USU hockey falls to Weber State on senior night
Utah State University’s hockey team ended its regular season with a heartbreaking 5-3 loss to the Weber State Wildcats on Saturday. Before the game, which was dubbed “Senior Night,” the Aggies paid tribute to four departing players: forward Chris Cutshall, defenseman Olli Jansson, forward Gavin Lubin and goalie Colton Pritchard.
USU wasted no time in the opening period, scoring in the first 30 seconds. The goal came off Bradley Green’s stick after he fired a shot past Weber State’s goalie, with Cutshall making the key pass. The lead would not stand for long, however, as Wildcat forward Kody Goodwin put the puck past Pritchard to knot the game at 1-1.
The goal didn’t phase the Aggies and they regained the lead three minutes later thanks to a nifty net-front deflection by Cutshall to put the team up 2-1. Following the goal, things settled down a bit scoring-wise, though both teams maintained a quick, back and forth pace.
At the 6:51 mark of the first period, Aggie forward Conner Mckeachnie broke the tempo up by taking an interference penalty which earned the Wildcats a power play. The Wildcats pounced on the opportunity and Jeremy Regeon netted a goal just 20 seconds into the man advantage to tie the game at two goals apiece.
Once again the play settled down and, aside from a failed penalty shot by the Aggies and a cross checking penalty to the Wildcats, the period ended with little fanfare. Both teams went to the locker room with the score tied at 2-2.
In the second, USU began the period like they did the first, with Austin Moser scoring on a breakaway 30 seconds into the game, giving the Aggies a 3-2 lead. Utah State used the momentum from the goal to dictate the play for the next several minutes, but once again shot themselves in the foot by taking a penalty. Jansson, the guilty party, drew a boarding penalty on a Wildcat player, which then led to a feisty scrum along the boards.
On the ensuing play, Weber State again made the Aggies pay for their overzealous play with a goal 18 seconds into the power play. The Wildcats followed up their goal with a strong defensive showing, containing the Aggies and keeping them from getting many quality chances.
USU did manage to fight back with a short spurt of shots on net, but Wildcat goalie Logan Alam stood tall and batted every chance away. Afterward, the game settled into a lull until the final five minutes of the middle frame. That’s when things got all too familiar for the Aggies.
After exchanging scoring chances, the Aggies took yet another penalty with 4:14 left in the second. Weber State, in a brutal moment of deja vu for USU, capitalized on the power play and took their first lead of the game, 4-3. Heading into the intermission, USU needed to figure out a way to limit their penalties and bounce back.
Despite a strong start to the third, the Aggies struggled to find the back of the net. A barrage of chances and a goal-line save by Alam were the closest USU would get to tying the game. Aggie head coach Todd Renae praised the team for its effort, noting, “we didn’t really give up, we kept going.” He went on to say that, even though they had many chances to score, they couldn’t find any “puck luck” on the night.
Ultimately, penalties proved to be the self-inflicted wounds that allowed Weber State to pull away. Renae attributed the loss to the team’s struggles with a lack of discipline.
“10 penalties, that absolutely killed us,” he said. “They [were] all lazy penalties; unacceptable. With how short our bench is now we can’t afford to be taking penalties like that.”
Weber State put the final nail in the coffin late as forward Joel Johnson scored an empty net goal with four seconds left to put the team up 5-3. When the horn sounded, the score stood and the Wildcats handed the Aggies their second straight loss to finish the season after the home and home series. “It’s a huge loss for us, but the season is not over,” Renae said.
“Honestly, it’s just beginning for us.”
According to Renae, the Aggies will need to have a “short-term memory” as they head to the ACHA’s West Regionals on Friday, Feb. 28 and face the Oregon Ducks. The game starts at 4:15 p.m.
Image courtesy of Dark Star photography
— swfroehlich@gmail.com