USU melts University of Washington
Forward Billy Gouthro scored four goals as the Aggies dominated the University of Washington 10-2 Jan. 27 at the Eccles Ice Center.
“It was a good game. Things just went my way,” Gouthro said. “It’s been a rough season so far but hard work prevails.”
Gouthro has struggled lately for the Aggies, but USU head coach Jon Eccles said all his hard work paid off.
“He works so hard on both ends of the ice, and to see him get rewarded like that was good,” Eccles said.
Gouthro wasn’t the only Aggie to have a big night. Freshman Cooper Limb also had a hat-trick and added two assists in USU’s win.
With four games left in the regular season, it’s crunch time for Utah State hockey. Gouthro understands this all too well.
“We have nationals coming up, so every game is a big game,” Gouthro said. “We only have one game a weekend, so doing the little things every game is what it’s going to take to win.”
Eccles said heading to the end of their season, the Aggies are making last-minute tweaks before heading to nationals.
“Every game is important. Every game we’re trying to work on something different,” Eccles said. “Tonight we really worked on a new fore-checking scheme.”
Despite being short, the Aggies defensive players listened to their coach.
“Our defense was just shutting guys down. They made it easy for us really,” Gouthro said.
The Aggies also focused on their penalty kills.
“We tried to be very patient when killing the penalty,” Eccles said. “We’re trying to be very aggressive and we jumped on them when they make a mistake.”
Utah State forced Washington to give up four shorthanded goals, including two off the stick of forward Joel Basson.
“When they cough up the puck, we’re such good skaters and stick handlers and goal scorers that we keep the puck out of our zone,” Eccles said.
The Aggies were efficient on the offensive end with five goals on 11 shots in the second period, including three shorthanded goals.
Eccles was happy with the performance of his orange line. The offensive combination of Chase Allington, Seth Amitage and Gary Higgs quietly scored three goals for the Aggies.
“They are very disciplined. They go out and do the stuff we want them to do,” Eccles said. “That just opens up turnovers for them to capitalize on.”
The Aggies brought back Armitage, who didn’t play during the first semester but is back to finish up his final semester of eligibility. The senior had two assists on the night.
Armitage was complimented by Allington, who had a goal and two assists, and Higgs, who had two goals on the night.
“They have fun playing together,” Eccles said.
In the net, sophomore Bryce Scherschel had 26 saves and allowed two goals.
The Aggies resume play against Northern Arizona University Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Eccles Ice Center.
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu