The UNCW club hockey team will travel to Christopher Newport this weekend to begin its spring semester schedule. The team returns to the ice after last playing against North Carolina State to a 4-4 tie on Nov. 18.

The new semester sees the Seahawks ranked sixth in the Division Three South Region rankings in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). This is one position higher than where the team finished at the end of the fall semester at No. 7.

The team will boast its second leading scorer, Hunter Phillips, who returns from injury and is a much-needed addition to the team’s offense.

“Taking time away from the ice kind of gave me some space and it made me feel a lot better,” said Phillips. “My legs are feeling a lot better and I’m ready for the weekend to start.”

Despite gaining Phillips, the team will not have one of their top leaders in the locker room, John Cooperrider. Known on the team as “Jock,” Cooperrider will not be on the team this semester after being with the team the last three seasons.

“It’s huge for the team chemistry,” said Charlie Peters. “It’s really going to take the younger guys to step up and have a voice.”

Christopher Newport will be returning to the ice for the first time since they played the Seahawks on Nov. 10 and 11 at the Wilmington Ice House. Seahawks took both of those meetings, outscoring CNU 8-4.

With regionals looming for the Seahawks at the end of February, the team is set to begin its goal of gaining a regionals berth and continue their winning ways from the fall semester.

“We had a really good first semester but we need to improve on playing consistently on a night to night basis,” said Peters. “We have a tough schedule ahead and we have to win out from here to get to regionals.”

Streaming information for the weekend’s games has not been released but any information that pertains to this will be reported on the team’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Updates for the games will be posted on the team’s Twitter account, @UNCWHockey.

“I hope to improve both athletically but also academically,” said Phillips. “Also, I want to try to become more of a leader for this team because I know a bunch of seniors are leaving after this year. It’s definitely an opportunity for me to step up and be a leader.”

Friday’s game is scheduled to be played at the Hampton Roads Iceplex at 10 p.m., with Saturday’s afternoon game starting at 3 p.m.

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.