The UNC Wilmington hockey team played the North Carolina State Wolfpack to a 4-4 tie at the Wilmington Ice House Saturday night.

The Seahawks were able to get off to a quick 1-0 lead thanks to forward Tim Wiklund’s goal at the 16-minute mark in the first period.

“I was pressuring the defenseman, he fumbled the puck and it went to my shin pads,” said Winklund. “I was able to beat the goalie and put us up 1-0. It was a good feeling.”

NC State answered at the 12:32 mark in the first period thanks to forward Mark Costigan’s goal to even the game at 1-1. The Wolfpack were benefited by an unfortunate stumble from UNCW’s Tyler Feast, which allowed Costigan the space to score.

In the second period, defenseman Sam Banasiewicz scored at the 13:43 mark in the period to push NC State to a 2-1 lead. UNCW’s assistant captain Bennett Clark answered shortly after at the 10:58 mark to tie the game at two.

An unfortunate misplay by the Seahawks Ryan Besemer allowed NC State’s Hayden Dewey to score at the 5:55 mark of the second period to give the Wolfpack a 3-2 lead. Besemer left his net to retrieve the puck and when he shot it back down the ice, it went straight to Dewey, who had a wide-open net.

At the 5:49 mark in the third period, Ben Cooperrider received the puck in the slot and was able to beat NC State’s goaltender Joseph Hall to tie the game at 3.

“I felt that as soon as I got the puck that I could put it in,” said Cooperrider. “I kind of blacked out after that but it was crazy.”

Forward Will Tooke’s goal put the Seahawks ahead at the 2:42 mark, but NC State’s Sam Banasiewicz answered with 58.9 seconds left to tie the game a four. The game went to overtime but neither team was able to develop many great chances to win the game.

With an electric crowd throughout the night, the players appreciated the energy the fans brought to the Ice House in such a meaningful game for the team.

“We promoted this game for quite a while trying to get a lot of fans here and they showed up,” said Cooperrider. “They helped us fight through the entire game. We knew they were there backing us up and we ended up tying these guys so it was good.”

Following this game, the Seahawks have a long break that will see them off until the second week of January when the second semester begins.

“As we go into this break knowing that it is a seven-week break, we are all going to hit the ice and be ready to play next semester,” said Wiklund.

Contributing Writer Brian Carpenter can be found on Twitter @bostonfan17856. Any tips or suggestions should be forwarded via email to [email protected]. For video updates from The Seahawk, subscribe to our YouTube channel.