at the Sports Complex in Hillsborough, NC. Tennessee was the fourth school invited to the challenge.

In the late game, Georgia Tech beat UNC 7-1. Both teams skated hard in the scoreless first period.

North Carolina opened the scoring in the 2nd period on a power play goal with 16 minutes left. That appeared to wake up the Yellow Jackets who had driven 6 hours Friday afternoon. They scored four goals in the 2nd period and three more in the third for the 7-1 victory.

Brendan O’Leary (assist to Christian Gattung and Brian O’Connor) opened the scoring with 11:50 remaining. Just one minute later, Whitney Yiu got a tap in on a rebound off a shot from Pat Kelley.

The two minutes later Tom Porter knocked in a goal with assists from linemates Mike Zaucha and Drew Baker. The final goal in the period came from a top of the circle shot by Dan Sweeney (assist to Josh Krisinger).

Tech continued to pour it on in the third period with a great shot from the middle of the top circle by Tom Porter that went top shelf (assists to Hunter Gahl and Grant Weaver) at 3:41 left in the 3rd. Less than one minute later Hunter Gahl scored again (assist to Chris Beauregard). Sweeney finished the scoring in the last minute (assist to Gahl and Krisinger).

Overall, after a sluggish first period, the team played well, making crisp passes, outstanding fore-checking, great defense and goal keeping. GT Goalie, Nick Rice, made 29 saves. Tech out shot UNC 42-30. The game was fast paced with only seven penalties called in the entire game.

Tech (6-1) won their 5th straight contest with a 7-2 win over an improved Clemson team.

It appeared that Tech would pour it on after the first period. The contest was scoreless in the 1st half of the period with Tech peppering shots at the Clemson goalie. Finally, with 7:45 left in the first, Dominic Scola got the Yellow Jackets on the board with assist to Brendan O’Leary and Hunter Gahl. A minute and half later Dan Sweeney scored (assist to Joshua Krisinger and Whitney Yiu) to make the score 2-0. The period ended with Tech out-shooting the Tigers 24-4.

Trouble came in the second period when Clemson scored a quick goal with 30 seconds gone to make the score 2-1. Tech was plagued with sloppy play and penalties to allow Clemson stay in the game. A pretty shout from Whitney Yiu (assist to Gahl) half way through the period gave Tech some breathing room at 3-1. But a penalty shot goal by Clemson with 7:00 left in the period brought it back to just a one goal lead for the Jackets.

Continued miscues kept the door open for the Tigers, but a give and go goal by Tom Porter (assist to drew Baker and Mike Zuacha) with 2:21 left made it 4-2. Tech scored just 20 seconds later on an apparent defensive zone clearing pass by Clemson, that was picked off by the fore-checkers and dumped in deep for a goal by Brendan O’Leary (assist to Scola and Brian O’Connor). Tech was out shot in the period 14-12.

Then the defense kicked in plus the team responded to the coaching staff with more discipline. The third period was smoother. One more goal with 14:33 left by O’Leary (assist to Pat Kelly and Scola) and a final breakaway goal by Mike Zuacha (unassisted) completed the scoring. Tech had 12 shots to Clemson’s 6 in this period.

Goalie Nick Rice played real well, especially in the 2nd period with some many short handed opportunities for Clemson, to get the win. Nick made 20 saves.

In a renewal of the GT Alumni Game tradition, a great time was had by both players and fans. Twenty-Seven former players returned to the MIC to play an outstanding fast pace three periods of ice hockey.

It was up and down the ice with flurries of shots for the first 2 ½ periods. Then we saw a little slow down as tired legs couldn’t keep up with the willing minds. But overall it was great action throughout the game.

All agreed that playing this type of game needs to become an annual tradition and talk is already underway for next years contest. Rusty Channer, former announcer for Yellow Jacket hockey was the MC for the contest.

The Black team defeated the Gold team 4-2 with Yellow Jacket great Shawn Mantague leading the Black team with four assists and the star of the game. Nick Olander of the Black team scored two goals for the leading scorer honors. Other goals for Black came from Marty Lysett and Jamie Bell.

The Gold team had a goal from Ryan Dawe with an assist from Jim Doeden. The last goal came on a penalty shot goal by Matt Sweeney.

Chris Channer made 24 saves for the Black team. The goaltender for the Gold team was Roland Sperlich who had 32 saves.

