USU plays final game at Ice Sheet
The No. 1 ranked Utah State University hockey team will play its final game at the Ogden Ice Sheet Saturday at 8:30 p.m. against Long Beach State University.
The Aggies have spent seven years playing hockey in Ogden, and the game represents a long Aggie reign, team captain Paul Amidon said.
“[I feel] complete and utter joy,” USU senior forward Deryk Anderson said. “I am so happy to be done. We’ll save about eight hours in travel time every week.”
The Aggies are looking to improve on 15 wins, two losses and one tie, coming off two very physical wins against Eastern Washington in Ogden, Amidon said.
“The crowd really got into the game and there were several fights,” he said.
Between the two teams, there were 50 minutes of penalties in a 60-minute game.
The Aggies won the first game 7-1 and the second 12-3.
Utah State will compete with what seems to be an unstoppable front line with the top three scorers in the region; Greg Howard, Derek Anderson and Nick Thiros.
Howard leads the region with 40 goals on the year, followed by Anderson with 38 and Thiros with 31 goals.
“They’ve come through for us in several clutch situations,” Amidon said. “They’re gelling and playing awesome together.”
Anderson has been living it up in his last year of play with success he didn’t see last year.
“It’s pretty rewarding. We mesh so well together,” Anderson said. “Nick has lightning fast speed and Greg is the best finisher [on the team and in the region].”
The team has only one loss to a team in their division which was soon forgotten considering the 15 wins.
“It’s so exciting to see the final details come through [on the ice arena],” Anderson said. “It’s been a dream for seven years.”