Arsenault tallies hat trick in Ag win
Another night at the Eccles Ice Arena, another hat trick for Kent Arsenault, and USU had an easy 8-4 victory over the Metro State Roadrunners.
The starting line of Robert Hashimoto, William Winsa and Arsenault wrecked shop as usual and the rest of the Aggie squad mopped Metro up with their trademark swarming defense, physical tactics and cold-blooded penalty killing.
“We lost to them last year so it was kind of a revenge game for us,” Hashimoto, who scored two goals and had three assists, said.
USU dominated the first period with 21 shots on goal, but due to 19 saves by Roadrunners goalie Casey Sherwood the Ags were only up 2-1 thanks to Hashi and Josh Groves. Hashimoto’s goal came on a three-man break of himself, Arsenault and Winsa which was only being defended by Metro in the loosest sense of the term and must have been a depressing sight for Sherwood.
Early in the second Arsenault got his first goal, again combining with Winsa and Hashi on the play. Although Metro would get a fluky unassisted goal from Curtis Duffus moments later, Arsenault was about to take the game over.
“I played juniors with him [Sherwood] in San Diego and I knew his weak spots and I found them all night tonight,” Arsenault said, “and so did my line-mates.”
Beside Hashi’s output, Winsa had a goal and two assists and Arsenault had an assist and his second-period outburst.
With 12:22 remaining in the second, assists from Hashi and Winsa helped Arsenault beat Sherwood for his second goal. With 9:36 to go, the third Arsenault goal impelled Aggie fans who had stayed in town over the long weekend to throw their hats onto the ice, a sight which has become familiar at the Ec in recent weeks.
“I look forward every day to coming to this rink and playing in front of our fans. It’s great,” Arsenault said, “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
Shellshocked, the visitors called a timeout to try and stop the bleeding but to no avail, the nightmare second period was far from over. Winsa and Hashi scored, and then with 2:11 left Roberto Leo put one up on the top shelf where Grandma hides the cookies to make the score 8-2 and assure victory.
All that scoring flash occured against a backdrop of aggressive penalty killing as the Skatin Aggies protected their zone and again proved to be a show well-worth the four dollar cost of admission.
Arsenault credited the penalty-kill unit, saying, “I’ve got to give credit to the guys that sit on the bench a lot. They get their shifts and they’re ready to go on the penalty kill. That’s a huge part of the game; that’s where a lot of the goals are scored.”
The penalty killers were again in high demand for USU in the third period, when Hashi said the Ags had “too many” five-on-threes. The Roadrunners scored twice and the fans in the stands might have been getting nervous, but Hashi said the team wasn’t.
“If they were a better team I would have been worried, but we all learned a lesson today: against good teams up 8-2, we can’t commit penalties,” Hashi said.
Other Aggies to tally goals or assists were Matt Ferris; who had three of the latter and led USU in penalty minutes with six, Leo; who had a goal and an assist, Jay McFadden; who had two assists, Jordan Francom; who had one assist, and Paul Reinhart; who also had one assist. Aggie goalie Greg Finatti had 30 saves.
Next Friday Utah State will play Montana State but the game on Saturday night is the “circle the date on the calender” contest: the BYU Icecats will be on the ice of the Ec, staring down the Aggies in an epic confrontation to determine hockey superiority in the Beehive State.