Homestand awaits Ag hockey
Coming off two key road victories last weekend, USU hockey will be tested again, first by undefeated Eastern Washington, then by Weber State division II, who surprisingly beat USU earlier this season in O-town.
Although getting revenge on the Wildcats probably won’t be too difficult for the skating Aggies, Eastern Washington poses a major challenge. The Eagles are coming off back-to-back shootout wins over the University of Colorado and Colorado State, schools that USU have also faced. The Ags lost at the Buffaloes home ice while splitting their two games with the Rams this year, winning in overtime at CSU and suffering a disappointing loss at home, a game fans will remember as the scene of a fight between Josh Groves and CSU’s Jake McFarland.
The Eagles are now 12-0, having scored 97 goals against 25 allowed. They are led by Mike Truex with 14 goals and Josh Pickens with 12.
Colorado is atop the most recent American Collegiate Hockey Association regional rankings, just ahead of the Eagles, while USU is ranked sixth, tied with Long Beach State. These will likely change in the near future with Eastern Washington toppling the Buffs and USU going 2-0 over Long Beach.
USU’s top scorer by a wide margin is rookie center Kent Arsenault, who has 28 goals. Arsenault also is one assist behind Robert Hashimoto, Hashi leads the Ags with 25 while Arsenault has 24. William Winsa and Matt Geer also have over 20 assists, with 20 and 21 respectively. Roberto Leo is USU’s second-leading scorer with 17 goals.