Adversity wins MWCHL championship for Utah State
Adversity can be a killer in sports. And for a season as long as hockey, it can be particularly cruel. But as team captain Ben Carlson lifted the Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League trophy above his head, he knew in the face of adversity, his team had unlocked amazing potential and overcame the odds.
After leading his team through a gauntlet lined with the two highest ranked teams in the division and re-capturing the team’s identity, he felt good.
“This is nearing the end of my hockey career,” Carlson said in an interview after the championship game. “This was one of our goals at the start of the season. It’s nice to end on a high note.”
It was not an easy road to becoming champions, though. After starting the season strong, winning 12 of their first 18 games, the Aggies ran into injury trouble, losing starters Brendan Woolcott, Mason Mulneaux and George Kuehn.
Utah State fell into a losing slump, one so bad they dropped from second place down to sixth in an eight-team division. The losses brewed frustration in the team. An example of this frustration occurred in an interview with Zach Pires after a tough loss against Metro State Denver. Pires openly called out the defense, saying the zone “screwed” them and was the reason for the loss.
They had lost their winning identity and were turning on each other. Carlson knew something needed to happen; otherwise, it would have been a slippery slope downwards. So, the team had multiple team and player-only meetings over the next couple weeks and had some tough conversations.
“We all came together,” Carlson said after the first-round game. “We looked in the mirror and told each other why we came to Utah State. For us, it boiled down to hockey. We realized we were here for the name on the front, not on the back, and that kind of changed the dynamic of the locker room near the end of the season.”
For the rest of the regular season, the Aggies alternated wins and losses in their last six games as they tried to regain their winning mentality, all the while gambling to see if Woolcott and Kuehn would be healthy in time for the MWCHL tournament.
Utah State played well enough to earn itself a 4-seed in the tournament to play against a lower-seeded University of Montana squad. And except for Mulneaux, who was out for the remainder of the season, the Aggies had each returned to full strength in time for the first round.
Kuehn made an impact, scoring the team’s fifth goal as Utah State swept the Grizzlies 6-1 on Thursday night in the George S. Eccles Ice Center, which was full of loyal Aggie fans. Woolcott’s impact was also felt as the Aggie’s defense was able to lock down Montana and dictate the flow of the game in the neutral zone.
“I think as a team we came together,” Woolcott said. “We finally figured it out, and I think that we are peaking at a good time during these playoffs.”
The semi-final round was a more difficult challenge. The Aggies took on the No. 1 seed Montana State University Bobcats (30-2) who had just racked up a 21-0 victory over Idaho State in their first-round game. The last time these two teams met was a highly physical matchup, where the Bobcats won 2-1 with a late goal in the third period to end it.
“They’re a good squad,” Woolcott said. “We have to give respect where respect is due. We know we can play close with them, so we can’t give them anything out there.”
The game was Friday night, and Montana State came out dangerous as Lukas Solanik scored the opening goal within the first minute of action. But after Aggie Jackson Ferry scored his first of three on the night, Utah State never looked back.
The Aggies controlled the game just as they had against the Grizzlies and were rewarded with a powerful 5-2 victory over the No. 1 team in the division. After the game, Ferry was proud of his team.
“Everyone is buying in,” Ferry said. “We knew we had to step up because we have been struggling a bit with that all season. So, we knew we had to change that mentality a little bit.”
The stage was set. Utah State would take on the No. 2 seed University of Providence Argonauts, who had dominated the Weber State Wildcats 5-2 the night prior. But despite losing the last meeting against the Argos, Ferry believed Utah State had what it takes to come out with a victory.
“We feel confident for tomorrow,” Ferry said. “If we keep playing the way we did tonight, we will be fine.”
As the puck was dropped for the finals, the Argos looked to establish their game immediately by launching three strong shots towards the net of Aggie goalie Titan Anderson, forcing him into two acrobatic saves to keep Utah State from conceding early.
After weathering the initial storm, the Aggies looked slow. Adam Husli opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal after intercepting a pass from the Utah State defense and beating Anderson to his right.
Caleb Sanborn responded for the Aggies early in the second period after he deflected a shot by teammate Trace Farr out of the air and past Argos goaltender Paul Jarvis.
But the real turning point for the Aggies occurred when Providence was awarded a penalty shot after a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. Anderson laid out and denied Husli a second goal. The crowd erupted, and suddenly, the Aggies had wind in their sails.
“Titan saved us so many times that game and throughout the whole season,” Carlson said. “There is a reason why I gave the trophy to him first.”
The Aggies ran away with the game in the third period after Sean Johnston and Ferry added to the score line. Jakob Stevenson scored a second goal for the Argos late in the third period, but it was too little too late as time expired and the Aggies were the victors.
“It goes to show that we know how to play,” Woolcott said. “It’s hard to battle through adversity. You see a lot of teams get injuries and fall into that slump and never come out of it.”
The excitement only began as the team threw off their gloves and embraced each other in celebration. Coach Sam Lindquist just stood with his fists in the air, happy for his team. But he understood the job was not quite done — the team wants more.
“It’s all positive right now,” Lindquist said. “We have been trying to find a way to climb up, and we did. But we have more work to do at regionals.”
Lindquist talked about the season and the trials the team had gone through. He said the team was just trying to manage its dips and peaks, and they managed to find a way to peak at the right time. But above all, it took patience to get there.
“At some point, the guys were pointing fingers at each other,” Lindquist said. “But they managed to get through it. We can use this experience to look back on and remember that this is how we got it done.”
Lindquist was not the only one who knew about the work to come. Winning the championship was a major accomplishment the Aggies will look back on fondly, but the big picture lies at the national level. Woolcott explained the path the Aggies will take going forward.
“It’s all momentum,” Woolcott said. “We play Weber for our senior night. We are hoping to keep those close, keep our groove going and hit it hard when it comes to regionals — hopefully get a top two and get into nationals again.”
After re-capturing their winning mentality, fans can feel good knowing the Aggies will give it their all in the weeks to come.