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Show StatesmanSports Page 14 Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 Club Hockey wins again, picks up sixth straight ByJODI BURTON staff writer With the Aggies dominating the Utah Valley University Wolverines 15-1 Friday night, it's funny to think there was any doubt about winning before hand. The USU hockey team proved they are ready to back up their claims of having a dynamite team this year by conquering on the ice after obtaining their sixth straight win. The players themselves were on fire Friday, with captain Kent Arsenault and center Billy Gouthro each achieving hat tricks. Team manager Jon Eccles said goalie Dan Cornelius also stepped up to the challenge by turning away everything that was thrown at him. Perhaps a motivation for the team's absolute domination of UVU came from the fact that three of USU's new recruits this season were former Wolverine teammates. "I think it was fun for them to start against their old teammates, playing against UVU created more excitement for us," Eccles said. "Our USU players who came to us from UVU were excited to go back down and play. They did have friends on the team so it made it a little difficult for them, but I think we've realized they're not so much friends anymore." Cornelius agreed. "I think it was more of a motivation for USU to play better," he said. "I think the former UVU teammates played harder knowing if they won they could feel better about playing for USU now instead of UVU." David Wyman, one of the three transfer students from UVU said playing at UVU was weird but OK because there was such a good group of guys to play with. He felt like his USU teammates had his back. Wyman also said it was exciting to win with a new family. The former UVU players include Michael Daugilus, David Wyman and Jeremy Martin. Wyman said they tried not to have too much U S U H A S H A D A L O T O F P H Y S I C A L PLAY during its last couple of games. The Aggies Jeremy Martin took this shot from a Weber State player last week. This week the Aggies extended their winning streak to six games, beating UVU and BYU to sweep the Provo schools. TYLER LARSON photo emotion going into the game. "It turned out to be more of just a regular game," he said. With all three of the former Wolverines in the starting lineup, one might guess that was the reason for the four straight penalties in a row during the first period. However, Eccles said he attributed the calls to one of the refs, who he feels is harder on the Aggies, having been a former Aggie hockey player himself. "I think its just a matter of him making more calls in order to prove for sure he isn't favoring his former team," Eccles said. Whatever the penalties, Aggies felt they played a great game. The English Language Center of Cache Valley, Inc English as a second language (ESL) Classes Registration: October 1-3 Classes Start October 6 106 East 1120 North in Logan (Next to Home Depot & behind TJ Maxx) Available Classes: Morning & Evening • Beginning $25 • Levels 1-4 • Advanced English $25 • NEW CLASS-English Writing $25 Questions? Call (435) 750-6534 or www.elc-cv.com GEIC0.Ai5-minutecall could save you 15% on car insurance. 6552 S. State Street Murray OT, 84107 "In the first period we started out playing at their level, but then Kent came in and told the guys we needed to play hard," Eccles siad. "He gave an inspirational speech, told the players they needed to ramp up, skate hard and take it to them, and that period we came back out and scored eight goals. We jumped on them and ended up breaking their backs." Wyman also felt good about the teams performance. "I think we played really well tonight, we battled through a lot and it was a fairly decent road game," he said. "A highlight of the game was Dan Cornelius. He played awesome and made big saves when we needed it. Overall it was a good team game, and we played well together as a unit. After another 60 solid minutes of hockey Saturday night, the Aggies left the ice triumphant once again with an 8-5 win against Brigham Young University. Two thousand screaming fans crammed into the George S. Eccles Ice Arena to cheer on the Aggies as they battled their bitter rivals. The Cougars still have yet to beat the Aggies in the Logan arena. With top players Seth Armitage and Billy Gouthro out with injuries, the Aggies had to adapt quickly to new line arrangements, and did so successfully. "It was a great game and a good chance for the team to really come together," said left wing Brendan MacDonald. Cornelius said, "I think we definitely felt the effects of having a couple of top players out with injuries. There was something restricting us from reaching our potential." Although the first and second periods were frustrating and laden with penalties and fights, the Aggies managed to make a come back in the third period. During period three the game was tied at 4-4. "That's when we focused more on the defense," said goalie Dan Cornelius. "We had to make sure we didn't lose." USU scored three goals in the last two minutes of the game, which Arsenault attributed to fans