Consistency is key for USU
The Utah State hockey club will travel to Arizona this weekend to play a doubleheader against the Division I Arizona State Sun Devils.
The Aggies will play the Sun Devils on Friday and Saturday at Oceanside Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
“Arizona State is a good team,” said Aggie defender Brett Fryslie. “It’s going to be a tough game. We’ll have to play a full 60 minutes to beat them.”
Aggie Scotty John said, “They are probably going to be quick and talented. We’re going to focus on defense and capitalize on their mistakes.”
The team canceled its practice Wednesday to give the players some much-needed rest.
“We’re going to be prepared,” Fryslie said. “We’re very capable of two wins this weekend.”
The Aggies take a 7-7 record into the weekend after splitting two games last weekend. USU lost to Southern California 5-3 at home last Friday, but beat the Weber State Division II team 7-5 in Ogden on Saturday.
“The team is having trouble with consistency,” Fryslie said. “There are times when we’re brilliant, and then there are times when we just can’t put it together. We’re trying to develop a killer instinct.”
John also said that consistency has been a problem.
“We came out and underestimated USC,” he said. “But we just simplified our game against Weber and came away with a win.”
The Sun Devils are 5-8-1 at this point of the season. After starting the season 5-0, the ASU Division I team is winless in its last nine games. Their last win came Oct. 10 against the University of Drexel.
The Aggies are trying not to let the fact that USU will be playing a Division I opponent this weekend get to their heads.
“We definitely go in with a different mentality,” John said. “But if we let [ASU being Division I] get to our heads, then we’ll lose the game before it even starts.”
USU will be playing shorthanded on defense until Christmas Break with Swannie Lagree and Nate Pierce both out with injuries. The Aggies have had to adjust by playing primarily only four defenders throughout the game.
“It makes it a lot tougher,” Fryslie said. “We’re getting tired out in the third period.”
John said the Aggies need to improve their overall team defense and the offense needs to help. He said Robert Sutherland switching from offense to defense and the addition of Dave Langlois have really helped the team.
Fryslie and his fellow healthy defenders do not have set lines, as they are constantly being switched in and out of the game.
“You just have to play differently with the different lines,” Fryslie said.
Some lines are offensive-minded, like the one with Aaron Burrell and Robert Hashimoto, and some are defensive-minded, which takes a lot of pressure off the tired defenders, Fryslie said.
The Aggies will be on the road again next week in the Northwest to play two games against the University of Washington. The last home game for USU before Winter Break will be Dec. 12 against the Weber State Division I team.
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu