The Weber State hockey team kicked off the new year with a 3–1 win against BYU on Jan. 7.
“I thought we played really well,” goaltender Kyle Lane said. “Very shaky at the beginning, pucks were flying off sticks; that’s pretty normal, but we worked really hard, and that’s what you gotta do when you haven’t played in a while.”
The Wildcats took a break between the transition of semesters and hadn’t played a game since Nov. 18-21 when they swept Loyola Marymount, Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona and the University of Wyoming in the Beehive Showcase.
Osman Cholak opened the night for the ‘Cats after they found the back of the net in the first period with 11:49 on the board.
The remainder of the first period didn’t see any scoring opportunities from either team.
With the clock winding down in the second period, Cholak found the back of the net for the second time of the night with just over 13 minutes remaining and off of an assist from Kody Goodwin and Jacob Schneider.
Less than two minutes later, BYU was called for having a sixth man on the ice, and Weber State was able to further capitalize on their lead. Will Fobair scored on the power play with 11:12 on the clock.
“He has the best hands I have ever seen. Every single night he is doing something new,” Lane said about Fobair.
A cat fight erupted late into the second period resulting in Jakob Besnilian, Cholak, Carson Abercrombie and Jordan Jaramillo finding themselves in the penalty box alongside three BYU players.
Heading into the third period with tensions high, the Wildcats looked to have a shutout on their hands until Chase Christensen found the back of the net for the Cougars with less than two minutes left in regulation.
The two teams saw their second fight of the night late in the third period, resulting in Besnilian and Joshua Kirk getting ejected from the game alongside a BYU player.
Kayden Houser and Andrew DeMorat also found themselves in the penalty box for the Wildcats.
BYU wasn’t able to capitalize on any further scoring opportunities before the clock ran out.
Lane finished the night allowing one goal.
The Wildcats hit the road to Colorado next for the MLK Showcase Jan. 14-17 before coming back to the Ice Sheet and hosting CU Boulder, CSU Metro and Colorado State Jan. 27-29.
