For a series that most of the team considered to be “a little sloppy”, the UC Bearcats managed an impressive sweep of the Xavier Musketeers in two straight games on home ice, raising their record to 6-1.

Friday night’s game was an exciting one for Bearcat fans, UC consistently lighting up the scoreboard. In his first start for UC, goaltender Martin Paul denied all comers in the 6-0 blowout win.

Forward Arman Olgun got a dose of long awaited revenge, scoring a hat trick in his first game against XU since blowing out his knee several seasons ago as a result of a dirty hit. “It felt amazing to win like that against [XU], especially since it’s the team that took me out my freshman year.”

Assistant captain Will Hunter, and 2nd year forward Tony Sarni racked up a goal apiece, and rookie forward Steve Spaeth picked up a pair of assists. Jon Korst, Jake Bonta, and Hunter each had one assist.

Agitator Kyle Fitzpatrick was also a presence on the ice, and managed to score a goal in between stints in the sin bin for roughing up the XU team. “It’s fun coming up against another good Cincy team. And it’s always fun when they come after you.”

And come after him though they did, in the end it just wasn’t enough for the Muskies, who disappointed a largely Xavier crowd and walked off the ice without scoring a single goal.

Four year UC Hockey veteran and current team president Ted Riolo pointed out that Friday’s game was only the second shutout in seven years for the Bearcats, and the largest margin of victory against XU in three years. After losing three of four games in last year’s series, UC’s team has something to prove. Having swept the first two games of this year’s split series, they’re off to a good start.

But it’s not all wine and roses for the Bearcats, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Coach Blaine Stoughton points out the team went into Saturday’s game “a little too overconfident”, and as a result play was sloppy with little “attention to detail.” All in all though, the coach was positive, calling it a “Good weekend.”

Saturday, the Bearcats pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory despite what both Riolo and team captain Mike “Jags” Jagelewski agreed was a much too overconfident mentality. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” says Jags, “We have a much better team than last year.” And with 17 of the team’s 28 players rookies, that’s quite a statement. According to Jags, the entire first line is made up of first year players, and Riolo added that the team scoring leaders are likewise all rookies.

But the team’s veterans are holding their own as well. Ben “Cash” Bailey picked up the first goal in Saturday’s game at 7:06 in the first, assisted by Kyle Fitzpatrick and Alex Silvestros.

XU finally managed to get on the scoreboard for the first time in the series with goals in the first at 8:23 and 6:26. UC forward Jarell Gillens answered back less than thirty seconds later, assisted by Mike Rehbaum and Zach Markert, to tie the score. Kyle Fitzpatrick gave UC the lead at 2:24 in the second, and both teams were held scoreless for the rest of the period.

Nearly 13 minutes into the third, XU scored again on first year goalie Greg Geyer to tie the score at 3-3, and Coach Stoughton made the decision to go with more experience in the goal, sending in senior goalie Ted Riolo.

The end of regulation came and went with the score still tied, sending the game into sudden death overtime. Only 21 seconds in, Kyle Fitzpatrick scored on the XU goalie, giving UC the 4-3 win. “It’s definitely the highlight of my season so far,” Fitzpatrick says of the goal. “We’d been doing it all night, one had to go in eventually.”

Assistant coach Bill Coppoolse praised the victory over the team’s archrival, “We’re fighting for a regional spot, every game counts.”

If this weekend’s play is any indication, despite their overconfidence and occasionally sloppy play the UC Bearcats are set to become a force to be reckoned with in this division.

UC will play the remaining two games of the four game series with XU in January. The Bearcats next take on Middle Tennessee State University on October 25th and 26th at Sports Plus. A full preview of the series is upcoming this week.