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Show StatesmanSports Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 Page 9 Skating Aggies chalk up two more in-state rivals By G. CHRISTOPHER TERRY and LANDON HEMSLEY assistant sports editor and staff writer USU 10, Weber State 5 Utah State survived a fine first period of hockey by the Wildcats, taking the lead for good in the second period and erasing all Weber hope with a six-goal third period. Team captain Kent Arsenault and wing Jeff Sanders led the way for USU with four points apiece as seven different Aggies found the net at least once. Sanders provided the highlight of the game when he put WSU goalie Jonas Jorgenson on his poster, scoring top-shelf on a diving backhand in the second period, a goal that put the Wildcats down 4-3. Early on, Weber State provided most of the highlights, many due to speedy forward Chris Roberts, who accomplished a rare first-period hat trick in leading his team to a 3-2 first intermission lead. After dangling right through the Aggie defense, Roberts beat USU goalie Greg Finatti with a point-blank wrist shot. After Arsenault tied the game with a rebound goal, Roberts blazed down the ice on a breakaway, fired on Finatti and backhanded in his own rebound. "He's aggressive," Finatti said. "He's always taking the puck to the net and trying to get under our skin. He's a good hockey player." Sanders helped Jay McFadden equalize for USU with a backhand dish into the slot, but with just 49 seconds left, Roberts blew by the Aggie blueliners on another breakaway and completed his hat trick, short-handed no less. "The kid's got some wheels," assistant coach Aaron Burrell said. "You know every team's got someone like that, so we've got to play a lot more solid so he doesn't get those easy opportunities." USU had four looks at an open Weber net in the first but blew them all. Crossbars, an uncooperative puck, and even a Weber defender who slid in to block a shot when his goalie was woefully out of position conspired to keep USU behind in the game. Roberts, however, couldn't do it on his own for all three periods, especially when clearing the puck from their own zone remained a 50-50 proposition for Weber all game long. Weber repeatedly snuffed out its own breakouts by spitting up the puck at the blueline. One such turnover was capitalized on with élan by Sanders, who said, "Their D-man was trying to break out and he turned it over to me. I just went by the guy and went backhand and put it away." After Sanders' heroics nosed USU ahead in the second, the Aggies' superior depth overwhelmed Weber in the third. "They were gassed in the third period," Sanders said, "and we just kept on pouring on the forecheck. They just collapsed and they had nothing left." Alex Lund, Arsenault and Sanders scored unassisted in quick succession to open up a 7-3 lead. As the Wildcats fell further behind, they began to skate noticeably slower, which exposed them to big hits from the Aggies. First AGGIE WING JEFF SANDERS flys through the air to score on Weber State goalie Jonas Jorgenson in the second period of USU's 10-5 victory Friday night in the Eccles Ice Arena. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo Billy Gouthro and then Sanders blew up Weber skaters on open ice, and the third period turned into a contentious mess as the Wildcats reacted predictably to being pounded on the ice and on the scoreboard. After calling four penalties in the first two periods, the officiating crew called 17 penalties in the third. Weber used the power play effectively to pull within 8-5 on another Roberts goal before McFadden and Dave Wyman popped in two more goals for insurance in the waning minutes of the game. USU 12, Utah 1 The Aggies ran their winning streak to eight on Saturday when the Aggies iced the Utes in Salt Lake City. McFadden notched a hat trick in Saturday's dismantling of Utah. McFadden said his third goal was the result of a great passing play put together by Jeremy Madigan and Dillon Sondergaard. "The puck got shoved down low," McFadden said. "Dillon was going behind the net. I called for it out front, and he passed it out in front to me, and I put it on the far left side of the net. I just snuck in there unnoticed." McFadden also notched an assist to his linemate Jeremy Madigan in Saturday's laugher. Coach Jon Eccles said the Aggies put a solid defensive victory together against the Utes. Saturday's annihilation marked Canadian goaltender Dan Cornelius's return to the ice after suffering a shoulder injury. USU shutout Utah for 59.5 minutes of the 60-minute game, but Utah barely managed to squeak a goal past Cornelius with 29.5 seconds remaining, giving the Utes what could be considered a moral victory. In hockey, however, moral victories aren't the ones that count. USU utterly embarrassed the Skatin' Utes. McFadden said the team didn't consider Utah a huge threat going in. "Basically what we tried to do was work on some things," McFadden said. "We wanted to be prepared for this weekend against Eastern Washington. I mean, you always have to go play hard. You've got to go work on things you need to work on." This win is one more in a long string of victories against in-state opponents. Utah State is, in fact, undefeated in the state of Utah. The last time that the Aggies lost was the first weekend of October. The Aggies were on the road in Colorado against perennial powers Colorado State and Colorado and hadn't seen competition of CSU and UC's caliber to that point. Even then, the Aggies' combined losing margin in those games was a mere six goals. Since those road losses and during the winning streak, the Aggies have scored 74 goals against their last eight opponents and have only allowed 21 goals in that same span. At this moment in the season, the question is if the Aggies are the real deal or if the team continues to slaughter every opponent because of HOUSE: Turbin's record day fuels victory I continuedfrom page 8 a weak schedule. Utah State, in this recent win streak, has beaten Utah and Weber twice, BYU once, and Boise State once along with a couple of other losing teams. These teams are not the real competition of the Western region. As a matter of fact, Utah's hockey program was only reorganized in 2006 after being suspended in 2003 by the University of Utah administration for what a University of Utah Web site calls "a host of violations." Since then, the Utes have had to start over. BYU is no longer serious competition. Weber historically has done well in the region but seems to be having trouble this year and Boise State is winless. The question of whether Aggie hockey is for