RECAP: HAVOC 5, ICE FLYERS 3
PENSACOLA, FLA. – The Pensacola Ice Flyers faced off against the Huntsville Havoc on Saturday night to finish their weekend series. The Ice Flyers started strong, with Natan Vertes energizing the crowd of 6,341 by scoring just four minutes into the first period. The momentum continued when Matt Wiesner scored a short-handed goal, his fifth of the season, giving the Ice Flyers a 2-0 lead.
However, the Havoc responded. Huntsville’s Austin Alger found the back of the net with 1:19 left in the first period, narrowing the gap to 2-1. The second period saw Cayden Cahill extend the Ice Flyers’ lead with his second goal of the season. The period ended with some tension as Tim Faulkner and Giovanni Procopio engaged in a heated exchange.
The third period proved to be the Ice Flyers’ undoing. Despite physical efforts from Sam Dabrowski, the Havoc seized control of the game. They capitalized on two power-play opportunities, with Austin Alger scoring his second goal to tie the game. Giovanni Procopio then gave Huntsville the lead with just 2:44 left in the game.
The Ice Flyers pulled their goalie in a last-ditch effort, but the Havoc took advantage. With 58 seconds remaining, they sealed their victory with an empty-net goal, silencing the once-jubilant crowd.
Despite the loss, the night had its highlights. During intermission, Ice Flyers owner Greg Harris, accompanied by a representative from Florida Blue, presented a $7,000 check to the team’s October Charity of the Month, Pensacola Habitat for Humanity. Fans were also treated to entertaining blindfolded light-saber battles, adding a lighthearted touch to the evening.
The Ice Flyers will now set their sights on their upcoming weekend series in Peoria.
Fans can bid on autographed goal pucks and game-worn jerseys here: https://web.dashapp.io/team/pensacolaiceflyers
What’s Next?
Next Game: Friday, November 22 at Peoria
Next Home Game: Wednesday, November 27, for the first of two $5 Nights driven by Kia Autosport of Pensacola
Argos Close out Season in GSC Title Game Loss to No. 1 Valdosta
by Bill Vilona, GoArgos.com correspondent
A season of promising expectations for the UWF football team ended Saturday night with a final roadblock.
Unbeaten, top-ranked Valdosta State jumped to a 21-0 lead in the third quarter and cruised its way to a 28-7 victory against the No. 16-ranked Argos to clinch the Gulf South Conference title and No. 1 region seed for the NCAA Division II playoffs.
After six consecutive wins that followed a 1-2 start, the Argos (7-3) will likely miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018. UWF hoped it could recapture some road magic at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, where the Argos beat the Blazers in 2022 to help seal a playoff berth, then in 2019 in post-season on the way to UWF’s historic national championship run.
But after a scoreless first quarter, the Blazers (10-0) seized control on their senior night. They scored touchdowns on consecutive possessions in the second quarter for a 14-0 halftime lead. They added a third TD midway through the third quarter to further solidify a grip on the game.
“Didn’t play well,” said UWF coach Kaleb Nobles, who returned to his alma mater for the first time as a head coach. “We just didn’t do enough. I take full responsibility. I didn’t do enough, personally. Our guys gave everything they had. We have to find ways to keep getting better.”
The Argos gained a brief surge of hope when quarterback Marcus Stokes broke free on a 31-yard touchdown run with 4:53 left in the third quarter. After UWF’s defense forced a stop, the Argos drove near midfield and faced 4th-and-5 from the 48. But on the conversion attempt, running back T.J. Lane was stuffed two yards shy of the first down.
VSU then methodically drove nine plays, 50 yards and ate up 5:18 on the clock to score on Alfonso Franklin’s 1-yard run to put the game away. The drive was part of the Blazers’ 204 yards rushing, led by Blake Hester, who had 118 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown.
“They ran the ball pretty well, did stuff in the run game that I don’t think they’ve done all year, and we didn’t answer the call,” said Nobles, a 2015 Valdosta State graduate, who then used his post-grad year in 2016 to be the Argos quarterback in their inaugural season.
