Aggies offense too much for BYU
Utah State’s club hockey team scored a season-high in goals Saturday in a 14-2 win over the Brigham Young University Cougars.
The offensive outburst was aided by a pair of 4-goal games from forwards Brian Gibbons and Cooper Limb.
“We always come into this game to try to work on certain stuff,” Limb said. “Obviously we wanted to score as many goals as we can, so I think we did pretty well on that tonight.”
Not only did the Aggies score in double digits, but they were extremely consistent scoring at least four goals in each period.
In the first period, forward Stu Hepburn opened the scoring at five minutes in from a nifty pass by forward Chase Allington. Then, senior Matt Hamilton completed a nice passing play with a one-timer that beat the goalie high.
Gibbons scored his first two goals 19 seconds apart. He skated end-to-end and finished with a well-placed shot. Following the face off, the Aggies gained possession and he scored on a rush again.
In the second period, BYU scored its first goal with four and half minutes left to cut the lead to 8-1. USU starting goaltender Nathaniel Cabrera was pulled in favor of Taylor Flandro, a switch which was predetermined at the start of the game.
“Our plan was to try and give each of them 30 minutes because we’re going out to California and we need those guys to have some game experience, and they both stepped up and did well,” said head coach Jon Eccles.
It wasn’t just the goalie depth that Utah State showed, either.
“We ran four lines right from the start,” Eccles said.
Even though the top line scored nine of the 14 goals, the Aggies had 15 players on the stat sheet. Defenseman Aaron Ward scored his first goal of the year and forwards Devin Holmes and Dagen Walton chipped in a goal each as well. Forward Chris Videto added a goal and three assists.
Gibbons was the top point-earner on the night with four goals and four assists.
“Usually when I have the puck, I like to think the object is to score, but not personally,” Gibbons said. “I like to look for my teammates. It makes it a lot easier when you have line mates who can put the puck in the net.”
However, it wasn’t only skill that helped the Aggies on offense. The team speed and physical play helped set a tone early.
“They’re an up-and-coming team, but we have a lot of speed on this team, and on the Olympic ice, we like to utilize it,” Gibbons said.
“We love going out there and hitting those guys and they like to hit too, so it’s always pretty entertaining for everybody,” Limb said.
After BYU scored their second goal with eight minutes left, Limb scored his final two goals to put the game completely out of reach.
Utah State’s next home game is on Friday, Feb. 1 against Weber State, but first the Aggies will head to California Jan. 24-27 to take part in the San Jose Showcase.
– sean.osullivan@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @seansy89