Hokies vs Liberty Ice Hockey...

Went down to Liberty last night to watch the Hokies vs. Flames game and they had a pretty good attendance with a very loud and vile at times student showing. Game started late and had to watch "Human Ice Bowling" for about half an hour before the game started but it was good to catch another live game....

This is the fourth game that I have seen at Liberty and it's nice to be able to find a spot on the 2nd level close to the ice rink with some very nice viewing spots. The officiating the first game or two that I have seen at Liberty was questionable but the third game, which was a playoff game between William & Mary vs. Citadel, it was obvious that the calls were very much one sided. Last nights officiating was almost as bad with several questionable calls going Liberty's way. During the 2nd period a Hokie player ran into the goalie and it appeared that he was pushed by a Liberty player and he received the appropriate penalty for interfering with the Goalie, but there were no penalties when the two Liberty defense men proceeded to beat on the Hokie player as the linejudge stood there and watched... Other then that it was a good game with Liberty winning 4 to 1 and with Liberty player #9 McCombe scoring a "Hat Trick". Very good puck handling and drives to the net did it for him and he was a "Star" of the game...

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Hokie Ice Hockey 2011...

First VA Tech Hokies Ice Hockey game of the season for me last at the Roanoke Civic Center and the guys looked good and skating well together as a team. Better passing this year and the team looks more aggressive all together as evident in taking a 3 to 0 lead after the first period...

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Hat Trick for Hokie player wearing #23 but not the player listed in the program that I got. I believe the name was Alex Smith when announced but can't be sure. #23 was hot and was very good at breaking for the goal when the opportunity was there but the trailing player was not always there but much better then last year...

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Senior Joel Samuels (Def) looked strong and more aggressive then last season and was quick to get back into the defensive zone when needed but still had several good shots on goals when the opportunity was there....

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Looked for Senior Andres Morales (forward) who was a hot scorer last year but was somewhat limited this game. He contributed to the team but was not the stand-out I saw last year... Still early and just the beginning of the season.....

Also noticed that Josh Bennett had himself a tough game being on of the smallest players on the team at 5'-7" but he mixed it up with any available player from the Villanova Wildcats and many times he was the guy taking the beating but that did not stop him. Towards the end of the 3rd he was near the glass where I was and mixed it up with a Wildcat going after the same puck. The Wildcat got away with cracking Bennett over the head with his stick and I thought the lady sitting in front of me was going over the glass for the ref missed the call all together. Bennett kept up with it and will be one to look for in future games.....

Hokies took the first of two home games with the Wildcats with a score of 7 to 4...

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Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Liberty Flames....

Virginia Tech Hokies vs Liberty Flames at the LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, VA.

Good game with alot of action from the second period on. Liberty had better passing game and if you look at the roster many of the players were from Ontario and the likes as compared to the Hokies where most players from this area and the east coast...

The LaHaye arena is somewhat smaller and was filled with student attendance. Good turnout for the Liberty team with a 11 to 6 win at the end...

The Liberty college team also won the penalty box occupation contest with many of the fine player\students spending the majority of the game penalty time there....

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