Loogies fly as Ags fall to BYU
Aggies 6, UVSC 2
The Utah State Aggies whooped Utah Valley’s Wolverines 6-2, putting together a complete game against a Johnny-come-lately rival who had perplexed them in two earlier games this season, 9-6 and 4-3.
Greg Finatti was sensational in goal for the Aggies, limiting the potent UVSC offense to two goals while center Kent Arsenault led the Aggie offense with a game-high two goals and two assists.
Arsenault’s new line mate, Walter Voisard, tied with him for the lead in points coming on one goal and three assists. Jay McFadden, the third cog in USU’s top scoring line, had a goal and an assist.
“It was the biggest game up to that date for sure,” Arsenault said. “UVSC being No. 2 and we’re No. 8, we got pumped up and came out and totally dominated the game.”
Since the game on Dec. 7, the ACHA has released a new set of rankings, but unfortunately USU has not jumped up the ladder as they might have expected after beating the No. 2 team. UVSC absorbed losses against Eastern Washington, Colorado and Denver late in the semester and dropped to fifth while USU sank down to ninth in the latest rankings.
Arsenault said the Aggies used a trapping defense with the center playing high in the zone and focused on stopping UVSC’s stars.
“We had a big talk the practice before we played them and we just knew what we had to do, which players we had to focus on and what system we had to play,” Arsenault said. “We bought into that system and obviously it worked.”
Finatti had 30 saves and totally stifled the Wolverines on breakaways, raising his first-semester record to 7-3. Mike Dagulis and Seth Armitage had a goal each for UVSC, a far cry from the 9-6 game in Provo, when the Wolverines were able to shell USU goalies, scoring five goals on Scottie Beard and four on Finatti.
Robert Sutherland dropped his gloves and fought for the first time this year, slugging it out with UVSC’s Russian defender Slava Ivaneko. He described the fight as being “a lot like ‘Rocky IV.’ I believe that I did win the fight. I couldn’t get his helmet off because he’s so tall, but I was hitting him in the jaw. He cross-checked me in my mask, and no matter what you have to stick up for yourself.”
Sutherland took a cross-check to the throat in an earlier game against Brigham Young University and couldn’t speak due to some torn cartilage. He said the scrap was “perfectly silent,” even as the Russian fell to the ice on top of him.
Also scoring for the Aggies were team Captain Scotty John and Jeremy Madigan, with a goal apiece. Defenseman Ben Tikka had two assists.
BYU 7, Aggies 5
The Utah State players were hot about this game, and not just because they lost 7-5 to the Icecats in the Peaks Ice Arena.
After the conclusion of another chippy, spiteful hockey game, USU defender Maciej Michalek was spit on and hit with trash hurled down into the tunnel by a BYU fan who was apparently upset that Michalek and Matt Ferris didn’t return to the ice to shake hands after the referees tossed them.
“It was a truly dirty game, I’ve got to tell you,” Michalek said. “There was a lot of cheap stuff going on. They were going up on our goalie and stuff like that. At the end of the game when Ferris was down in their zone, two guys jumped on him and started punching him. I skated down there and we started pushing and shoving.
“After that the refs wouldn’t let me stay. I went to the locker room, and one of their fans was hanging over the rail. He just spit on me and threw a cup of water on me. It hit me in the cage and on the shoulder.”
In reacting to the loogie, Michalek made the mistake of swinging his hockey stick at the spitter. Although he missed badly, the Peaks Arena Security personnel sprang into action. John said the Aggies are fed up with the politics of playing hockey in the Peaks Arena.
“Security guards completely ignore the spitting, the throwing of cups and whatnot, and they try for literally like half an hour to write Maci an assault ticket,” John said. “Luckily, our coaches and their coaches and everybody got together and called the owner of the rink and decided not to give him the ticket. You don’t see us trying to kick out players and they can never return to the rink. They’re portraying us as a bunch of hooligans and criminals, but they’re no better. Or at least their fans aren’t.”
In the actual game, USU gave up two power-play goals in the first period to fall behind 3-2. BYU lengthened its lead in the second as Derek Battisti and Adam Farero scored on USU’s Dan Cornelius to go up 5-2.
A Jay McFadden power-play goal kept the Aggies within a stone’s throw heading into the third period, but after Ben Tikka scored to make it 5-4, the Aggie comeback attempt ran out of steam, and BYU ran out to a 7-4 lead.
A Jeremy Madigan goal was too little, too late for USU. Battisti led BYU with three points. McFadden and Tikka each had three points for USU.
Aggies 12, Utah 2
A fairly routine USU humbling of the University of Utah by a 12-2 score was enlivened by some chippy play between the teams as the Utes seemingly discovered their collective spine.
Eric Baxter and Kevin Johnston from Utah were yanked from the ice, and Matt Ferris and Finatti were likewise sent to the showers early by the referees. Ferris and the Utes continued to jaw at each other from opposite ends of the tunnel after being kicked out.
John continued his hot shooting streak, opening the scoring for USU in the first period. After Aaron Shimmel scored, Utah’s Ian McKelvey got to Finatti to keep things close heading into the second.
“They stayed with us in the first period,” Finatti said.
Then USU opened the floodgates in the second, outscoring the Utes 7-0 in that period, part of an overall 9-0 run. Shimmel got his second goal in the second, Voisard had a hat trick, Winsa scored twice, and Robert Sutherland scored once.
Voisard, who scored again in the third period to make it a hat trick plus one, said, “I’m definitely going to credit the guys I play with now. I moved up from the third line to playing with Kent and Jay. They’ve supplied me with a lot of nice passes. Plus I’m finally finding the back of the net now. I think I’m shooting better now than I was. The beginning of the season I was a little snake bit, the way Kent is now.”
Arsenault had three assists but failed to find the back of the net for the second straight game. McFadden led USU with five assists, and Tikka continued to pile up assists with four.
Late in the third period, Utah’s Matt Komma was credited with scoring a goal to make the score 11-2 at that point. Finatti picked up the puck and skated after the referee to protest, but was hit with a disqualification for arguing too vociferously.
“They’ve got a good offense,” Finatti said before reconsidering. “Well, they’ve got a decent offense. At least they’re staying in games.”
-graham.terry@aggiemail.usu.edu