RALEIGH — The NC State Icepack club hockey team not only go to have their moment on the outdoor rink at Carter-Finley Stadium, they made the most of it.
Freshman Zach Herman scored in the first minute of the game on a breakaway, on the power play in the second period, and capped off his hat trick with 3½ minutes remaining in the game to lead the Icepack to a 7-3 win over rival UNC in front of an estimated 24,000 fans in the Frozen Finley game on Monday.
“I had two, but then they pulled it within two,” Herman said of the Tar Heels cutting the lead to 4-2 early in the third period on UNC forward Dan O’Hear’s second goal of the game. “And so at that point, I’m sitting there and I’m like, ‘I don’t care if I have zero right now, can we just get out of this game on top?’ … But, obviously, it’s always in the back of your head. I didn’t think it went in at first. And then I turned around and, you know, people were screaming.”
It was another triumph in a week of wins for the Wolfpack, who knocked off the Tar Heels in wrestling and men’s and women’s basketball in the past week while also hosting the Hurricanes’ Stadium Series game against the Capitals on Saturday.
“I think this is just the cherry on top to a hockey weekend in Raleigh that I’m not sure anyone really ever could have imagined,” Icepack coach Tim Healy said.
