USU club hockey losing streak stretches to four games
The result wasn’t what was desired, but the Utah State club hockey team has definitely made its third periods something worth
watching.
The Aggies went down hard at home to the Colorado State Rams 7-3 Saturday night, along with falling just a goal short of a completed comeback in the final minute to the University of Utah Friday night, losing 8-7.
The Aggies (4-7-1) now have a four-game losing streak and have dropped seven of their last 10.
CSU 7, USU 3
Colorado State’s first five goals all came on power-play opportunities.
At the end of the second period, the Aggies were down 4-1, but they opened up the third the way they have all season – with a heightened desire to come together as a team to put goals in the net and get the win.
Paul Amidon, normally a defenseman, was surprisingly put up top as a forward to start the third.
And it worked.
He cut the Ram lead to 4-3 as he put in the Aggies’ final two goals within five minutes of each other, the second coming on a great puck-handling trip down the ice.
With the momentum in its hands at that point, USU looked certain make a comeback.
But 10 minutes later, CSU’s Sam Kincaid, Travis Burge and Brad Hall put in three unanswered goals in the final five minutes to seal the win.
The difference in the game, assistant coach Ty Newberry said, was the “lack of discipline” shown by Utah State making too many unnecessary
penalties.
“The reason why we lost the game is because we were selfish and taking the penalties that we did,” he said.
USU goalie Dustin Merrill, who gave up all seven goals, put the reason for the loss very simple.
“Honestly, they’re a better team than us,” he said. “We didn’t play a perfect game and they just straight-out played better than us.”
CSU is now 2-0 against USU this season.
Utah 8, USU 7
Roberto Leo accomplished his first hat trick of the season with three goals and one assist, but it wasn’t enough.
Four unanswered goals in the third period propelled the Utes to their first victory over the Aggies this season. But not before USU made it interesting late in the game.
To start the third period the Aggies held a 5-4 lead.
The Utes then went on their four-goal tear to put their lead at 8-5 until the final minute. At that point, a noticeable amount of fans started shuffling out of the Eccles Ice Center.
Forward Evan Raber and left wing Aaron Burrell cut the Ute lead to 8-7 as they put in the final two goals of the game, Burrell’s coming with 14 seconds left.
“What it really comes down to is that things just haven’t been going our way,” Amidon said. “It can’t be this way all season. I think these losses are good for us. Last year we had a problem where we won too easily. Winning never feels good unless you lose. We’ve got the losing out of our way and now we’re going to start winning.”
-samhis@cc.usu.edu