The Blazers’ total offense was 358 yards. UWF’s defense entered the game ranked No. 2 nationally in Division II, yielding just 205.9 yards per game. VSU senior quarterback Sammy Edwards completed 14 of 20 passes for 154 yards and two scores. Neither team had a turnover Saturday. Edwards was one of 30 seniors that VSU honored before the game.
“I’ll give (VSU) offensive line credit. They’re a good team and do a lot of things well,” Nobles said. “This one definitely hurts.”
Meanwhile, the UWF offense struggled throughout the night. Stokes completed 11 of 24 passes for 129 yards and was sacked twice. Javon Swinton was UWF’s leading receiver with three catches for 47 yards, including the longest pass play for UWF on a 33-yard reception. Stokes became the Argos leading rusher with 57 yards on nine attempts. The Blazers held the Argos’ tailback tandem of TJ Lane (33 yards) and Jay Sharp (16 yards) in check.
“We didn’t win some down-field throws and had a couple missed blocks on our offensive line that really affected us,” Nobles said. “When you do those things against a good team, those things get exposed. We know we can’t do that against a good team like Valdosta State.”
The Argos returned home after Saturday’s game and will begin post-season meetings on Monday. They are now planning for the 2025 season. On Saturday, UWF was seeking itsGSC title first outright . If the Argos had won, they would have won the tiebreaker.
The Blazers celebrated their 12th outright GSC title, their first since winning back-to-back conference championships in 2018 and 2019. The win elevated VSU to its fifth undefeated regular season in school history.
UWF ends with its seventh consecutive winning season in the program’s eight-year history. The Argos have won seven or more games in six of those years.
“The message is, I’m just proud of them,” Nobles said. “Everybody wrote us off and didn’t think we had a chance to do anything after we lost to Grand Valley State (on September 28). I told the team I’m proud of them for how they responded, giving themselves to be in this game. I told the seniors how proud I am of them, and how excited I am to be their head coach.”
Stephens and Green earn double-doubles in victory over Spring Hill
West Florida earned another win on the road as Haidyn Pitsch led the team with 20 points in the victory over Spring Hill on Wednesday night.
“We had another great effort for multiple players tonight in key moments,” said head coach Stephanie Yelton. “Proud of their effort. I’m anxious to get back in the gym to make some corrections before heading into next week.”
Rylie Stephens and Bella Green posted double-doubles for the night, both tabbing 11 rebounds. Stephens added 16 points to her stat line, and Green finished with 10 for hers.
The Argonauts started slowly and ended the first quarter behind the Badgers. Spring Hill took the early lead, holding it to its largest lead of the game, 8 points, with 3:08 left in the first quarter.
UWF came out strong in the second quarter. Liv Becker shifted the momentum, hitting a jumper in the first 11 seconds to get things going. The Argonaut defense kept the Badgers from scoring in their possessions and quickly turned things around to take the lead 27-21. A fastbreak jumper, made by Saije Taylor, put UWF at their largest lead yet at 38-29 with 2:35 left in the half.
The Argonauts held their lead going into the locker room after the half and kept things moving from there, scoring 20+ points each quarter until the end of the game. UWF outscored Spring Hill by 11 points in both the third and fourth quarters.
West Florida dominated possession in the third quarter, extending their lead to 13 points with 3:49 left in the quarter. A fastbreak layup by Bella Stone put the Argonauts up by 16 at 66-50 with 29 seconds left on the clock to end the third.
In the fourth quarter, UWF took their lead and ran with it, hitting as wide as a 30-point lead over the Badgers. The lead never dropped below 15 points in the fourth quarter, hitting various marks but ultimately ending at 27 points with the 92-65 victory for West Florida.
The Argonauts outshot the Badgers with a 44.6 shooting percentage, while the Badgers put up 35.5 percent. West Florida totaled 45 rebounds, with 17 being offensive, allowing for 15 second-chance points. The Badgers were led offensively by Kellyn Hunter with 20 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds.
The Argos will return to action on November 20, when they will face Tuskegee on the road. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
Argos Earn Best GSC Record in History with TNU Sweep
No. 25 nationally and No. 7 regionally West Florida volleyball (25-5, 20-0 GSC) hit another high-water mark in the program’s decorated annals as it finished the 2024 regular season with a perfect 20-0 mark, the most GSC regular season wins in the conference’s history, in yet another 3-0 final (25-13, 25-23, 25-17) on Senior Day at UWF Field House on Saturday afternoon against Trevecca Nazarene (13-18, 10-10 GSC).
