Hockey team looks to rebound after tough weekend losses
After losing three games in Colorado last week, the Utah State hockey club looks to right the ship with a home-and-home against the Weber State Division II team this weekend.
The Aggies will play the Wildcats in Ogden Friday at 8:15 p.m. at the Ice Sheet. The two teams will then play Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Eccles Ice Center in North Logan.
Utah State won the only regular season meeting between the teams this year 9-4 in Ogden.
“We’re looking forward to beating Weber very badly,” said Aggie Nick Thiros.
The Aggies come into the contest with a 4-6 record and a three-game losing streak. Despite the losing record, USU has outscored its opponents 45-39.
USU lost three close games to Colorado and Colorado State last weekend. Thursday, the Aggies blew a 3-0 lead to the Rams and lost 10-6. Friday, USU lost a thriller 3-1 again to the Rams.
The Aggies played Colorado tough Saturday, but still lost 5-2.
Both teams have played all of its games against either Division I or top-10 Division II teams.
The Wildcats are looking for some life as they sport a 1-8 record with their only win coming against the Long Beach State 49ers. They have also lost games to Eastern Washington and San Jose State. The Aggies have defeated all three of those teams this year.
Despite their struggles, the Wildcats ranked No. 10 in the West in the first poll released over the weekend.
USU still has some issues that need to be resolved after losing all three games in Colorado.
“There were definitely some signs of improvement as a team,” Thiros said. “We still have a long way to go. We played hard, but we’ve got some guys that just don’t want to give it 100 percent effort. Their ice time will be restricted in the future.”
The Aggies are ranked second in the West, but they are trying not to take that too seriously.
“[Losing to CU and CSU] kind of humbled us a little bit,” Thiros said. “In the new rankings, we’ll probably be third. So, these rankings don’t mean that much, knowing that we lost this weekend.”
Thiros returned to the team last weekend after missing the previous three weeks with a broken hand.
“It feels great [to be back],” he said. “I’m still pretty sore, but I’m just glad to be playing again.”
Thiros said that he had a special brace for his hand that restricted his movement somewhat in Colorado, but he was just glad to be back on the ice.
“[Watching games from the sidelines] was awful,” he said. “I had to do it last year for about five or six weeks, too.”
He broke his hand this year when his glove came off during play against the Weber State Division I team and a Wildcat slashed him. Last year, he injured his wrist when he went down to block a shot and the puck hit him, he said.
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu