Hockey opens season with win, throttles Utes
The atmosphere was electric Friday night as USU hockey fans filed into the Eccles Ice Arena for the first hockey game of the season.
“I’m so excited!” said Lil Poulsen, a senior majoring in accounting and a devoted fan.”I love hockey season!”
The fans, which have been said to be the inspiration of the team, were in no way let down as the Aggies showed off their skills, dominating their rivals the University of Utah Utes 14-3.
“I drove two hours to make it to the game”, said Jeanna Hinton, a dedicated hockey fan, “and it was worth every minute.”
The Aggies didn’t waste any time on the rink, scoring their first point less than a minute into the game. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was still echoing off the ice when Bill Gouthro, playing right wing, sliced the puck into the goal, assisted by center Kent Arsenault.
Clearly Arsenault’s expectation of this season to be one of the best ever was not an exaggeration and Aggie fans showed their support with constant cheering and singing, erupting with “He shoots, he scores, hey goalie, you suck!” In the beginning of the second period, Gouthro again scored in less than a minute, assisted by left wing Brendon MacDonald.
Although the team had little time to get used to their new teammates, the Aggies skated smoothly together and were well-prepared for the aggressive playing tactics of the Utes.
Both teams were on a roller coaster, riding between full strength and penalized players the whole game. Although both teams earned walks of shame (or fame) to the locker room for varying violence-related actions, perhaps the most memorable occurred during period three when the crowd gasped as center Walter Voisard was literally thrown into the side of the rink, seeming to take the bulk of the force with his head.
Chaos erupted as a Ute player ripped off USU’s Michael Daugilus’s helmet and began punching him repeatedly in the back of the head. As the referees made their decisions, “Let the Bodies hit the Floor” blared out over the speakers and fans chanted “I’m blind, I’m deaf, I want to be a ref” when three players were thrown from the game.
The pace and intensity of the game continued with eager fans faces pressed up against the glass cheering on the players. Emotions again hit the roof when USU team member Matt Ruthford, and the Utah goalie were forced to take their disagreements off the ice directly after Arsenault, assisted by defenseman Jordan Francom and MacDonald, slid in a point with ten minutes left in the game. This time, “Three Blind Mice” resounded through the arena, and Arsenault joined fans in singing “Hit the Road Jack”.
With less than five minutes left in the game, Arsenault assisted by MacDonald furthered the gap in points, bringing fans to their feet even more passionately than did the ding-dong toss between periods.
With such a talented team and dedicated fans, next weekend’s game between the Aggies and Weber State Wildcats should be just as intense and will hopefully be as rewarding.