Skyhawks Fall to #10 Taylor in Season Opener

The Point University Skyhawks were matching tenth-ranked Taylor goal for goal for a good portion of the contest, but a 5-0 scoring run between the second and third quarters put Point in too deep a hole to overcome as the Skyhawks fell 14-10 to the Trojans in their season opener.

Malyke Sillers scored a game-high 4 goals while Zachary Covey had a hat trick to go along with his 1 assist on the day. Also scoring multi-point games were Tyler Kelly and Jamison Cross who each had 1 goal and 1 assist.

The teams traded goals in the first half, with Taylor getting on the board first, just 1:18 into the game. Point answered quickly with McLaughlin getting his first of the day just under a minute later to even the score at one. After Taylor re-took the lead at 9:29, it was another fast answer with Covey finishing off a Cross pass to tie the game with 8:12 left in the opening quarter. Point was man-down following that goal, but the defense came up big, fending off three shots during the penalty and another two as Taylor retained possession at even strength before a turnover sent play the other way. The game continued to go back and forth until Taylor regained the lead with a goal at the 4:42 mark of the first quarter and took that lead into the second quarter.

The Skyhawks came out strong in the second quarter, with Sillers getting the first of his four to tie the game at three apiece before Kelly scored an unassisted goal to give the Skyhawks their first lead of the game with 10:46 on the clock. Taylor needed just 34 seconds after the face-off to tie the game at 4-4, then, after almost 8 minutes of back-and-forth play, Sillers scored his second of the quarter to put the Skyhawks back on top. From there, however, Taylor would take control. They scored with 2:16 on the clock to tie the game at 5, then after a Point turnover in their defensive zone, Taylor scored again to make it 6-5 in favor of the Trojans. Taylor won the ensuing faceoff and struck one more time, just 12 seconds before halftime, to put Point in a 7-5 hole going into the break.

Taylor eventually concluded their 5-0 scoring streak with back-to-back goals, just 38 seconds apart, early in the third quarter to put the Trojans up 9-5. Point kept fighting, though, and after Sillers completed the hat trick to make it 9-6, Covey picked up the ground ball and fired a shot past the keeper to make it 9-7 with 7:20 left in the third quarter. Sillers had a couple attempts to keep the run going for Point, but his shots were saved, allowing Taylor to strike again and push the lead back to 3 with 2:41 to go. Taylor added another late-clock goal, this one coming with 5 seconds on the clock, to make it 11-7.

Taylor pushed their lead to 5 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and despite goals by Sillers, Cross, and Covey in the final frame, the deficit was too much to overcome as they Skyhawks would only get the gap to 4, which was the final score of 14-10.