AUSTIN, Texas - The East Texas Baptist Men's ACH Division III Hockey team traveled to Central Texas for their 2022-23 season-opener and a two-game series against the ACHA Division II Texas State University Bobcats. The Tigers earned the D3 program's first-ever sweep against the Bobcats with a 5-2 win on Friday and a 7-2 win on Saturday.
 
GAME 1: ETBU 5, TXST 2
In Friday's tilt, two out of the five total goals were scored by: Fisher Naumann. The remaining three goals were tallied by Dominic Guerreri, Hunter Dorram and Kane Sander.  Goaltender Seth Daniel, was in between the pipes for the first 47:34 of the game, stopping 39 out of the 41 shots he faced. Fellow goalie, Brenden Teczar received the nod with 12:21 left in regulation, denying all eight shots on goal.
 
Coming off of a less-than-desirable inaugural season with only one win under their belts, the ETBU returned to the ice determined to prove themselves. Sophomore Naumann let only 3:01 go by before he got the ball rolling for the Tigers, scoring off a pass from Philip Davis. Roughly 4:00 minutes went by before the Naumann-Davis duo did it again—advancing the Tiger's lead to 2-0 wrapping up the first period.
 
ETBU started the second period on the power play giving them the one-man-advantage. Junior Dominic Guerreri received the puck from Tyler Wathen and buried it in the back of the net, scoring the period's only goal for either team. Guerreri's goal would bring the Tigers over the Bobcats 3-0 as they headed into final period.
 
The Tigers went on the penalty kill early in the third period, resulting in the Bobcat's first goal of the night with 15:04 remaining. Shortly after with just 12:21 remaining in the game the Bobcats scored again, applying pressure by pushing the score to 3-2. Coach Kris Perry and graduate assistant Nick Bozzuto pulled Daniel and sent in Brenden Teczar to shake things up and it was just what Dorram needed. With only 10:09 left to go, Dorram glided into the zone and scored, unassisted, giving the Tigers a little breathing room with a 4-2 lead. The momentum of this goal helped senior Jason Moore and freshman Dante Petrini set up fellow freshman Kane Sander to tally his first collegiate goal just 1:30 later, increasing the Tiger's lead to 5-2. Sander's goal would be the last scored by either club resulting in a final score of 5-2 in favor of the Tigers.
 
 
GAME 2: ETBU 7, TXST 2
In Saturday's contest, Dante Petrini claimed two out of the seven total goals. The remaining five goals were scored by: Corliss Emery, Tyler Wathen, Dominic Guerreri, Dylan Hedrick, and Corder Helmick.  Netminder Teczar returned to the net for the Tigers, only allowing two goals out of the 27 shots he faced.
 
The second game in the two-game series started out a little slower than the first. Leaving 9:06 to go in the first, Emery put the Tigers on the board first with help from Kane Sander on the power play. Shortly after, rookie Dante Petrini kepte the offense going claiming his first collegiate goal off the stick of Emery. With just 2:49 left before the first intermission, Wathen scored his first goal of the weekend, assisted by Sander, bringing the Tigers over the Bobcats 3-0 entering the second period.
 
The only goal scored in the second period would come from Texas State, pushing the score to 3-1 as they headed into the final 20:00 of regulation.
 
The Tigers entered the third period determined to get the job done and head home. They gained the one-man-advantage and Guerreri only let 0:29 go by before he snagged his first goal of the night, assisted by Petrini. With 18:22 left, and just 1:09 later, Dylan Hedrick set up Petrini to score his second goal of the contest—giving the Tigers a 5-1 lead. But the Tigers weren't done — barely 2:00 later the Tigers went back on the power play, and Hedrick tallied his first goal of the weekend with help from Sanders and Guerreri. Sophomore Helmick waited just 1:14 before he scored the Tiger's final goal of the game, assisted by Petrini and Naumann. The Bobcats scored the game's final goal with just 3:25 remaining. The Texas State goal would push the final score to 7-2, resulting in the D3 programs first-ever sweep.