It didn’t take long for the University of Tennessee Hockey team (ranked No. 6 nationally by United States High School Hockey Online) to establish its dominance over Northern Kentucky University, 12-3, Jan. 12, at the Northern Kentucky Ice Center.

The first goal of the night came 33 seconds into the first period by Tennessee’s No. 5 defensemen Amin Elaquizy.

The Volunteers’ offense didn’t stop there, however. They scored three more goals in the first period before No. 19 forward Karl Mueller put one home for the Norse.

The period came to a close with the scoreboard showing Tennessee with a 4-1 lead.

After that, the game only got worse. Tennessee added four more goals in the second period, and NKU’s No. 20 forward Jeremy Silber, scored his lone goal of the night.

The checking and amount of physical play really started to pick up. NKU’s frustration was let out through its numerous penalties for illegal checks and slashing.

The third period was more of the same hockey that was played in the first and second periods, except more violent. Once again, Tennessee added four goals, while again, NKU put up one.

No.18 defenseman Jeremiah Phelps added his second goal of the night in the third period for UT, as he became the leading scorer of the night.

No. 8 defenseman Ron Banczak added his lone goal for NKU in the third period, but it was a case of way too little, way too late.

Several players received 5-minute major penalties for the actions during play. Also, NKU’s No. 10 defenseman Scott Hicks and No. 4 defenseman Will Sanders were ejected for constant fighting.

The Norse’s goalie, No. 46 Martin Paul, played well despite the score.

He stopped several slap shots and had around 25 saves for the night.

Paul didn’t get much help from his teammates because it seemed UT always had one player winding up for a shot.

The fact NKU also played most of the game down one man, and sometimes even two, didn’t help either; it almost made the goal wider for the Tennessee players.

At the end of the night, the damage had been done, and NKU stood at the wrong end of a 12-3 score. NKU’s next game is at 10 p.m. Jan. 19 at the NKIC against Xavier University.