Hockey team dominates Weber D-II
The Utah State hockey club swept the Weber State Division-II squad on Dec. 17 and 18 to remain undefeated against the lower division Wildcats since WSU split its team at the beginning of last season.
USU won 7-1 in Ogden on Dec. 17, scoring five goals in the third period and taking 84 shots on net while giving up only 19.
The Aggies were clinging to a 2-1 lead going into the final period.
“The first two periods we just didn’t come out,” Aggie Nick Haase said. “But in the third period, I still don’t think we hustled as much as we were able to.”
Six different Aggies found the back of the net, but no one scored more than once.
With the Winter Break looming, some Aggie players had left for home jumbling the USU lines.
“You get used to playing with certain guys, but when it gets shaken up, it throws you off your game a little bit,” Aggie Jordan Francom said.
“I just think the long semester is getting to us,” Aggie Dave Kuwada said. “We just need a little break.”
USU lost both of its games against the WSU D-I team on Dec. 10 and 11, losing by a combined score of 12-1.
USU was shut out by the ‘Cats for the second straight game on Dec. 10 in Logan, losing 6-0.
“We did not come out as aggressive as we should have,” Aggie Roberto Leo said. “It’s all about aggression.”
Head coach Jerry Crossley said the Aggies simply lost to a better team.
“They’re a good, strong, aggressive team,” he said. “We’ve just got to get tougher and match them.”
WSU took a 2-0 lead on a breakaway goal with four seconds left in the first period and never looked back.
“Those goals at the beginning and end of a period are big momentum goals,” Crossley said.
USU goalie Adam Lain saved 45 of 51 shots.
“I feel like I had an all right game,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep us in the game. I haven’t been this tired after a game for a while.”
The Aggies acknowledged that they are outmatched by the D-I Wildcats, but they feel like they can beat them this season.
“They’re bigger, stronger, faster, better hockey players,” Crossley said. “But on any given night, we can beat them this season.”
“They make good passes and have good positioning,” Lain said. “We just need to generate more offense. We just need to shoot more on the net because [WSU] is out-shooting the hell out of us.”
The Wildcats won 6-1 on Dec. 11 in Ogden. The one Aggie goal was the first against the D-I squad since Oct. 1 in Logan.
The Aggies will play another home-and-home against the WSU D-II squad on Jan. 14 and 15.
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu