The Kent State University Golden Flashes ice hockey team has, by the admission of their head coach Jim Underwood, faced a challenging initial month of the season and will benefit from an upcoming open weekend on their schedule.

      “It turns out having a weekend off is a very good thing right now,” commented Underwood while recently assessing the early season performance of this underclassmen laden roster.

      “Since we stepped on the ice after Labor Day until now, we have thrown a lot at them in terms of what we want to see on the ice. Between systems and personnel changes, it’s a lot. Factor in that we are a very young team and it’s a good time to step back, get a breather, refresh and then hit it hard until our Thanksgiving break.”

     While the team will enjoy the time away from the ice arena and the official Fall Break at the university, some of the group will use the time to recover from early season injuries.

     “We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries four games in and this provides a weekend off and a light week of practices for guys to heal themselves a bit,” Underwood said.

    During the previous two weekends the Flashes have already played four games, and, while three of those games resulted in defeats, Underwood is pleased with the performance of several of those aforementioned underclassmen.

     A look at the stats sheet reveals a pair of Freshman in the top three in points scored.

     Defenseman and North Canton native Zachary Barnes leads the team in assists (4), averaging one helper per game while forward Koby Greenberg (Wooster) has a goal and a pair of assists after the opening four matches.

     “Those two guys are the ones you can point out right away because of what they have done statistically, but there are other Freshman that have done a phenomenal job for us that may not have been rewarded with goals and assists” offered the Kent bench boss.

     “Collectively, I am very impressed with our Freshman class. It’s still a young season and there is still a lot of maturing and growing to do but I think they are taking it in stride and improving every single day.”

     Among that group of contributing first year players is Avon’s Zach Zwierecki.

     “Here’s a guy that is playing in all situations right now,” declared Underwood. “He is on the top unit of our power play, is one of our top six forwards and is on the ice in key situations. I think that speaks volumes for where he is at in terms of maturity for a freshman and his ability to learn, comprehend, ask questions and put himself in situations to get out there.”

     Sophomore blue liner Jacob Herrberg (Bellbrook, Ohio) has also made an early season impression.

     “He is out there on the ice every third shift; penalty kill and five-on-five. He is out there because he has earned that opportunity,” acknowledged the Kent State coach.

     Upperclassmen are expected to lead by example and Senior forward Rob Ferrari and junior netminder Tyler Geloneck have done just that.

     Ferrari, as his last name would imply, started the season very quickly with a trio of goals and an assist for a point-per-game average. Included among those goals was an overtime game winner in Kent’s 4-3 victory against Syracuse.

    Geloneck played in the initial three games of the season after having his practice time limited due to a wrist injury.

     “In terms of (Geloneck’s) performance, Thursday (prior to the season-opening weekend series against Pittsburgh) was his first day of practice in over a week and as a goaltender you need to see a lot of shots to get into a rhythm. We were pleased with what he was able to do and knew he would get better going into the Syracuse weekend. He faced 50 shots against Syracuse, and he is one of the reasons we won in overtime,” reviewed Underwood.

     The Flashes return to action at the Kent State Ice Arena on Friday, October 18th  at 7:30 PM against the University of Toledo.

BlueLineNotes:

-The Flashes play a home-and-home against Toledo next weekend. After the Friday night game, the team will travel to Toledo to match up against the Rockets on Saturday, October 19th.

-Kent State alumnus and well-known sports announcer, Steve Albert, contributed $50,000 to the Kent State ice hockey program. A portion of the funds will support the team while another portion will be used to support live broadcasts for Golden Flashes’ hockey games. The broadcasts will provide students the opportunity to hone their media skills. Albert’s announcing career expanded over 45 years and included play-by-play stints with the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns among others.

-The link to watch the broadcasts of Kent State games is: https://ksuhockey.sportngin.com/home

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