Hockey team to face WSU rivals

The Utah State-Weber State rivalry will hit the ice this weekend at the USU hockey club and the WSU Division-II squad will square off Friday in North Logan and Saturday in Ogden.

Friday’s game will start at 8 p.m. at the Eccles Ice Center and Saturday’s game will be at 8:30 p.m. at the Weber County Ice Sheet.

Assistant coach Ned Hillyard said there has been no love lost between the two programs in recent years.

“I hate Weber,” he said. “I despise Weber, but I don’t mind playing them.”

Aggie Scotty John said if the Aggies come ready to play, there’s no way they’re going to lose.

“If we play our game, there’s not a team in Utah better than us,” he said. “We’re not overconfident about these games because the last few times (vs. WSU D-II) have been a battle.”

Aggie Chad Johnson said this is a must-win weekend for USU.

“We need to beat these guys,” he said.

Hillyard said there is a lot of pressure still on the team to win.

“If we don’t win, we’re not going anywhere,” he said. “We’ve dug ourselves into a hole.”

The American Collegiate Hockey Association will release new rankings this week. USU was ranked No. 10 in the last poll while the Wildcats were No. 8.

John said that poll was correct.

“[WSU D-II] has played at a higher level than we have,” he said. “We’re deserving of whatever ranking we get. But we have a better team and we’ll prove that.”

Johnson said WSU D-II is better than most Aggie fans think.

“I don’t think they’ve gotten enough credit,” he said. “They keep on improving. They’re always a tough team and very physical.”

Hillyard said he thinks the Aggies have the element of surprise on their side.

“We’re a different team,” he said. “We shouldn’t have a problem. We match up well. I think we’ll beat them.”

Hillyard said the biggest difference in this semester’s team from last semester’s is the attitude.

“This team has fun,” he said. “They’re like brothers. The team before had to win to have fun.”

After finishing last semester with a record of 9-16-1, the Aggies have won three of their first four games this semester and have outscored their opponents 33-8.

USU’s only blemish in the second half of the season was a 2-1 setback against No. 1 San Jose on the road. The Aggies beat Cal-Berkeley on the road 9-3 at home 8-3 and beat UVSC 15-0 so far this semester.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu