USU loses two on Colorado road trip, San Jose up next
The Utah State University hockey club team lost two close games at Colorado and Colorado State Friday and Saturday, respectively.
USU was tied with Colorado 3-3 at the end of the second period.
At the beginning of the third period, Colorado scored two quick goals for the victory.
Sophomore center Ben Froehle said USU fought back and got within one but wasn’t able to “put the puck away.”
It took USU at least a period to get focused and used to the smaller rink. Froehle said it was a long bus trip and the faster players on his team were not as comfortable with the limited room on the different-sized rink, but he said he felt there are no excuses for the losses.
Team manager Keith Bleazard said the Aggies played good defense forcing CU to take bad shots but couldn’t focus and capitalize on good chances on the offensive end.
Froehle said the team ran the system well and played a better game against Colorado State.
The Aggies were down 5-3 when they scored with one minute left in the game. Then they were able to pull the Rams’ goalie away from the goalpost but were not able to capitalize on it.
Froehle said if only the Aggies were able to score on at least one of their three breakaways throughout the game and two other shots that hit the opponent’s goal post, the game would have been a different story.
“The game against CSU was the closest we’ve played to a complete 60-minute game all year,” he said. “We played hard, made good passes, and were more confident and adjusted to the smaller ice rink.”
Froehle is optimistic his team will beat CU and CSU next time they play in Colorado, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, respectively.
“Now we know what it takes to beat them,” Froehle said. “What we need to do is just keep working hard.”
Off the ice, the Aggies had a lot of time to bond with each other. Froehle said they watched a movie, chatted, and played pool and pingpong at the hotel together, which helped integrate the younger players with the older players.
The Aggies (2-2) are practicing for their game against San Jose on Thursday at home and its game at Utah on Saturday.
Froehle said he doesn’t know too much about San Jose except that it is a decent team and was fourth in its region, making the national tournament last year.
Bleazard said San Jose is the best team in California. He said Utah State needs to work on power plays, taking advantage of penalties and staying more focused in practice this week.
Concerning the Utes, Froehle said, “They jumped out on us last time we played them before we woke up in the second period and came back and won the game.”
Froehle also knows what it takes to beat Utah.
“We can’t let them jump out on us again,” he said. “We have to play a full 60-minute game to beat them.”
Froehle said a couple of players got banged up over the weekend but nothing to keep them out against San Jose.
He’s excited to be back playing in front of the home crowd Thursday. He said the fans make a difference in the players by giving them a charge and firing them up.