Colorado trip not nice to Aggie hockey
USU 2, Denver University 0
The Aggies kicked off their annual three-game swing through Colorado by riding a great performance from goaltender Greg Finatti to a shutout win over the Denver University Pioneers.
“Finatti stole us that game, I’d say,” team captain Scotty John said. “Honestly I haven’t seen Finatti play that well since Weber D1 last year. During the intermission I didn’t even want to talk to him. It’s like he’s pitching a no-hitter. You don’t want to say anything until it’s over.”
Utah State got both goals in the first period. Ryan Osterheldt drew first blood thanks to assists from Jeremy Madigan and Ben Tikka, then Jay McFadden got to the DU keeper with assists coming from Kent Arsenault and Tikka.
To extend John’s baseball analogy, Finatti was his own bullpen in the second and third period, holding the line against repeated Denver rushes to get the save.
“Every save was pretty much spectacular,” Arsenault said of his goalie’s performance. “He was sprawling all over the ice and stopped five or six breakaways in the first period alone.”
Denver dominated the shots-on-goal, 44-23, but couldn’t figure out Finatti’s deadly butterfly style despite ample opportunity.
“We played good D,” Finatti said. “Every time I made a save our defense would clear the rebounds. It was a different story compared to the other games this weekend. It was probably the best game I’ve played here at Utah State.”
Colorado University 8, USU 0
Rookie Dan Cornelius got the start in-goal, but after a barrage of goals from the Buffaloes, Finatti was called in to close out this game in the third period. A night after shutting out one tough Colorado school, USU found themselves on the receiving end of a shutout pitched by one of their biggest rivals.
John said CU’s small ice rink helped facilitate their team strategy, allowing them to move the puck rapidly and stay “a step and a half” ahead of USU all game long.
“They moved the puck unbelievably,” John said. “I really think their rink might be smaller than regulation size. It’s in a fieldhouse on the middle of campus.”
The Ags trailed just 1-0 after one period, but both John and Finatti said that, due to inadequate mental preparation, USU didn’t have a chance of coming back in this one.
“We probably just came in a little scared,” John said. “We expected them to beat us almost. We played timid from the get-go. They definitely mentally are one of our toughest games we play all year. They’re also tough to play at home. We’re having a hard time establishing the attitude that every game we can win.”
Finatti concurred, saying, “The only way we’re going to win is 2-1 or 2-0. I think our team gives up when we get down but everyone disagrees with me.”
After that tight first period, the deluge on Cornelius began, with Jeff and Andrew Neitenbach of Colorado spearheading a precise attack that relied on backdoor goals and cross-ice passes to keep USU mystified.
Colorado State 6, USU 0
The futility continued for the second consecutive night, as Utah State couldn’t manage to score even one goal.
Just when the road trip couldn’t get any worse, the team got stuck in a blizzard for hours on their return trip.
This defeat was a slow burn for USU, as the defense and starting goalie Finatti allowed two goals a period while the offense was left groping around blindly.
“The strength of our team is goaltending right now,” John said. “We gave away breakaways in every game. The goaltenders, despite what the score said, came up huge.”
Arsenault, who led the nation in goals and points last year as a rookie, said, “It was pretty lousy. I don’t think we were prepared as a hockey team to go into Colorado this weekend. The rookies coming in this year and not knowing what the Colorado teams are like, I had a gut feeling going in.”
Finatti said this loss proves that the Aggies are not where they need to be as a team.
“You’ve got to pull those games off on the road if you want any chance of being a top team in the nation,” he said.
The highlight of this loss might have been the impressive number of penalty minutes Ryan Osterheldt was able to accrue, 26.
There was a time when USU was able to score goals in the twenties as well, but after this disastrous trip, the players will have to focus on getting the offense clicking again during a series of seven straight games at home in the Eccles Ice Arena.
“This will be the big test to see what we are going to be all about,” Arsenault said of the upcoming schedule. “We have no excuses going into this home stretch.”
The homestand kicks off this Friday night against Montana, with Metro State following the next night. The month of November begins with three straight games, against Arizona State, Weber D1, and the first grudge match against the BYU Icecats of the 2007-2008 season. The two toughest games of the homestand come last, on November 9 and 10, against San Jose State and then the same Denver squad USU just blanked.
-graham.terry@aggiemail.usu.edu