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- Weber State University’s Andrew Richards goes for the puck over a University of Oregon player in the Beehive Classic tournament this past weekend. WSU went 1-3 in the tournament.
In its biggest tournament of the year, the Weber State University hockey team walked away from the Beehive Showcase with one win out of four games.
The tournament was held at the Ogden Ice Sheet over four days last week. The Wildcats’ only win came in a thriller against the Texas A&M University Aggies. The team beat TAMU in a 4-3 victory in a shootout to end the game.
The Wildcats were ready and looking to upset the Aggies in their opening game. WSU fans were there to support the team when the puck dropped and loudly cheered for WSU throughout the game. The Wildcats were able to put on a full 60-minute battle. The Wildcats were hurt a few minutes into the second period when Josh Guidice was ejected from the game. Forward Mason White came in and replaced Guidice, playing more minutes than he is used to playing.
WSU’s Chris Roberts said White stepped up and played an important role for the team.
“He was able to step up his game and played very well,” Roberts said.
Roberts and goalie Jonas Torgersen turned in outstanding performances in the thriller against A&M. Roberts was WSU’s only scorer, posting a hat trick in regulation play and grabbing the only goal of the shootout to beat the Aggies 4-3.
Torgersen, meanwhile, stopped 52 of 55 Aggie shots during the game, including an amazing stand of more than nine minutes of five-on-three shorthanded hockey in the second period, when WSU got in serious penalty trouble. He stoned the Aggies in the shootout following overtime.
Josh Meyers said the team has had lots of challenges this season, and it was good to come out on top against a tough team.
“We are hurting with depth on our team this year, but we finally came together as one unit to get a victory,” Meyers said.
The Wildcats couldn’t overcome penalty problems in Friday night’s 6-2 loss to the University of Oregon. The Ducks scored four of their six goals on the power play. Freshman forward Janik Sundberg of Sandy scored both of WSU’s goals, and freshman goalie Craig Peterson of Ogden turned back 38 of UO’s 44 shots for a .863 save average.
The Wildcats played the fourth-ranked team in the nation, the University of Colorado, in their next game. The ’Cats hung tough for the first two periods of the game, keeping the score at 3-1. The wheels came off in the third as the Buffalos scored seven unanswered goals. Wildcat leading scorer Roberts posted WSU’s lone goal in the first period, with assists from Sundberg and junior forward Guidice.
Things got harder for the Wildcats who next found themselves matched up against second-ranked Colorado State University, a team that simply overwhelmed the Wildcats. CSU went on to win 16-0, marking only the second time this season that WSU has lost in a shutout.
The Wildcats’ overall record now stands at 5-13 as they prepare for the final two games of the fall semester. The Wildcats will take on Boise State University on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at the South Davis Recreation Center, 550 N. 200 West, Bountiful, and again on Dec. 4 at 11:30 a.m. at the Weber County Ice Sheet.