Florida Atlantic University and the surrounding area got hit hard by Hurricane Wilma. The ice hockey team has been particularly affected as their players, home arena, and communication are all in recovery mode.

The players are all spread out and there is no electricity. Their ice rink had major damage to several chunks of the roof and is closed indefinitely. The school is closed until further notice. The team is unable to update their team website.

The team is temporary shut down until further notice when they can reassess the situation and determine where they can play their home games. Their game with FGCU on Saturday is cancelled and they will probably have to cancel their two games with Florida State next weekend.

The Georgia Tech Ice Hockey club would like to offer encouragement to the FAU team. Our entire GT Hockey family is thinking about the FAU players, coaches and families.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-1) took two games from Radford University in their home opening series by scores of 5-1 and 5-2.

In the first game, the offense was clicking on all cylinders and kept Radford frustrated for most of the game. The Yellow Jackets scored in the first minute of the game on a shot from Tom Porter with assists from Whitney Yiu and Captain Mike Zaucha. Tech kept the pressure on the Radford defense with numerous shots and constant pressure in their offensive zone throughout the first period and took a 2-0 lead half way through on a quick goal from Drew Baker (assist from Zaucha).

Starting the 2nd period, the Yellow Jackets quickly broke the Radford spirit with a short handed breakaway goal by Mike Zaucha for a 3-0 lead. Radford got their only goal a minute later on a power play rebound shot that got past goalie Nick Rice. Up 3-1 Tech kept the pressure on, out-skating their opponents in the period and scored two power play goals late in the second for a 5-1 lead. Scoring the fourth goal was Zaucha on a rebound from a shot by Hunter Gahl (assist) and the final goal came from Dan Sweeney with assists from Christian Gattung and Whitney Yiu.

The defense, strong the entire game, kept Radford at bay in the third period with limited shot opportunities to win going away. Final shot total was 61-25.

Nick Rice made impressive saves in all periods and gave up Radford’s only goal on a power play.

In game two, Tech appeared to be a little sluggish in the beginning but, still managed two first period goals. The first was an impressive top shelf goal from Tom Porter (assists to Baker and O’Connor). The second goal from defenseman Hunter Gahl was a shot from the blue line (assists to Zaucha and Porter). Radford came back in the second period with two goals while Tech got a close in goal from Whitney Yiu (assists to Sweeney and Josh Krisinger). Tech took a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period.

In the third, after a spirited pep talk from Coach Stathis, Tech scored early on a power play goal from Whitney Yiu (assists Sweeney and Pat Kelly). Then the Yellow Jackets finished the scoring on a shot from Christian Gattung (assists to Yiu and Grant Weaver). Tech outshot Radford 52-26 in the 2nd game.

Overall, Tech scored 10 goals in the two games lead by Mike Zaucha and Whitney Yiu with five points and two goals each. Tom Porter and Dan Sweeney had three points each during the contest.

The Yellow Jackets continue their home stand with a Friday night game against Clemson at 9:30. The Alumni Game will be Saturday morning at 10:00 AM.

Coach Greg Stathis commented after the second game that he thought his team played real well in both games and adapted well to the smaller ice surface at the Belmont Ice Palace.

He felt the two week layoff hurt the team early in the first game. Despite that, the team was more focused and played a lot better in the second game with better passes and play set-up.

He was particularly proud of the Dominic Scola line of Scola, Brian O’Connor and Brendan O’Leary. They scored seven goals and had four assists. Coach Stathis also commented that the defense stepped up and played real well, limiting shot opportunities for Stanford.

Goalie Nick Rice was more focused in

these two games and came up big with some very important saves, especially in game two.

Of particular note, Coach Greg was pleased with Drew Myers, a limited role player, who had a goal in the third period and defenseman Hunter Gahl, who scored two short handed goals in the second game.

He was proud of the team that did not get frustrated in the early going of the 2nd game when they couldn’t score off multiple shots in period one. It was a good character test for the team.

Finally, the Coach was real pleased with the parent/friends of GT turnout for the weekend series. The fans were well rewarded with the outstanding play of the young Yellow Jackets.

Tech (3-1) traveled to Northern California and earned two impressive victories over the Stanford Cardinal. The first game, saw an 8-1 Yellow Jacket win and the 2nd game included eight third period goals en route to a 12-1 GT victory.

The team took a full compliment of players for the west coast trip and many of them scored in the two contests. Offensive leaders for the two games in goal scoring were Dan Sweeney (3), Brenden O’Leary (3), Captain Mike Zaucha (2), Josh Krissinger (2), Brian O’Connor (2), Dominic Scola (2), Hunter Gahl (2) and single goals by Whitney Yiu, Drew Meyers, Drew Baker and Tom Porter.

Assist leaders in the game were: B.J. Stapleton (5) Brian O’Connor (3), Pat Kelley (3), Tom Porter (2), Josh Krissinger (2) and single assists by Dominic Scola, Drew Baker, Dan Sweeney, Whitney Yiu, Grant Weaver, Chris Beauregard, John Paul Warrick and Hunter Gahl.

Defense was a key part of the game plan as the forwards backchecked to help the defenseman throughout both games.

The Tech defense limited Stanford to just 28 shots in the first game and 20 in the second game.

Nick Rice was in goal for the 1st game and had a shutout until less than one minute in the third period when Stanford scored on a close in shot. Rice made 27 saves. Rice started the second game and gave up a goal early in the second period, but he and back-up goalie Craig Tabita saved 19 shots for the Yellow Jackets.

Overall, Tech had a strong offensive performance with 15 even strength goals, 23 assists, three shorthanded and two power play goals. The Yellow Jackets had 105 shots for the series.

The Yellow Jackets finally get to play on their home ice this coming weekend against Radford. The home opener is scheduled for Friday October 21st at 9:30 at the MIC. Also, the same teams play on Saturday October 22nd at 6:00 PM. Come out and support your Georgia Tech Hockey Team this weekend.

The team will fly to San Francisco on Thursday afternoon for their two games with ACHA D-II Stanford University.

Stanford is a member of the PAC-8 and will be well rested and prepared to take on GT.

Friday night’s game starts at 9:45 PM West Coast Time. Coach Stathis wants the team to get as much rest as possible on Friday because they will be playing their first game on Friday night at 12:45 AM Eastern Time.

The Saturday night game will start at 5:45 PM.

This is the first ever meeting between Stanford & GT but not the first West Coast trip for the Jackets.

GT flew to San Diego three years ago and defeated UC-San Diego 3-0 and UC-Davis 5-3.

Coach Greg Stathis commented after the Tennessee game that he was extremely pleased with the opening weekend results. It has been the best beginning in years as the team played very well on the road.

This is a very young aggressive team that has lots of speed and he feels outplayed both Vanderbilt and Tennessee.

The team had 104 shots in the two games, but ran into two very hot

goaltenders that made the difference in the one goal loss against the Volunteers.

Tennessee will have an good season due to their much improved roster of speedy, gifted players and was a great test for the young GT squad.

“Obviously I was not happy with the results splitting the two games, but I was extremely happy with the effort”, said Coach Stathis.

The scheduled home game on 7 October against the NC State D-II Wolfpack has been cancelled due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict.

NC State thought they had a game scheduled in Atlanta on 8 October with Georgia, but that game was unable to be scheduled.

Tech will participate in the annual Habitat for Humanity volunteer work on 8 October which ruled out a possible 2nd game with NC State.

As a result, both teams agreed to cancel the 7 October game and schedule two games for the 2006-07 season.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-1) lost a tough match against the much improved University of Tennessee 3-2 in a game played in Nashville. The Jackets split the two game road trip after beating Vanderbilt the night before.

Tennessee came out shooting in the first period and scored two quick goals in the first 10 minutes of the contest for the 2-0 lead. Those two goals held up for almost 20 minutes until Tech broke through at 10:47 of the 2nd with a rebound goal by Tom Porter. Hunter Gahl got the assist.

The Yellow Jackets tied the score at 2-2 early in the third period with a goal inside close by Dominic Scola with assist from Brian O’Connor and Grant Weaver. Tech took the apparent lead seconds later but a whistle was blown for the net coming out of place as the puck slid through the five hole of the Tennessee goaltender. At 13:12 of the final period, Tennessee scored the game winner on a power play goal. The speedy Volunteers fought off a final flurry of shots in the final minutes to win 3-2.

Nick Rice was in goal for the Yellow Jackets and made 28 saves. Tech had 42 shots on Tennessee.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-0) won their season opener with an 8-4 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville. Tech scored five goals in the 3rd period to win going away after trailing 4-3 after two periods. The offensive star was Freshman Whitney Yiu who had a hat trick and 2 assists for a total of five points in the contest. The Jackets had 62 shots in the game and kept pressure in the offensive zone most of the third period to put the game on ice.

