Arizona State hands hockey first loss of season
For the first time this season, the Utah State hockey team skated off the ice with a loss. The Aggies fell to the Arizona State University Sun Devils 6-1 in their first game of the Colorado tournament Thursday night.
Utah State head coach Jon Eccles said while they came out strong, the Aggies struggled with their mental game.
“We weren’t focused,” Eccles said. “We were relying on our past achievements and thinking that just because we stepped on the ice, we should win without having to put the effort in.”
Eccles said even though Utah State had more talent, the team was unable to spark its offense.
“There were a couple of players that were doing everything they could,” Eccles said. “Some players on their lines weren’t playing with the same intensity, which was frustrating.”
The No. 2 Sun Devils gave Utah State its toughest test of the season. They dominated the No. 1 Aggies in their zone and made some noise in the national championship race.
“Looking at the whole game,” Eccles said. “They outplayed us, they out-shot us — they wanted the puck more.”
Early on, the Aggies controlled the game.
“In the first few minutes, we pretty much dominated them as far as keeping it in their zone and skating with the puck,” Eccles said.
The Sun Devils struck first, picking up an early goal in the opening period. Aggie forward Jeff Sanders did his best to keep his team in the game by picking up a power-play goal soon after, but ASU answered with three more goals in the first.
“They came prepared to win,” Eccles said. “They came to leave it on the ice.”
Arizona State scored twice more before time ran out.
While the Aggies’ play wasn’t pretty, Eccles said he did see some good effort from his team.
The Aggie blue line, composed of forwards Matt Hamilton, Cooper Limb and Chase Allington, has recently hit a hot streak. The line is expected to continue its success Friday, despite this loss.
“Our blue line played the best as a unit,” Eccles said. “There was very hard skating, they were always attacking; they had a lot of opportunities.”
The Aggies will continue their weekend action with matchup with No. 3 Colorado State on Friday.
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu