The Georgia Ice Dogs club hockey team went on a road trip to Florida this weekend.

They took on the University of South Florida Icebulls in Tampa, Fla., on Friday, and then went to Daytona, Fla., for a match against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles on Saturday night.

Friday night’s game was uneventful for the Dogs as the strain from traveling caught up with them.

Senior Bryan Burnhart scored the only goal for the night against the Icebulls, assisted by center David Bausano. The game stayed tied at 1-1 with USF until the third period.

“We had road legs,” Burnhart said. “We were all tired from the nine-hour charter bus ride down from Athens.”

Penalties obstructed Georgia’s attempts at scoring again, allowing for four more USF goals in the third period. The game ended in a 1-5 loss for the Ice Dogs.

The Dogs traveled again for three and a half hours to Daytona early Saturday to face off with Embry-Riddle.

Georgia’s momentum started off slow, but soon picked up as the crowd at ERAU got their blood pumping. The Ice Dogs capitalized on the Eagles’ weaknesses and raked in eight goals to end the game in an 8-4 decision.

“Embry-Riddle was very undisciplined, which led to plenty of opportunities for us,” Burnhart said. “We started to hit more, which we didn’t do too much of at Friday’s game.”

The Ice Dogs are ranked second in the Southeast region. They are vying for a spot in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) National Tournament in Muskegon, Mich., March 6-8.

Final rankings will come out this week to determine the top three-ranked teams from each region, determining who will compete in the tournament.

Georgia plays Florida State Friday night at 9:20 and Saturday night at 8 at home in the Duluth Ice Forum.

Two wins against Florida State will seed Georgia as No. 1 in College Hockey South (CHS) for the CHS Playoffs in Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 21-22.