{"id":564,"date":"2025-09-21T22:48:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T02:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/?p=564"},"modified":"2025-09-21T23:34:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T03:34:58","slug":"11-23-2002-north-carolina-state-vs-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/21\/11-23-2002-north-carolina-state-vs-kentucky\/","title":{"rendered":"11\/23\/2002 North Carolina State vs. Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"11\/23\/2002 North Carolina State vs. Kentucky\" width=\"520\" height=\"293\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nNGylC-ciJ4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Lexington Ice Center<br>11\/23\/2002<br>American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA)D2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">KENTUCKY HOCKEY<br>2002-2003 Season<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"371\" height=\"172\" src=\"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-21-at-22-24-09-UKHockey.com-Game-Recap.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-21-at-22-24-09-UKHockey.com-Game-Recap.png 371w, https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-21-at-22-24-09-UKHockey.com-Game-Recap-300x139.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Credit:&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20021125151829\/http:\/\/www.ukhockey.com\/\">Matt Eichman<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><br>Cool Cat Comeback Falls Short<br><strong>Heartbreak Hotel:<br>Late Wolfpack goal upends Cool Cat rally<\/strong><br><em>by Jeff Patterson, Kernel Sportswriter<\/em><br><br>Sunday morning was bittersweet for the University of Kentucky Cool Cats (7-11). They played their finest hockey of the season against the 12th ranked Wolfpack of North Carolina State (9-4), yet came up just short losing 3-2. The Cats were defeated Saturday morning 7-3 by the Wolfpack.<br><br>The Cool Cats showed no fear and much heart against the larger and very fast Wolfpack. Aaron Stephenson, Colin Hoss, Pete Notkin and others delivered many hard hits in what were two very physical contests. The Cats showed constraint in making the abundant amount of foolish penalties that had been a detriment to them in the past.<br><br>Justin Clark had a rocky start in net in the first period early Saturday. At 2:40 into the game Adam Williams went top shelf on Clark to give the Wolfpack an early 1-0 lead. They scored on a power play five minutes later to increase the lead to two. Wes McDaniel put the Cats on the board at 6:54 on a great assist from the freshman phenom, Al Anderson. Yet the mighty Wolfpack scored twice more in the first, one on a beautiful one timer from Josh Cottrell to give them a 4-1 lead at the end of the first.<br><br>Head Coach Phil Sweeney decided to pull Clark in favor for Jason Graves after the first period. Graves didn&#8217;t fair too much better in net. The Wolfpack scored three times in less than eleven minutes on him to open up the game to 7-1. To Graves&#8217; credit though the goals were scored as followed: one via deflection, one on a five on three power play, and the last on a five on four power play. The good teams always convert when they are given the opportunity on the power play. North Carolina State sure is a good team.<br><br>Even though the Cats only had one goal to show for their efforts at that point their offense was definitely moving the puck. Their offense wasn&#8217;t anemic against the strong Wolfpack defense. Notkin&#8217;s play looked inspired as he weaved through the defense causing the crowd to gasp at his moves. Alex Derhohannesian came close to scoring on many occasions for the Cool Cats. Team Captain, Aaron Stephenson, was the textbook definition of leader on the ice. He set up the offense, kept control of the puck, and laid a couple Wolfpack players flat on their back.<br><br>Late in the second, the Cats started to come alive. Chris Zaremski scored on a clean up shot with 4:45 remaining on an assist from J.S. Gagnon to cut the lead to five. Josh McConnell scored with 13:44 left in the game as he went top shelf on N.C. State to cut the lead to four. Graves had to leave the net after the second period with an injury and Clark came back. Clark was incredible in net in the third period as he shut out the \u2018Pack and kept Kentucky in the game. However, when the zeros were on the board North Carolina State were the victors winning 7-3.<br><br>The real Cool Cats came out to play early Sunday morning. The first fifteen minutes of the game was a showcase of goalie skill for both teams. Clark had kick save after glove save as he killed a power play. Both teams were playing sound hockey as they were completing passes and setting up their attack. Team Captain Stephenson had several near goals on an early power play. The crowd was jumping with every missed opportunity. Senior defenseman, Davin McLeod saved a goal by swatting away a puck in the crease when Clark was down after a previous shot. The Wolfpack got on the board at 4:17, when Brandon Gregor went past the Cat defense on a three on three penalty situation. The ice center erupted at 14:16 in the second as Stephenson tied the game up going top shelf with an even strength goal. Less than five minutes later the Wolfpack answered on a four on three power play.<br><br>The crowd stayed hyped as time was winding down. The Cats had a huge opportunity on the power play late in the third. Colin Hoss blasted the puck at the keeper and Davin McLeod deflected it into the net to tie it up at two goals apiece. The crowd erupted and hope was alive. Only forty-three seconds later after Clark had been pulled away with a shot the \u2018Pack scored again with Clark on the ice. Silence fell over the crowd. Looking for offense, Clark was pulled in favor of an extra forward with a minute to go. Stephenson and crew couldn&#8217;t get the puck in the net and thus the Cats fell 3-2.<br><br>&#8220;You couldn&#8217;t ask for more, they played the way we&#8217;re supposed to play, hopefully we&#8217;ll keep it up,&#8221; Assistant Coach Pasi Holopainen on his team&#8217;s heart Sunday.<br><br>Clark was god-like in the net for the Cats. He only allowed on straight up goal against the 12th ranked Wolfpack.<br><br>&#8220;It was a tough loss but we played well; I was just fighting the puck, &#8221; Clark said after Sunday&#8217;s heartbreak.<br><br>The Cool Cats will have to wait till December 6th to get back in the winning column. They face the Buckeyes of Ohio State University at the Lexington Ice Center. Puck drops at midnight.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lexington Ice Center11\/23\/2002American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA)D2 KENTUCKY HOCKEY2002-2003 Season Credit:&nbsp;Matt Eichman Cool Cat Comeback Falls ShortHeartbreak Hotel:Late Wolfpack goal upends Cool Cat rallyby Jeff Patterson, Kernel Sportswriter Sunday morning was bittersweet for the University of Kentucky Cool Cats (7-11). They played their finest hockey of the season against the 12th ranked Wolfpack of North&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2002-2003-season"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolcatshockey.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}