Hockey heads out on weekend road trip
The Utah State hockey team won the Beehive Classic and beat three ranked opponents last weekend. Now after a week off for Thanksgiving, the Aggies are headed to Colorado for a four-game road trip.
Utah State will face off against No. 2 Arizona State University, No. 3 Colorado State University, No. 7 Northern Arizona University and unranked Northern Colorado University.
The Aggies are currently No. 1 in the West and Utah State head coach Jon Eccles said this weekend could have big implications for a national title bid.
“It would be a huge jumpstart for our season,” Eccles said. “The rest of our season isn’t as difficult and if we can hold on to our number one spot, then we have an auto-bid for nationals.”
This weekend’s matchups are important to win for the Aggies to prove themselves. Utah State will play most of its games from here on out against in-state teams.
Aggie captain Brendan MacDonald agreed the second half of the season isn’t as strong.
“We don’t play the thickest second schedule,” MacDonald said. “If we win out this weekend, we have a good chance of solidifying first if we can keep playing like we are.”
The Arizona State game pits the first and second place teams in the West against each other.
“You’re always worried about that first game,” Eccles said. “We’re coming off a long bus ride and not sleeping in our own beds. But that first game can always set the tone for the rest of the tournament.”
Since the Aggies haven’t seen the Sun Devils yet this season, it’s hard to prepare for the game. The competition is something MacDonald is excited about.
“That benefits us because we’re used to playing teams like BYU and Weber,” MacDonald said. “But we always try to play up to par with what we can do.”
Colorado State is the only team the Aggies have seen before. USU narrowly beat the Rams 3-2 on a late goal from Joel Basson last weekend. Now the Rams have a home-ice advantage, but Aggie forward Jeff Sanders said the Aggies are ready.
“They going to come out hard because we have a bounty on our heads,” Sanders said. “We are the number one team and we have to go into every game focused and prepared. Colorado State’s going to want to beat us — especially in their home rink.”
The Aggies face Northern Arizona on Saturday night. While the Lumberjacks have some offensive threats, USU’s top line will be a key to a Utah State victory.
“They’re going to show why they are our number one line,” Sanders said. “They are going to be well prepared.”
Sunday, the Aggies will go up against the University of Northern Colorado and while the Bears are unranked, Eccles expects his team to come out hard.
“On any given day, a team can lose,” Eccles said. “But we’ve got a lot of talented players who are playing strong.”
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu