After allowing Alabama to take a second period lead, the Tigers’ third period comeback attempt faltered and allowed the Tide to win 6-4.
Auburn continued the trend of starting off hot, as the team went up 2-0 in the first period, but allowed the Tide to score three in the second period to take the lead.
Defenseman Brian Seybold led the Tide with two goals and an assist, while forward Michael Kramer also had a pair of goals.
Auburn’s goals came from Henry Humphrey, James Willoughby-Ray, freshman Brooks Franklin, and Noah Henry. The Tigers' goalie Camden Denk kept Auburn in the game, with multiple stellar saves while facing more than 50 shots.
“I thought Cam played really good," said head coach Ryan Rutz. "He played really well, so we’re happy with what he did tonight."
Auburn’s power play showed improvement from last week. After allowing two shorthanded goals in their last game against Florida State, the Tigers’ power play came through to score twice on the man-advantage.
“The past week we really honed in on the power play and penalty kill," said defenseman Mike Lafferty. "We spent a good amount of practice, about 30 to 45 minutes both practices just working on the power play."
The game was physical from start to finish, with both sides being given multiple penalties from the aggression. The Tigers felt a few more calls should have gone their way.
“It’s a really hard game to call when Alabama and Auburn play because it’s obviously going to be a really physical game,” Lafferty said. “They’re going to miss a few calls here and there, so you can’t really blame them."
Auburn’s defense was under constant barrage from the Tide as the Tigers struggled to keep the puck out of their zone, a vast difference from the first two games of the season.
“We still got some things we need to clean up," Rutz said. "Defense-to-defense passing, or getting the puck and passing it up just a little bit quicker so that we can get it onto our forward sticks and they can get into the offensive zone."
The Tigers will be back in action in two weeks when they travel to Athens for a two game series against reigning CHS champions Georgia.
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Chris Mendoza is a senior from Huntsville, Ala. majoring in journalism and minoring in sports coaching. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @chris_mendoza20