After finishing the nonconference slate 5-5, the Argos brought their best to GSC play in the first season since 2016 the conference featured a 20-game double round-robin schedule. After experiencing 12-0, 14-0 and 16-0 GSC records in its history, UWF outdid itself once again to meet the lofty expectations the program sets. The win marks the 10th GSC season sweep and 11th overall in 2024.
The Argos celebrated the careers of their eight seniors in style, as Tylah Yeomans, Nikki Deslatte, Damyah Joyner, Annie Monaco, Erin Thompson, Izabelle Sanchez, Jenna Zydlo and Meg Brackhan were recognized for their contributions to the program in a pregame ceremony. Coach Melissa Wolter went with an all-senior starting lineup and each one played in every set. The result was no different for the Blue and Green, as it tallied 41 kills to 30 for TNU and scored 54 points to the latter’s 37. UWF scored 11 more kills and committed two less hitting errors than the visitors on just two more attacks, outhitting the Trojans .286 to .156. The Argos had the advantage in all the ancillary categories as well, taking aces 8-3, blocks 5-4, assists 40-29 and digs 44-34.
Joyner was in rare form and back to her terminal self again, making good on 11 of her 16 swings for a .500 mark to lead the team in her final regular season match. Zydlo tallied nine kills on .389 hitting, three block assists, three digs and an ace. Monaco scored seven kills on .211 hitting with seven digs, three blocks and two assists. Yeomans earned her first start as an Argo, and the grad transfer from Wheeling took advantage with five kills and a solo block. Another grad transfer in Deslatte made the most of Senior Day, as the former USC Upstate Spartan hit four kills on .273 production with an assisted block.
In her final regular season match as libero for the Argos, Brackhan scooped 12 attacks and had four assists while firing three aces. Thompson, in the most extensive action of her Argonaut career, tallied six digs and three aces. Another would-be dig by Thompson turned into a kill as she saved and put back into play a ball that carried outside the reach of Zydlo and perfectly over the net for the score. Sanchez dished out her most assists since October 6 of last season, putting up 18 to go with five digs and a kill. Gabi Moulton ceded playing time to Sanchez but still tallied 15 assists with three digs and a block assist. Camryn Brooks scored three kills on a .250 outing with six scoops and an ace.
In a first set in which UWF easily handled with a .185 hitting percentage while holding Trevecca to 0.0 and not scoring more than four points consecutively, the difference came at the service line. The Argos racked up six of their eight aces in the frame, routinely leaving the Trojans flummoxed. In the second, which saw just a .004 difference between the sides, TNU came out hot, taking two four-point and three three-point leads before the Argos took the lead for good at 19-15 with a 6-1 run. At set point, the Trojans fought back with a 5-1 run to get within one point before Yeomans stepped up with a kill to ensure that 25 would be sufficient.
Lastly, the Argos took the third frame with an advantage of .367 to .148 and six more kills. After ceding the opening point, a service error started an 11-0 run and a 10-point service run by Brackhan. Joyner scored four of the points via kill. Monaco added a kill with a block assisted by Zydlo, Brooks scored a kill of her own, and Brackhan scored via ace for the final time of the contest. UWF kept Trevecca at arm’s length the rest of the way, as after three straight Trojan points narrowed it to 23-17, Zydlo scored a kill for match point, and an attack error sealed it for the Argos.
All attention now turns to the GSC Championship next week. With the No. 1 seed and hosting privileges locked up for the 14th time and ninth straight season, UWF can sit by as No. 5 Lee and No. 6 Trevecca host the first round on Tuesday. The quarterfinals begin at the Field House on Friday, November 22. The Argos and No. 2 Alabama Huntsville have earned their opening round byes until the semifinals, which will be played on Saturday, the 23rd, UWF’s match coming first at 2 pm. The semifinal winners play for the conference title and automatic berth to the South Regional Championship on Sunday, the 24th, at 1 pm. The Argos eye their 13th overall and ninth straight GSC Championship, as well as conference title No. 124 across all UWF athletic programs.
