The California Lutheran University Kingsmen club hockey team, formerly known as the Knights, began their 2019 season at the Simi Valley Iceoplex on Saturday, Oct. 19 against Santa Clara University.

The Kingsmen fell to Santa Clara 7-0 in a hard fought battle that lasted through all three periods of hockey.

“7-0 is always a tough thing to swallow, but I look at it as a positive coming in. We made one big change. I let the kids play,” Head Coach Zach Margeson said. “The first two periods [Santa Clara] scored six goals. The third they scored one… so for me that’s a big jump.”

Santa Clara was able to get on the board with a quick goal in the third minute of the game.

As the first period progressed, the Kingsmen were not able to get the puck out of their defensive half allowing Santa Clara to capitalize and score their second and third goal within two minutes of each other, extending their lead to 3-0.

“Individually and as a team we are working together and doing what we can. We are a new team and some of the players that we have are new to hockey which is very impressive, and I think we are constantly improving,” junior forward Stephen Anderson said.

The Kingsmen looked to bounce back in the second period, but were not able to get the puck on the offensive half of the ice, allowing for Santa Clara to score almost immediately as the second period began.

Santa Clara increased their aggressive play, causing six penalties throughout the game compared to five penalties for the Kingsmen.

“We improved a lot since our first away game against Chapman four weeks ago in preseason. Preseason is kind of a test to see where your team is at, checking the team chemistry, checking how team systems are going, and also checking in on your individual conditioning,” senior defenseman and captain Jake Olenak said. “We’ve just been working really hard at practice as a team.”

The Kingsmen were not able to rebound in the second period as Santa Clara scored two more goals, making the score 6-0 going into the third period.

As the third period started the Kingsmen increased their offensive pressure and played tighter defense, only allowing one goal by Santa Clara making the final score 7-0.

“They took more risks. There was a little more communication. Obviously there is a lot to work on. It’s a short bench playing against a big bench and a lot of them are skilled players, but I thought they did very well. It’s a good learning game. Every game is going to get better and better,” Margeson said.

The Kingsmen continue their 2019 season on Saturday, Oct. 26, traveling to the Univerity of California, Santa Barbara to play the Gauchos at 9:45 p.m.