USU hockey racks up penalties, drops home opener

Just as the weather in Logan got cold, so did the Utah State hockey team as they dropped their home opener to UNLV 5-2.

Utah State came out of the gates hot. They drew first blood with a goal just over a minute into the game, but were unable to keep that momentum going. UNLV scored five unanswered goals before the Aggies scored their second goal with 44 seconds left in the match.

“I thought we started off real good,” said head coach Jon Eccles. “I thought we were aggressive. We were hitting. We were taking the game to them. Then all of the sudden we just backed off and let them dictate how to play.”

Penalties were proven to be a central theme against the Rebels — Utah State had 11 penalties that contributed heavily to the loss.

“We need to stop taking stupid penalties,” said goalkeeper Austin Willenborg. “That’s really going to help us — not taking penalties that we don’t need.”

Eccles agreed and explained how much the penalties impacted the team.

“When you take your top team man off the ice and put him in the penalty box, it hurts more because then the other two or three guys are battling,” he said. “We had to move a forward back to play D.”

There were plenty of scoring chances throughout the game for Utah State. The Aggies outshot UNLV 40-32, but the Rebel’s goalkeeper, Terry Martin, put up a heroic effort with recording 38 saves.

Utah State will look to improve from this game and face a quick turnaround for their next game. They will play at the University of Utah Sept. 24. The Aggies will not return to home ice for nearly a month until they take on the University of Colorado Oct. 14.