Struggling to take control of the puck and find good shots, TCU Ice Hockey fell on two consecutive nights to Dallas Baptist.
The Horned Frogs lost 3-1 on Friday night and 5-2 on Saturday night.
The Patriots were able to capitalize on puck possession in TCU’s defensive zone and produced more shots on goal.
“They were zipping the puck around in our zone more than we’d like,” said head coach Michael Authier. “We got to get our stick down on the ice and get our stick in lanes so that we can pick off some of those passes.”
Another challenge for the Frogs was penalties — totaling 15 penalties throughout both games.
Players were frustrated by the calls, but Authier said they’ve got to channel that frustration into stealing pucks and getting shots on goal.
“The game on Saturday especially consisted of a lot of bad officiating calls, which caused the team to focus more on the officials and less on DBU,” said Jimmy Kreminski, a defensive player for TCU. “Our level of focus is going to be crucial going into playoffs and will most likely determine our success.”
TCU currently sits at the No. 3 seed in the division. DBU is just above them in the second seed spot. This means that the two teams are set to play each other again the first game of playoffs.
Playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, will start during the second weekend of February. The first team in each division will get a bye and the number two and number three seed will play each other.
“Our goal is to get a first playoff win. TCU has never had a playoff win before and we still have that opportunity this year,” captain Patrick Kurtz said.
Before the postseason begins, the Frogs will host Texas State for the last two-game series of the regular season.
Although these games don’t count towards playoffs, TCU plans to utilize this matchup to make the necessary adjustments before facing DBU again.
“The main focus for our team is DBU and playoffs,” Kreminski said. “While the games we face next week are important, the main focus of our team is getting ready for the playoffs and correcting our mistakes against DBU.”
