Arsenault tops Hashimoto hockey scoring record
Loyola Marymount 15-1
Senior wing Robert Hashimoto’s single-game scoring record of nine was tied by Matt Geer and beaten by Kent Arsenault in this easy 15-1 victory for the skating Aggies.
Arsenault had four goals and six assists for 10 points, and Geer had five goals and four assists for nine points.
Both players are rookies this year but have had no trouble making an immediate impact for the Aggies. Arsenault leads USU in goals this year with 23 so far. Geer has been building a reputation as a huge hitter but has nine goals and 14 assists on the year as well.
Junior captain Scotty John summed up the blowout USU win by saying, “That’s another one of those games where they’re no good. Their program is just starting up.”
Arsenault said the prospect of breaking the record was “going through my head. I was going through the game and I was starting to rack up some points and I got to six or seven and it crossed my mind that yeah, I can do this. On my last shift I scored two goals in 10 or 15 seconds. It felt great and I plan on breaking more of them as the season goes.”
USU’s other captain, Hashimoto said he issued a “light-hearted” challenge to Arsenault after the game. “I just told him I’m still here,” Hashi said.
John also said Hashi congratulated Arsenault for breaking the record, which was established when Hashi had seven assists and two goals against Oregon on November 11, 2002.
“He told Kent in front of the team that he’s glad that he broke the record, but watch out because we’ve still got a whole lot of season left,” John said. Scotty Beard again was one save away from getting the shutout in goal for USU. Greg Finatti, who was resting to be ready for Long Beach State the next night, said the Aggies “didn’t play very well because the rink was pretty bad, but it was a nice little warm-up game to get our feet moving getting off the bus.”
Arsenault said he has never heard of two players combining for 19 points in one game as he and Geer did.
“[Geer] is my roommate here and my linemate as well and we just started working out together and playing together and it’s going really well,” Arsenault said.
Long Beach State 4-3
USU previously had beaten Long Beach State 5-2 at home, but John said this game was a challenge for USU to win by a score of 4-3 for a couple of reasons.
“Number one, we played them at home, number two, we’re tied right now in the rankings, we’re both sitting at number six in the current rankings,” John said. “They came out pretty hungry, they definitely wanted it more than last time. It was a pretty hard-fought game.”
Greg Finatti, who started in goal for USU, said, “It was going to be tough to have to beat them twice in the same season but we got some momentum from the night before.”
Long Beach State took the first lead of the game but USU came back to make it 2-1. LBSU would tie it again before USU scored twice. Although the Aggies did allow one more goal in the game, their lead would hold up.
Arsenault could not repeat his record-breaking performance from the night before against the tougher competition. He did score once and said the team was helped out by having a clear-the-air session before the game.
“We had a big team meeting and said the positive and negative of what we thought of each other in a constructive criticism kind of way,” Arsenault said. “We walked into the rink that night and beat a team we were tied with. It was an unbelievable feel for the long bus ride home.”
Finatti said it was a strong combined effort that allowed his team to control Long Beach State’s talented skaters and hold them to three goals.
“We stopped them on the power play when we had to, I made saves and the defensemen cleared the puck out of the zone,” Finatti said.
John said USU hockey has a huge week coming up.
“We’ve got Eastern Washington who is undefeated at nine and oh right now and they have taken care of every single Colorado team,” he said.
USU is 1-3 in their matchups with Denver University, University of Colorado and Colorado State University this season.
“We’re going to try hard to market this one because the more people we can have the better,” John said. “It’s going to be one of the bigger battles. It’s going to be one of the most physical teams we’ll play all year if not the most physical team. It should prove to be pretty violent.”
-graham@cc.usu.edu