Aggie hockey club handles Huskies twice
The Utah State hockey club made it look easy last weekend as it swept the Washington Huskies 5-1 last Friday and 13-3 last Saturday.
The 13 goals scored in Saturday’s game was the most the Aggies have scored since tying the USU record of 19 goals against the Weber State Division-II team on Nov. 4.
“We’re back and we’re as tough as ever,” Aggie Jordan Francom said. “It’s good to get our feet back under us and put the puck in the net.”
Robert Hashimoto scored three goals and four other players added two more to lead the Aggies. Ben Froehle had four assists and four other Aggies had three assists for USU.
“It was good teamwork,” head coach Jerry Crossley said. “It was good execution by the guys. Hopefully they’ll keep doing it.”
The Aggies wasted no time in attacking the Washington net as they scored on their first shot just 22 seconds into the game.
“There’s no better way to start,” Crossley said. “If you can go out and get that first goal and get the momentum, that’s a huge plus.”
Froehle said USU is playing much more disciplined hockey now.
“We’re working together,” he said. “We’re not trying to make those long, home-run passes. We’re making shots and we’re doing what we were supposed to be doing all year.”
Froehle was moved to defense two weeks ago and has made his presence known.
“I think it’s working out for me,” he said. “The last few games have been kind of slow so I’ve had more time to make some passes.”
USU held the puck in its offensive end for most of the game, outshooting the Huskies 62-20.
Aggies 5, Huskies 1
Friday, the Aggies beat the Huskies 5-1 in a game where USU couldn’t seem to find a rhythm.
Five different Aggies scored and Aaron Burrell and Nate Pierce each added two assists.
The Aggies shot the puck 84 times, but only 37 of them were on net.
“I don’t think we played our best by far,” Aggie Scotty John said. “We definitely came down to their level.”
Despite holding UW to only 14 shots-on-goal, head coach Jerry Crossley said he did not think USU was trying as hard as it could.
“It’s a win,” he said. “I was little disappointed that we didn’t work harder than we did. I thought we probably should have dominated a little more than we did. I don’t think our effort level is where it needs to be.”
John said he thought USU was playing too selfish.
“Guys just decided to skate it in on their own,” he said. “It just became a one-man show out there.”
Burrell said the Aggies were expecting the game to be easier than it was because they had heard rumors that only eight Huskies would be making the trip.
“We heard some rumors coming about these guys,” he said. “But no matter what you hear, you should still play your best.”
John said the team was wrong to assume Friday’s game would be an easy win.
“You never want to underestimate a team,” he said. “We tend to do that with teams that aren’t as well-known.”
Crossley said he thinks the problem is the attitude the Aggies have when they play weaker competition.
“I think we got to get out of our comfort zone when we play,” he said. “We play down to the caliber of our competition and we can’t do that this late in the season.”
The Aggies were still adjusting to a new line setup that they had only played two games with prior to last Friday.
“They’re working out pretty well,” Aggie Aaron Burrell said. “With the systems we run, anybody should be able to play with anyone.”
Crossley said he is not concerned with the line arrangement.
“We’ve only had a couple games with our present setup,” he said. “But we are starting to score some goals again.”
There were only 20 penalty minutes in the game, 12 of which were called on Aggie Jordan Francom for misconduct with 6:34 to play in the game.
USU will now prepare for a critical home and home with BYU next weekend. The teams will play in Provo on Friday and in North Logan on Saturday.
The start time for Saturday’s game in North Logan has been moved to 5:30 p.m. so that it will not conflict with the men’s basketball game against Pacific that night.
The Aggies said the sweep last weekend will definitely help them against the Icecats.
“It comes down to next week,” Crossley said. “Hopefully the games this weekend will help us polish up a bit for those games.”
Francom said the Aggies are playing their best hockey of the year going into this weekend.
“We’ve got in a groove,” he said. “It’s probably our toughest games of the year, but I think it will turn out our way.”
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu