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Show Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 StatesmanSports Orange crushed By G. Christopher Terry assistant sports editor Utah State hockey demonstrated that even without a full clip, it has more than enough ammunition to dispense with a second-rung ACHA West squad like Boise State, busting the Broncos with a seven-goal second period en route to an easy 15-1 victory. Although star wing Kent Arsenault, goalie Greg Finatti and stud forward Jeff Sanders all sat out with various injuries, USU rolled thanks to four goals from Brendan MacDonald, and two apiece from Billy Gouthro and Tyler Mistelbacher. Undoubtedly, the high point of the game for the crowd at the Eccles Ice Arena was Aggie defenseman Maciej Michalek’s second-period fight against Boist State’s Dan Bearchear. Attendance was down due to fall break, but the crowd erupted with the sound of a packed house when it saw the player’s helmets and gloves hit the ice. “I did it for the fans because they’re quiet tonight,” said Maci, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the ACHA West. “That guy was picking on all the players on my team. We squared up, I asked him if he wanted to go. Everything was how its supposed to be. Fully professional.” Referees permitted the fighters to stand toe-to-toe, exchanging punches until Bearchear tried to lock Maci up and take him down. Displaying a boxer’s elusiveness, Maci slipped out and left Bearchear holding nothing but his Aggie sweater, and took him down to the ice to end the fight. Maci, who said he didn’t feel any of Bearchear’s punches land, said he won the fight when Bearchear tried change fighting positions. “He tried to switch hands on me, that was a mistake,” Maci said. “He should wait on me until I switch hands.” After dominating the first period with their raw skating ability, the Aggies only led 3-0. In the second period, USU’s forwards did a better job of backchecking and supporting the breakout, and the result was a cascade of odd-man rushes on besieged Boise State goaltender Jared Secundo. After keeping his team in the game with some great saves in the first period, Secundo was helpless to stop the Aggie attack MacDonald, Gouthro and Dave Wyman scored the first five goals of the period. Jeremy Martin’s putback slap shot with 3:30 remaining put an exclamation point on the scoring burst. “It was a good game considering our injuries,” USU head coach Jon Eccles said. “We moved the puck around well. The forwards were getting down low, helping out the defensemen.” With Finatti out and a weak opponent on the schedule, Eccles elected to leave nominal backup goalie Dan Cornelius on the bench and give Cody Palmer the first start of his career. Palmer nearly responded with a shutout, allowing a garbage-time goal to Marc Irvine in the third period. “Cody played phenomenal,” Eccles said. “He only faced four or five shots a period and he stayed focused.” With all the injuries, Eccles has been moving players around, combining Matt Hamilton with Gouthro and Wyman in place of Sanders, who may be back on the ice the week after next. Hamilton seemed to struggle with the Taylor sparks Ags’ win over Fresno By CONNOR JONES senior staff writer Utah State’s volleyball team improved to 12-8 on the season and 3-4 in the WAC with a four-set win over Fresno State University on Thursday night (23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-18). Sophomore opposite side hitter from Hollister, Calif., Emily Kortsen once again had an impressive performance for the Aggies with 11 kills and one error on 25 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. Kortsen had three attack errors in the team’s last three matches while the rest of the team had 65. Kortsen also had 15 digs and five block assists. She has now had three double-doubles in USU’s last three matches and four of the team’s previous five. Classmate Liz McArthur led the match with 18 kills, she hit a .240 on the day with six attack errors on 50 attempts. The Aggies lost the first set after FSU rallied back from down six points at 19-13 for the 2325 Bulldog victory. The 4-12 point Fresno rally was capped off by one of junior middle blocker Shantell Durrant’s, two attack errors on the night. Durrant had a .538 hitting percentage on the night with nine kills and two error on 13 attempts, as well as racking up six block assists. Classmate and fellow starting middle blocker Katie Astle struggled in the first set with one kill and two errors on eight attempts for a -.125 hitting percentage. After Astle’s rough first set USU head coach Grayson DuBose subbed out Astle and instead used another junior middle blocker, Danielle Taylor. “The match changed when Dani came in,” DuBose said. “She made some good adjustment and helped us a lot throughout the next few sets.” Taylor’s play was immediately felt, with two kills on three