Hockey handles BYU to remain undefeated at home
Montana State
Utah State jumped to a 4-0 lead, let Montana State get back into the game, and then tacked on an insurance goal to make the final score 6-4.
The Bobcats scored three goals on the power play.
Robert Hashimoto, who had a hat trick, said, “Our team slowed down and penalties slowed us down. They’re a solid team, they’re better than Metro State. We can’t do that. Last week was 8-4 or something and I said against a good team, here’s my point: we’re up 4-1 and then all of a sudden it’s 5-4. So we can’t do that against a good team.”
Kent Arsenault did not score for USU which marked the first game in the Eccles Ice Arena this year Arsenault failed to get a hat trick. Arsenault and his line-mate Will Winsa both had three assists.
Hashimoto credited his line-mates with helping him achieve the hat-trick. “Kent and Swede were giving me some nice passes so it was pretty easy; I was just standing there the whole time and I received the pass and shot it in.”
Scotty Beard got the start-in goal ahead of Greg Finatti and was critical of the effort by the Aggies, calling it “half-assed.” The team played flat for stretches of the game, for example leading up to Dan Ross’ goal for Montana State which made the score 5-4.
After Ross got the visitors within one, USU woke up and Hashimoto completed the hat trick with 53 seconds remaining.
Matt Geer pulled USU out of another lull in the second period when he took the ice and laid three huge hits on Montana State players inside of one minute. The small crowd in attendance reacted explosively as Geer littered the ice with crumpled Montana State bodies. Geer also had a goal and an assist.
“We were getting a little slow and needed some energy so I figured let the little guy try and put some hits out and get the team going,” Geer said.
Other Aggies to be listed on the scorers’ sheet were Michael Filander with two assists; Jay McFadden with a goal and an assist; Aaron Schimmel with a goal; Matt Ferris with an assist and Jordan Francom with an assist.
BYU
Emotions were running high on Saturday night as a huge crowd was on hand to watch USU beat BYU 6-5. After a tough game marked by numerous broken sticks and altercations between the players, it came down to Utah State’s domination of the penalty kill in the last 1:23 of the game.
The penalty kill unit of Jordan Francom, Robert Hashimoto and Matt Geer held firm and protected USU’s zone as time expired, triggering a relieved celebration in the stands.
Roberto Leo scored a hat trick for USU, continuing a trend in which at least one Aggie has had a hat trick in every home game so far. One of his goals came on a penalty shot in the third period.
“To tell you the truth, straight off I knew I was going to score so I wasn’t too worried about it,” Leo said. “I just went in and did a simple move, I didn’t try anything fancy. I just came in, faked like I was going to shoot it, dropped it to my back hand and top-shelfed it.”
The visiting Ice Cats started a fight in the first period, picking out 5’9″, 160-pound Hashimoto to take on. After fighting the smallest player on USU’s roster, BYU caused another disruption in the third period when Derek Battisti used a racial slur to provoke USU’s Josh Groves.
After the game an outraged Groves called Battisti out in the hallway, offering to settle his problem right then and there.
“He just had a couple of racial slurs that, I mean there’s a lot of people out there that will call you a nigger or whatever, but he looked me right in the eye and said some really nasty stuff,” Groves said.
The front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award, Kent Arsenault, got back onto his scoring horse early in the second period, converting a breakaway opportunity and celebrating by leaping up and swinging from the glass, delighting the home crowd.
“Tonight, just seeing all those fans there, once again it’s great,” Arsenault, who had two scores and an assist, said. “I’ve got to show my celebrations for the fans to get them up just as much as we get up for the games.”
After the first period it was 1-0 for USU thanks to a Leo goal. Early in the second Arsenault scored twice and it looked like the Ags would run away with this one. But BYU fought back with scores by Timmy Burkart and Ben Shugart, making it 3-2 before Jordan Francom put USU up 4-2 heading into the third period with a power-play goal assisted by Arsenault.
USU came out hot in the third period, especially Leo, who converted the penalty shot and scored again in the sixteenth minute to trigger the hat trick celebration. Just when USU seemed to have dealt with the BYU threat and put the game away, the referees made it a game again, giving BYU several power play opportunities.
“Once again it was the Kemp show,” Arsenault said, referring to referee Ryan Kemp. “He seems to just want to get the game closer and closer every time and ruin it for us…BYU’s definitely a bunch of cheap guys.”
Beau Adams scored on one power play, then Sean Farero scored with 9:10 remaining to get BYU within two goals. Groves was called for slashing with 3:18 to play, and after a lengthy stoppage in play in which the enraged Groves had some choice words for BYU’s bench, the Ice Cat power play took the ice. To the crowd’s dismay Joe Nathan scored on that power play to really turn up the pressure in the Eccles Ice Arena.
All of this set the stage for a massive pileup in the crease of USU’s goal with 1:23 to go. Amazingly the officials determined. the huge scrum was entirely USU’s fault and penalized Brett Fryslie and Greg Finatti, opening the door wide for BYU to tie the game up. The focused play of Hashi, Francom and Geer saved the victory for USU, allowing them to enjoy a win over their in-state rivals.
Newcomer Arsenault said he could feel the intensity of the rivalry as soon as he hit the ice.
“The boys were always telling me about it right up to today but I didn’t understand it,” he said. “Just to get out on that ice, the emotions were flying between both teams. I’ll tell you right now, BYU, I have no sympathy for them whatsoever.”
Asked if he would give BYU any credit for making the game close, Leo said, “It’s always good for a team to be able to come back and fight back but we broke down big-time in the third period. So I give them some credit but not really.”
The following players were credited with assists for USU: Groves, Matt Geer, Matt Ferris, Aaron Schimmel and Jay McFadden.
-graham@cc.usu.edu