Aggies beat up in-state rivals
USU thrashed the University of Utah Halloween night, conquering 22-2. Team manager Jon Eccles said that although it was a late game, the boys played came out and played great with goalie Greg Finatti saving 30 shots.
“The boys started flat, only getting four goals in the first period, but after we talked in the locker room we really picked it up, getting 10 goals in the second period and eight in the third,” Eccles said.
USU Forward Seth Armitage agreed it was a slow starting game.
“A lot of us weren’t up to play, we knew we could play better than them, it didn’t start until late and it was Halloween night. But once we got into the game more we were good to go,” he said.
Friday was Armitage’s first game back since a shoulder injury. Armitage contributed to the team on the ice while forward Eric Hickenlooper, defenseman Matt Ferris, forward Jay McFadden and forward Billy Gouthro all sat out the game for fighting.
Another strong contributor to Friday’s game was Aggie forward David Wyman. Wyman finished the evening with four goals and four assists. This means that Wyman will be the recipient of one of Eccles’ wife’s tasty cakes as every player on the team who gets a hat trick gets a cake. Friday was Wyman’s first hat trick of the season and the weekend, with Wyman receiving a second hat trick Saturday night against UVU.
Armitage and Wyman both contributed the success of the game to the refined chemistry of the team.
“Now that we’ve played more games we’re more comfortable. Everyone is clicking better,” Wyman said.
Armitage added that the team’s efforts with backchecking have also been greatly improved.
“We’ve been doing a lot better lately with it. We’ve really picked it up since the game against Long Beach. We’ve become more mindful of the defense and that has really helped us progress,” he said.
And the progress showed Saturday night as well, with USU triumphing over Utah Valley University 14-2. Greg Finatti had 31 shots and 29 saves. Other highlight players Saturday night included Matt Hamiltion, forward David Wyman and forward Jay McFadden who all achieved hat tricks.
Eccles’ wife said she might have to come up with some sort of payment plan, since her weekend is now swamped with making ‘score cakes.’
Eccles said Saturday was a good game in more ways than one.
“There was an awesome turn out with more than 2,000 fans. There was pink everywhere. Ryan Kemp, the head referee, even had on a black and pink jersey which the team went crazy for. There was a lot of support for the breast cancer awareness effort and there is still money coming in from all the fund-raising, donations and proceeds from selling t-shirts,” he said.
Although the team came out flat again Saturday night, Eccles said the team was able to settle down and then were able to take care of business.
“Because we’ve played these teams in the past, I think our energy just isn’t in it. Not because we know we’ll win, but because we know we can,” Eccles said. “But after we got into it, we didn’t ever let up in their zone and had great puck control and possession.”
Power plays are something the team has been working on, but the penalty count was so low throughout the weekend games there was almost not even a chance to practice them. There were three shorthanded goals over both games, with most goals being evenly matched plays.
“Each period we got more aggressive and although we didn’t score more than one goal on a power play, the other team didn’t score any. We really we able to control the puck down in their end offensively,” Eccles said.
The team hopes to be as successful this weekend on their road trip through Washington.