real will be answered very quickly. This week, USU goes up against Eastern Washington in a two-game homestand on Thursday and Saturday. In the recently released ACHA Division II Western Rankings, EWU is ranked No. 3 and USU is ranked No. 4. McFadden said the team has been gearing up for these games for a while. "We want to stick to our game and come out hard," McFadden said. "They're one of the best teams in the whole of play this year. They're a hard-working team, a well-disciplined team. We've just got to come out, play our game and go hard." Aggies avoid trap By G. CHRISTOPHER score of the game. "We thought for sure it'd be a pass. We thought we'd get pulled up, but the guy kind of dived inside and Xavier did a nice job," Andersen said. "Jeremy did a tremendous job of coming off and getting a crushing block and ensuring even a longer gain than the first down." Following Turbin's score, the weather started to play a factor as the snow picked up and began to blow in sideways, slowing down the offenses and leading to seven consecutive punts. That stalemate remained until Turbin found the end zone again with a little more than five minutes remaining in the half. The shifty sophomore took a pitch from Borel on an option play to the left, juked a Spartan player, cut back to the inside then busted up the middle for a 35-yard scamper. Turbin's second TD put USU up 14-0, which was the final score of the first half. "The offensive line, words can't describe the work that they did today. They did a wonderful job," Turbin said. In the second half, the Ags held SJSU to a punt on its first possession, but a botched punt attempt on their first possession led to good field possession for the Spartans at the USU 33-yard line. San Jose State took advantage of the Aggie mistake, getting on the scoreboard with a two-yard run by Lamon Muldrow, six minutes into the third quarter. The Spartans elected to try a fake PAT after the touchdown, but the gamble didn't pay off for them as the pass by Philip Zavala fell incomplete. San Jose State was able to add a field goal later in the quarter, pulling to 14-9, but that's as close as the Spartans would get for the remainder of the game. Chris Ulinski added a field goal of his own for USU, and running back Derrvin Speight showed that Turbin wasn't the only stud in the backfield rushing for 70 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. Speight's touchdown at the 9:35 mark of the fourth quarter put the Aggies up 15, which was all the cushion they would need to finish off the game. The win ensures the Aggies of a winning record at home for the first time since 2003. As a team, USU rushed for 381 yards on 52 carries, the team's most rushing yards since 1999. "Obviously it's a tremendous victory to be able to get to 3-1 at home," Andersen said. "It's sure something that I think is special for the seniors to have a winning record, and that was one of the goals that we set out at the first of the year, and we were able to get that done today." The Aggies now have a short week to prepare as they host the nationally ranked Boise State Broncos on ESPN 2 Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Broncos defeated Idaho Saturday, 63-25. — t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu ROUT: Lady Aggies beat Utes, make history I continuedfrom page 3 even more to coach Pebley, who respects Ute head coach Elaine Elliott. Overall, Pebley was pleased with Friday's performance. "It was good to see us jump out this early, and it sets the bar high for practice and not just games," Pebley said. Even though Pebley was happy with the performance, she did not share the same shocked feeling. "We feel we can compete. We have competed with the two best schools in the state and we feel we can compete," Pebley said. The Lady Aggies start a two-game road trip Monday against Portland. The Aggies then travel to San Francisco for a Sunday matinee. The Aggies return to the Spectrum Nov. 28 and will face Montana Western as part of a double-header. Tip-off for that game is set for 3 p.m. — ty.d.hus@aggiemaiLusu.edu — graham.terry@aggiemaiLusu.edu, la.hem@aggiemaiLusu.edu TERRY assistant sports editor The look-ahead game is almost as notorious as the letdown in sports wagering circles. The Yankees drop a game to division laughingstock Baltimore on the eve of a big series against Boston, for example. Happens all the time. With a game against No. 6-ranked Boise State six days from kickoff against San Jose State on Saturday, the Aggies could have been forgiven if they had overlooked the sadsack Spartans and given less than a fully focused effort. After all, USU was less than a week from a game against America's Fiesta Bowl sweethearts, a nationally televised ESPN2 brawl with the BCSbusting Broncos. With the likely exception of running back Robert Turbin, who may well be a regular Sunday performer one day soon, this Friday is the only time most of these players will be playing football on national television in their lives. For the seniors, the upcoming date with Boise State will be their last shot at redemption against a team that has not just beaten them in every meeting but humiliated them by ridiculous scoring margins. Nothing personal, mind you, it's just what Boise does to virtually everyone they play. When the game is close, Boise usually wins via trick plays in overtime, followed by its star player running over to the sideline to propose to the captain of the cheerleading team. Then, Boise's players help locate lost children until the stadium empties, when they go out to the parking lot to help stranded motorists change their tires. They don't really do those last two things. And the overtime-trick-play-cheerleader-proposal thing has actually only happened once. But embarrassing USU? Boise does that on the regular. All of this is apropos of the fine job head coach Gary Andersen has done keeping his team focused this year. San Jose was probably the worst FBS team USU will play this year, but the Aggies brought their A-game to Romney on Saturday and handled business. "We're in no position to look past anyone in any shape or form," Andersen said. "We have complete respect for anyone we're going to line up against. We've never beaten San Jose State, so how could you ever look past them?" SJSU mounted a rally in the third quarter, which it won 90, aided by a holding call that negated a long Robert Turbin touchdown run. But in the fourth quarter, rather than continuing to unravel, USU bore down hard and continued to do what it had been doing all game: pound the football. BSU had better not be overlooking USU. —graham. terry@aggiemaiLusu.edu |