Resilient Ag hockey comes back twice to tie, win
It seems as though every time the Utah State University club hockey team has been pushed down this season, it bounces right back up and keeps going.
The Aggies proved this to be true twice over the weekend as they tied the University of Utah 2-2 Saturday night in Salt Lake and rolled over the San Jose State Spartans 6-4 Thursday at home.
USU is now 3-2-1 on the season.
USU 2, Utah 2
After losing to the Aggies 5-2 on Oct. 5, the Utes were looking to put a sour taste in the mouths of their in-state rivals.
Utah went up 2-0 on a power play goal seven minutes into the second period as Jimmy Doolittle put in a back-door pass from Chad Richardson and D.J. Jelitto.
Two minutes later Aggie left wing Aaron Burrell scored off of a Nick Thiros assist.
Robert Hashimoto evened up the score for USU with less than one minute remaining in the second period on an unassisted goal.
“We turned it on and had five to six chances in the final period to win it, but Utah was lucky and we couldn’t put the puck in the net,” said USU manager Keith Bleazard.
“Overall, the score probably was indicative of the play,” said Ute Head Coach Stan Weiss. “[But] both teams had their chances to win. [USU’s] line of Burrell, [Robert] Leo and Thiros was impressive. They are a threat every time they go on the ice.”
Utah was without its leading scorer Brett Fuller (broken finger) and Adam Campbell (severe leg cramp.)
USU 6, SJSU 4
After the first two periods Thursday night, things looked bleak for the Aggies, but a five-goal third period pushed USU to a 6-4 win over the visiting Spartans.
USU, undefeated at the Eccles Ice Center, did not want to break their unbeaten streak at home that night.
“The rally cry in the huddle between the second and third periods was ‘Let’s not start losing at home now,'” said Aggie center Ben Froehle.
Down 4-2 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the third period, the Aggies put in four unanswered goals to come away with the victory.
“It’s incredible,” said Aggie assistant coach Ty Newberry. “You love the character, you love the heart. My ulcers and blood pressure don’t enjoy it too much, [but] it’s great to have a team that believes that no matter what the circumstances are, they still have a chance to win. Being down two goals with 10 minutes left, most teams pull the chute and pack it in.”
Burrell had two of those four key goals late in the third period – one to tie the score at four and the other being the final score of the game.
He said the difference in the third period was the Aggies gaining an urgency to start playing better.
“We just started to skate more,” Burrell said. “In the second period, we just weren’t relaxed or beating them to the loose pucks.”
He said, “At intermission we get into the locker room and we’re like, ‘What’s going on guys? Let’s get it together. It’s our game. We’re not going to lose our first home game to San Jose State University for Christ sakes. I mean, California teams? Come on.'”
After a scoreless first period from both teams, the Spartans got on the board first with a goal by John Barney just under four minutes into the second period.
The Aggies responded about seven minutes later with a shorthanded goal when Hoshimoto beat a Spartan defender on the left side of the attacking zone before pushing the puck in.
With 6:02 remaining in the second period, USU defenders Aaron Sutliff and Jacob Guttormsen were each serving time in the penalty box to give SJSU a five-on-three advantage.
The advantage was they exploited quickly as Spartan center Aaron Scott punched the puck in on a rebound for a 2-1 San Jose advantage.
Then with just over one minute remaining in the second period the Spartans scored, taking a 3-1 advantage into the final period.
“They seemed to want it bad and shocked us early,” Bleazard said. “They entered the third period still thinking they can win while I was thinking we had better get it going soon or it’s going to end up in a tie or a heartbreaker.”
Newberry said Spartan goalie Chris Webber was unstoppable through the first two periods, but once USU was able to score on him frequently late in the third the momentum swing was in the Aggies’ hands.
“Their goalie was just phenomenal,” Newberry said. “That kid saw more rubber than a dead skunk on a trans-Canada highway. Once you get confidence that this kid can be scored on, it just falls apart from there.”
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