Aggies sweep Lobos to move into 3rd in RMCHA
Following last Saturday’s narrow loss to Colorado State University, forward Aaron Burrell was optimistic that the USU men’s hockey club would respond with a solid team effort against the University of New Mexico.
He was right.
The Aggies swept the Lobos 9-5 and 8-0 Friday and Saturday night at the Weber County Ice Sheet.
USU 9, UNM 5
Prior to Friday’s game against the Lobos, Burrell looked at the UNM Web site and discovered the team had one of the top scorers in the conference. Little did Burrell know he would be the one lighting up the scoreboard.
Burrell scored four goals – including a hat trick in the first period – as the Aggies scored four third-period goals to put away an opportunistic Lobo team.
Despite being outshot 80-18, the Lobos were able to stay in the game and only trailed the Aggies 5-4 when Clint Morgan scored with under 30 seconds to go in the second period.
Defenseman Aaron Sutliff said the number of shots was misleading because a good majority were shot without purpose.
“We weren’t really shooting to score,” he said.
In addition, Burrell said the team’s passing, coupled with a few defensive breakdowns made the game much closer than it should have been.
“Our passing was terrible,” Burrell said. “We played like crap.”
Nevertheless, USU was able to take control in the third period on goals by Deryk Anderson, Tony Haughey, Colby Thurston and Burrell.
Forward Clint Stosich scored the other goal for the Aggies while Edgar Solis paced New Mexico with a hat trick of his own.
USU 8, UNM 0
After Friday night’s struggle, USU was determined to play a better defensive game Saturday night.
Did they ever.
USU held the Lobos to seven shots – only one in the third period – while firing 72 of its own as the Aggies pummeled the Lobos.
“[Tonight’s game] was a testament to how good defense can win games,” said Anderson.
“If we’re going to have a legitimate shot at winning the conference championship, it’s going to be won by us holding our opponents to fewer shots,” he said.
Not only was the defense clicking, the offense did more than enough to secure USU’s second win consecutively and sixth out of its last nine games. Saturday’s game marked the second straight night an Aggie finished with a hat trick and Anderson finished with three goals.
Perhaps even more impressive was the way the Aggies played as a team, said USU head coach Jerry Crossley.
“These guys are capable of playing great hockey if they play with discipline,” he said. “We played very unselfishly tonight.”
Not only did the Aggies play unselfishly, they also played with poise. The Aggies finished the game with only four penalties, the Lobos with only three.
“Tonight we came out more prepared, and it showed,” Burrell said. “Everybody had fun out there.”
The Aggies never gave the Lobos breathing room, scoring less than three minutes into the game on a shot by Sutliff, who finished the game with two goals and two assists.
Two Anderson goals later, USU had staked itself to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period.
The second period was no different. The Aggies attempted four shots in the period’s first two minutes, including a near miss off a scrum in front of the Lobos’ goal.
Three minutes later, Kelly Froerer found Haughey on a beautiful one-touch pass to increase the lead to 4-0. Sutliff and defenseman Paul Amidon scored, increasing the lead to 6-0 before the end of the period.
Anderson and Burrell capped off great playing for the weekend when Anderson scored at the 14:15 mark of the third period and Burrell at the 10:36 mark. Burrell’s goal, an uncontested tap-in after Lobo goalie Erik Dokken lost track of the puck, was the exclamation point in a game dominated by the Aggies.
Though he gave up 17 goals over two games, Dokken impressed Crossley, Anderson and Burrell by finishing the doubleheader with 135 saves.
Upon learning that Dokken had 64 saves in Saturday night’s game, Anderson said, “That’s mind boggling. He’s a great goalie.”
The hockey team is promoting the “wildest fan contest” to encourage fan support. Saturday night’s winner was Tiffany Smith. Crossley said the fans helped the team play better on Saturday and it showed.