and adrenaline. "When we were tied 4-4 we were in a panic, we knew we needed to step it up and it worked out pretty well," he said. "The fans also helped out a lot. Coach told us to 'Look out there, that's who you're playing for', and we did." With the record the Aggies have maintained so far, another victory is promising next week when they will travel to play in Colorado. -jodi.burton@aggiemail.usu.edu Road: Aggies snap losing skid with first road win of the season at Wyoming Sunday O continuedfrom page 13 Being challenged was exactly what the Aggies experienced against a fast-paced, numbers-forward Wyoming team. Cairns said the first 15 minutes of the game were dominated by Wyoming's long ball, direct style of play. In those opening minutes, Cairns said the Cowgirls played as many as six players forward at any given time. Responding to the threat, the USU midfielders won balls and slowed the tempo of the game more to the liking of the Aggies, Cairns said, which would prove to be the difference maker in the outcome of the game. "It was really a kind of battle," Cairns said. "I think our team did a great job playing our style of game and we didn't fall into their style of game." At the half, neither team had landed a goal but Wyoming had an 8-4 shooting advantage. Cairns said at the half she talked to her team about turning up the attack and finishing off shots. Her pep talk worked. Ten minutes into the second half, junior forward Erin Salmon took a loose ball and fired in a shot from the top of the 18-yard box to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead. The goal was Salmon's third of the year, putting her second in points scored on the team. "She really just pressured a defender and played a great shot," Cairns said. "It was a lot of individual effort on her part." In the 78th minute, USU got on the board again off a penalty kick resulting from a hand ball. Freshman defender Summer Tillotson powered in the penalty kick to score her first collegiate goal. Down 2-0, the Cowgirls refused to give up. Like the first half, Wyoming outshot the Aggies 8-6 and owned a 6-1 corner kick advantage, which provided several close calls. Cairns said. Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin protected the net well, Cairns said, giving the Aggies the defense they needed to win the game. "Ali Griffin was important to our success today," Cairns said. "(Wyoming was) pretty strong on their corner kicks. She came out and punched a lot of them away." Despite a strong showing by Griffin, she was denied a shutout as the Cowgirl's Emily Layton scored her sixth goal of the year with just six seconds remaining in the match. The late goal marked the second last-second goal in a week's span, which Cairns said was a result of mistakes made in the midfield. "We didn't make a good play on the girl with the ball," Cairns said. "Playing on the Friday Night Activity (FNA) "Friday Night Tailgate Party" Boost your Aggie spirit before the big game! Come to the Institute parking lot at 4:30 for free food and activities; then cheer on the team at the stadium. General Conference Oct 4-5 "Come listen to a prophet's voice and hear the word of God." General Register for institute at Conference will be broadcast at the Institute, as well as your local Stake Center. wise.ldsces.org road is hard. We can't let the goal taint our success this weekend, because we did a good job to fight hard enough and win. It was just a matter of getting a win in the column, it didn't matter what the score was." USU at Cal Poly It took Cal Poly just over 15 minutes to score what would become the game-winning goal, and given 10 more minutes, Cairns said the Aggies could have evened things up. "If we had 10 more minutes in that game, we would have tied it up," Cairns said. "We had a bunch of opportunities that second half. We really figured out how to attack them." Speak Up "It was really kind of a battle, I think our team did a great job playing our style of game and we didn't fall into their style of game." Heather Cairns, USU head coach But soccer is a game of 90 minutes and Cairns said while her team played 90 minutes, it took them a while to figure out how to play one of the most challenging opponents of the year. "That was a tough game," Cairns said. "The first half they really dominated play. They were a big physical team, probably bigger and more physical than any team we've seen in the last two years." In the 16th minute of the match, the Mustangs got on the board as Carrie Andrews headed in a corner kick, scoring her first goal of the season. For the remainder of the match, Cairns said her team provided heavy offensive pressure, but in the end it wasn't enough to get the win. "We did do a good job, a better job," Cairns said. "Sometimes it's just the quality of the competition, it's tough. That's what prepares us for WAC." -seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu Religion in Life Friday 10/3 at 11:30 Fred Ball is the SeniorVice President of Zions Bank, as well as the voice for Zions Bank's "Speaking on Business" Radio Program. Lunch for a buck will follow at 12:20 p.m. |