USU hockey club prepared to rebound from mixed weekend
The Utah State club hockey team looks to turn around its losing record this weekend with a pair of home games against Eastern Washington University and Long Beach State University.
The Aggies will play EWU Friday and will play LBSU Saturday. Both games start at 7:30 p.m. and will be at the George S. Eccles Ice Center in North Logan.
USU is coming off a mixed weekend in which they soundly beat San Jose State and arch-rival Weber State, but lost to BYU for the first time ever.
“We had the highs and lows last week,” said Head Coach Jerry Crossley. “We’ve seen both extremes. We’re coming off a pretty good note. Saturday’s game [against Weber State] was probably one of the better ones we’ve played.”
Team members said the primary reason they lost to BYU was lack of pre-game preparation.
“We’re working on just smart, good execution and discipline and doing the right things at the right times,” Crossley said. “We had a little saying we put up on the board the other night; ‘Discipline is about doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason.’ And that’s the way we’ve got to do it in these games.”
Crossley said he also feels the team’s different lines are starting to come together.
“That was one of the things I was really pleased about last weekend, particularly Saturday night,” he said. “We went pretty deep into the bench, and the guys did their job. It was spread pretty evenly and their scoring came from a bunch of different angles. I think we’re starting to get a feel for what the guys can do and the guys are starting to get a feel for what they can do.”
The Aggies won last year’s only meeting against the Eastern Washington Eagles 5-2 on Jan. 25. They also won the only meeting with the Long Beach State 49ers 3-1 Nov. 15.
The Aggies bring a 2-3 record into the weekend, with wins over San Jose State University and the Weber State Division II team. USU lost to Colorado State, BYU and the Weber State Division I team.
Last Thursday, the Aggies beat SJSU 10-1 in a reunion of goalie Chris Webber and his old team. Robert Hashimoto scored four goals in a big night for USU.
Then on Friday, the Aggies went to Provo and lost to the Icecats, 5-3, in a game where nothing seemed to go right.
Hashimoto either scored or assisted all three goals for the Aggies that night.
Saturday, USU rebounded from Friday night’s embarrassment by pummeling the Weber State Wildcat Division II squad 9-4, at their own rink. Six of the Aggie goals came in the third period and Jacob Guttormsen had a hat trick.
The fan support was incredible all weekend, with just as many – if not more – cheers for USU at both road games at Provo and Ogden. Crossley describes USU as having “the best fans.”
-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu