Aggies to face BYU, EWU

pieces and move on against BYU and Eastern Washington this weekend.

The Aggies will play in Provo against the Icecats Friday at 7 p.m. at the Peaks Ice Arena and will face the Eagles Saturday at the Eccles Ice Center at 8 p.m.

USU lost for the first time ever to the WSU D-II squad 3-2 last Saturday in Ogden.

“We just needed a wake-up call,” Aggie Josh Groves said. “I think we’re good to go.”

Groves said the team didn’t lose that game because it wasn’t capable of winning, but because it just didn’t try hard enough.

“The only issue is lack of effort,” he said. “We have the talent and conditioning to beat any team.”

Head Coach Jerry Crossley said the team has the potential to do great things if it can play as a team.

“What we’re really after is better execution,” he said. “We need to really improve our game and stop free-lancing.”

Forward Ryan Osterheldt said the players are changing their preparation and following stricter team rules.

“We’re coming together more as a team,” he said. “We’re going to listen to the coach, try new things and make sure everyone follows the rules.”

Osterheldt said the players will be penalized for coming late to practice and for missing off-ice conditioning on Mondays. He also said they will have a team meal before every home game from now on.

Crossley said he thinks the players are still getting used to each other.

“[The players] are sorting out a lot of feelings,” he said. “They’re figuring out what to expect of each other.”

The Aggies have already faced the Icecats twice this season, 4-3 in overtime in Logan and 3-0 in Provo.

Groves said that is no reason to assume the same result will happen Friday.

“We can’t look past any team,” he said. “We looked past the second game against Weber.”

USU played EWU twice last season in Logan, tying them 2-2 and shutting them out 7-0.

“We’re taking it seriously,” Groves said. “We’ve handled them pretty easily in the past, but they’re a different team than last year.”

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu