Hockey brings gaudy record to Ogden
The Utah State University hockey club will face an opponent it defeated soundly last Saturday as San Jose State University travels to the Ogden Ice Sheet to play the Aggies on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
The Aggies are coming off three road wins in California, giving them the confidence and momentum every team covets, defenseman Brandon Lang said.
“We went to California with one thing in mind: To pick up three key wins and we did it,” Lang said. “The games were not the easiet, but we dug deep and played together as a team to get the job done.”
The Aggies will need to keep that focus in order to maintain their spot at the top. Although they have been playing well, it’s easy to get a big head and not prepare for games they are expected to win, team captain Paul Amidon said.
“If we don’t play a good game, we’ll get beat,” Amidon said.
While their 11-1-1 record is impressive in any division, the Aggies haven’t blown away any of those teams. Most of the games have only had a margin of victory of two or three points.
“Our biggest problem is we play to the level of our competition,” assistant captain Deryk Anderson said. “We need to develop a killer instinct and bury those teams that we can bury.”
San Jose is a team that can’t be overlooked, the Aggies feel they have the ability to “bury” them. The Spartans biggest threat is that “they check a lot, they’re on you quick,” Amidon said.
Last week the Utah State/San Jose match-up was played on a National Hockey League rink which is smaller than the Olympic size rink in Ogden. Not only will the Aggies be playing on a more familiar rink, but also in front of their home fans.
“We’ll be able to eat them up,” Amidon said. “[But] it’s all about who comes to play.”