Tech scored the first two goals in the game within 12 seconds of each other. Dan Sweeney opened the scoring with a slap shot from top of the circle at 13:03 left in the 1st period. John Paul Warrick got the assist. At 12:51, Whitney Yiu got his first goal on a rebound off the Vanderbilt goalie. Assists went to Josh Krisinger and Dan Sweeney. Vanderbilt scored a goal late in the first period at 1:49 on a shot from the blue line to make the score after the first period 2-1 Tech.

Freshman Hunter Gahl opened the scoring in 2nd period with a wicked shot from the point for a 3-1 lead. Assists went to Whitney Liu and Pat Kelly. Vanderbilt then came back to score three unanswered goals in the period to take a 4-3 lead after two. This would end the scoring for Vandy.

A spirited talk by Coach Stathis during the break did the trick as Tech came out ready to score in the third period. The first came at 18:28 on a short handed unassisted goal by Freshman Tom Porter. Whitney Yiu scored his second goal of the game at 14:46 with a wrap around goal unassisted. With 11:47, the Yellow Jackets scored a power play goal that went end to end. Defenseman, B.J. Stapleton, passed from deep in his own zone to Josh Krisinger who passed to Whitney Yiu in close for his hat trick goal. Tech scored at 3:19 on a give and go pass from Dominc Scola to Brian O’Connor. The final score came with 2:20 to go in the game on a shot by Kyle Stage with an assist from Hunter Gahl.

Nick Rice made 30 saves, mostly in the first and second periods.

The 2005-2006 Training Camp was a huge success.

The players were involved in classroom work, on ice conditioning, teaching of systems, and a controlled scrimmage.

The weekend camp, held in Birmingham, AL, gave the players a head start in devloping team chemistry. Coach Day said "I saw the team bond as a result of the camp and they are hungry to be successful."

The team also hosted a well attended youth clinic for Birmingham area players.

At the conclusion of the camp, three awards were given out.

Newcomer Hunter Gaul received the "Player's Award" as voted on by his teammates for displaying an outstanding effort during the camp. According to Day, "Hunter stood out as a top player (defenseman) and worked extremely hard."

Fellow newcomer Whitney Yiu received the "Coach's Award" for his outstanding play, attitude, and work ethic.

Captain Mike Zaucha received the "Leadership Award" for his leadership during the camp. According to Day, "Zaucha led by example and... stood out as the team leader."

See Camp Pictures

Captain Mike Zaucha is his fourth season playing for the Yellow Jackets. He was named Captain of the squad in January of 2005. He grew up in a suburb of Wilmington Delaware and played both travel and high school hockey. The center led the team in scoring for the 2004-2005 season. Mike is a Senior and is majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

Assistant captain Christian Gattung is beginning his third season and was recently named assistant captain. He was born in St. Louis Missouri, but has played both travel and high school hockey in the Atlanta area. He played both forward and defense for the Yellow Jackets in 2004-2005, but will focus mainly on defense in the 2005-2006 season. Christian is a Junior and is majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

Assistant Captain B.J. Stapleton returns for his second season. The native of Fountain Valley, California has all of his ice hockey experience in the Atlanta area playing on both travel teams and for Duluth High School. He plays defense and was named the 2004-2005 "Rookie of the Year." B.J. is a Sophomore and is majoring in Management.

Assistant Captain Drew Baker also returns for his second season. Drew comes from the sunshine state of Florida in the Tampa Bay area where he played both travel and high school hockey. He plays forward and was second to Mike Zaucha in points for the 2004-2005 season. Drew is a Sophomore and is majoring in Chemical Engineering.

The mandatory 2005-2006 training camp will take placeSeptember 16-18, 2005 in Birmingham, Alabama.

All returning players are required to attend.

There will be one session on Friday

night and three sessions on Saturday with a separate 4th session for goalies only.

The camp will conclude on Sunday morning. There will be skating, drills, systems, chalk talk, and dry land training.

Tryouts are underway. The first evaluation practice was held on Tuesday, 10:10-11:40.

Tryouts for the 2005-2006 roster will continue Thursday, 9:40-10:40 and next Tuesday, 10:10-11:40.