attempts in the second set, she became a player that could do some damage and the Bulldogs had to respect that, DuBose said. For the match Taylor hit a .667 percent (4-0-6) while assisting on four blocks and racking up one dig. “The nice thing about our team is all the kids buy in to the team concept, they all work for each other, help each other out and they don’t mind getting subbed in an out when one’s struggling. They know the important thing is winning that volleyball game,” DuBose said. USU won the second set by five-points, 25-20, and out-hit Fresno .500 (15-1-28) to .309 (16-439). McArthur led the Aggies with six kills and zero errors in the set while junior setter, Chelsea Fowles, had the second highest kill count with three kills and zero errors. Fresno State regrouped coming out for the third set and went out for an early 5-1 lead. USU fought back and tied the match at 10 before scoring four straight to hop in front of the Bulldogs. The Aggies went on for another five point set victory, ending the set at 25-20 while hitting .444 (13-1-27) and holding FSU to .189 (14-7-37). The fourth set was all USU, who never relinquished the lead and at one point were up 20-9. FSU hit a .000 (11-11-31) in the final set while USU had a .370 (12-2-27) in route to their 25-18 set victory. Freshman outside hitter Josselyn White contributed seven kills on the night and junior libero Christine Morrill had 22 digs and one service ace. – c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu Wolf Pack: Nevada runs wild on Ags -continued from page 8 ball handling by Borel led to the Aggies first turnover of the game, giving Nevada the ball and the momentum on USU’s 31 yard line. “We can say ‘what if’ and ‘we could have done this’ but at the end of the day that mistake is on me,” Borel said. Nevada drove down to the Aggie five-yard line before Taua of Nevada ran for the touchdown, making it a one possession game. The fourth quarter didn’t go well for the Aggies. USU was forced to punt after a sack for a loss of nine yards to start the quarter. The seven play ensuing drive for the Wolfpack was topped off by a Kaepernick pass to Brandon Wimberly for a 49-yard touchdown. The big plays weren’t over for Nevada who, the next time they touched the ball, needed only four plays to make it a two possession game. Lippincott broke through the USU defensive line for a 69-yard touchdown run. With 4:01 left in the game and the Aggies down by 11 points, Borel manufactured a quick six-play, 73-yard scoring drive in just under a minute and a half. Borel had five completions on five attempts, including a 41 yard fourth down reception to Gwacham followed immediately by a 14yard touchdown to Gwacham. USU was successful in its attempted two point conversion, a pass from Borel to Turbin, to bring them within a field goal. Nevada’s ability to run at will on the Aggies during the fourth quarter left no option for first year head coach Gary Anderson but to try for an onside kick. Ulinski’s onside kick was brought down by Brindley only to get called back for an offsides penalty. The second attempted onside kick was recovered by the Wolfpack, who were able to run down the clock. Nevada ran for 147 yards in the fourth quarter compared to USU’s -12 yards. “It was another tough loss for us, for Logan, for Utah State, for the football team and for everybody that was involved,” Anderson said. “We will regroup and come back.” The Aggies will have to regroup from the tough, physical loss, as they return to Romney Stadium next Saturday to play Louisiana Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. – c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu Page 9 mental game after ringing a puck off the crossbar in the first period and finished the game without scoring, even as his linemates combined for seven points. “Sanders brings a different element,” Gouthro said. “He’s a great player. Hamilton fills his shoes very well.” Despite the good result for his team, Eccles was critical of the Aggies’ efforts in the third period, when they could only manage one goal, a kickout to Jay McFadden at the point after a strong cycle had sucked Boise State’s defense down low. “Against good teams like Colorado you’re not going to score seven goals in a period,” Eccles said. “We can’t make the mistakes we did in the third period.” A major high point for USU was the effectiveness of its penalty kill, which not only killed seven out of seven power plays, but also took the fight into Boise’s zone and scored on Secundo shorthanded three times. – graham.terry@aggiemail. usu.edu So, something on your mind? You can always write a letter to the editor. Go to www.aggietownsquare.com for a submission box. Time to shine. She husband is on She says, says, “My ‘Ah, Can I get Your the football Friend’s phone team!” number? She says, ‘A Friend’s p Submitted by Kasey She says, Marianne Poulson Frandsen |