After picking up a win against Montana State on Thursday night the Weber State University hockey team fell in Provo as they lost to Utah State 5-1.
Thursday’s game started off slow but Weber State quickly rallied together to go up 2-0 by the end of the first period. The Wildcats scored three more goals — including a power play goal from freshman Jonathan Cosman in the final minutes of the period — to increase their lead to 5-0 by the start of the third period. Despite allowing the Bobcats to score in the third period, the Wildcats held on to come away victorious with a score of 6-2.
“I’m glad we got the win,” said sophomore defenseman Jake Webber after the game. “I feel we went in a little unfocused, but we came out hard at the end.”
Webber also pointed to having goalie Ian Frank back in the net as part of the team’s recent success.
“We’re really glad to have Ian back,” Webber said. “He’s just solid, with him back we’re looking forward to regional and eventually nationals.”
This hype was brought into the next game as the team went up against in-state rivals Utah State on Friday night. The start was delayed due to issues on the ice but was quickly back on track. Utah State was able to score with 15 seconds remaining on the clock as the Aggies took a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. Weber State came back out with high energy, but despite multiple power plays and a goal by sophomore Gunnar Bjorklund, the Wildcats were still trailing 2-1 by the end of the second.
“We played good till the third,” said head coach Clay Hobbs. “We got away from what we were doing and that let Utah State get a few more shots in at us.”
The Aggies scored three more goals in the final period, their final goal coming with less than 1:20 left in the game, to come away with the 5-1 win over Weber State.
“The score didn’t reflect the game,” Webber said. “We did everything right. We out-blocked them; we out-shot them. We had plenty of power plays, and our defense was all over them, but we couldn’t get the puck in the net.”
The Wildcats return home this weekend, as they host BYU on Friday night and Utah State on Saturday night.
“We’re gonna work hard and we’re going to work on our deficiencies,” said coach Hobbs. “We really want to win on senior night as we honor all our senior teammates. We will also have to win these games for a chance to go to regionals.”
