The Ice Dawgs, this year’s region champions, played their final game of the Fed Cup tournament yesterday, concluding their season with a 5-2 win over the University of South Florida in West Chester, Pa.
This was the team’s third game in the Collegiate Hockey Federation’s national Fed Cup tournament pool play.
Georgia had high expectations leading up to the tournament after winning the College Hockey South championship earlier this month, clinching the No. 4 seed in the Fed Cup rankings.
The Ice Dawgs beat the University of New Hampshire 6-2 during the first game on Friday, followed by a 4-2 loss to the University of Alabama D2 team on Saturday.
With one team from each pool advancing to the tournament quarter-finals, Georgia lost all hope in continuing to fight for the Fed Cup after Alabama D2 defeated UNH earlier on Sunday.
Despite not having the ending they wanted, the Ice Dawgs proved to have a very successful season, ending with a 26-5-1 season record.
Jackson Katz, a senior from Milwaukee, Wis., received the most awards during the season.
Katz reached a huge milestone in his career in early November after scoring 100 career points. This placed him as the 10th leading scorer in Georgia Hockey history. On top of this, Katz received the honor of being the CHF Forward of the Month in December.
To recap the season, Georgia’s first game was in early September which resulted in a 9-0 win against Kennesaw State in Marietta, Ga.
The Ice Dawgs then had back-to-back home games against two Florida teams at the Classic Center on Sept. 16-17. Georgia lost 3-1 against the University of Tampa the first night but came out victorious the following day, beating USF for the first time of the season 3-1.
The team then traveled to Mississippi the next weekend, defeating Ole Miss twice, with the final scores being 7-2 and 4-2.
Georgia Tech, the team’s biggest rival, hosted their first showdown of the season at the Atlanta Ice Forum on Oct. 1, resulting in a 4-1 victory for the Ice Dawgs.
On Oct. 14-15, UGA Hockey hosted its annual Pink in the Rink games against Clemson and Georgia Tech.
Georgia dominated Clemson the first night, beating the Tigers 8-0. This was followed by an extremely intense matchup against the Yellow Jackets, where the Ice Dawgs received their second loss of the season 4-3.
Though it was a tough loss for the Ice Dawgs, the team was still able to make a difference in the Athens community over the weekend.
Partnered with the nonprofit, Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer, the Ice Dawgs had a goal to raise $10,000 for the BBBC and St. Mary’s Women’s Imaging Center.
They were able to gain donations through their special-edition pink jersey auction and goal pledge challenge, asking fans to pledge a donation amount for every Ice Dawg score. Through this, the team was able to beat their goal and raise $10,177.
Only two days after the Pink in the Rink games, Georgia hosted a game against Alabama, winning 6-4.
The next weekend, the Ice Dawgs traveled to Huntsville, Ala. to take on Alabama once again along with the University of Alabama Huntsville. Georgia went undefeated that weekend, defeating Alabama 4-1 and UAH 11-2.
On Nov. 5, Georgia and Auburn played in “The Border War”, taking place in Columbus, GA. In a tight game, the Ice Dawgs were able to secure the win, beating the Tigers 3-2 in overtime.
The next tournament the team played in was the annual Macon Veterans Cup which took place from Nov. 12-13, where the players wore camo jerseys to honor veterans.
Georgia took on Florida State the first day, blowing out the team 13-0. The Ice Dawgs once again took on Georgia Tech the following day, losing 2-4.
Less than a week later, the Ice Dawgs traveled to South Carolina to play Clemson, defeating the team once again 5-4.
In the final games of the fall semester, Georgia hosted home games on Dec. 2, 3, and 5.
On that Thursday, the Ice Dawgs beat KSU 15-0 in the largest blowout of the season. The Ice Dawgs remained unscored against by Tennessee the next day, winning 5-0. That Sunday, Georgia beat Coastal Carolina 7-3, wrapping up the fall season.
The beginning of the spring semester was followed by one of the most anticipated weekends of the year for the team.
Taking place in Savannah, Ga., the Ice Dawgs played in the Savannah Hockey Classic on Jan. 14-15. Even the University of Georgia mascot, Uga, stopped by to cheer on the Ice Dawgs.
For the first time of the season, the Ice Dawgs had to go to a shootout against Flordia on that Friday, resulting in a devastating 5-4 loss. Luckily for the team, they were able to end on a high note the following day, defeating Georgia Tech in the rivals’ final matchup 4-3.
Less than a week later, Georgia was on the road once again to take on the Ice Vols in back-to-back games in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Ice Dawgs came out victorious once again, vanquishing the team 9-2 that Friday and 5-1 that Saturday.
The last two home games of the season were different from the rest, taking place in an outdoor rink at the Classic Center’s Foundry Pavilion on Jan. 28 and 29. The Ice Dawgs concluded the action-packed month with two more wins, beating Clemson 5-0 and South Carolina 5-4.
Right after defeating the Gamecocks the previous weekend, Georgia faced off against them once again in Irmo, S.C., ultimately losing 6-2.
Originally, Georgia was scheduled to have two more outdoor games against Auburn on Feb. 24-25 but was unable to do so due to weather conditions. Instead, the teams played in Cumming, Ga. on Feb. 25, securing another win for the Ice Dawgs after beating Auburn 5-4 in the last game of the regular season.
The team went on to the CHS Tournament earlier this month, going undefeated against Auburn, Florida, and Florida Atlantic to become the regional champions.
Now that the Ice Dawgs have played their last game in the Fed Cup, all eyes will be on Georgia next season to see if the team will be able to reclaim that title once again.
