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Show Statesman Sports Page 12 Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 FORWARD BRENDAN MACDONALD falls down after scoring one of his three goals against Montana State Saturday at the Eccles Ice Center. MacDonald and his linemates Tyler Mistelbacher and Brian Gibbons accounted for seven goals and 14 assists against the Hellcats. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo Hockey chastens Hellcats Forwards Mistelbacher and MacDonald each notch a hat-trick BY MEREDITH KINNEY sports senior writer Frustrations flared in Utah State hockey's 12-3 victory over Montana State University Friday night at the Eccles Ice Center. "If you blow up a score against anybody, they're going to start getting frustrated and doing things bad," Aggie captain Brendan MacDonald said. "Our main focus today was to make sure we maintained our composure." MacDonald and fellow forwards Tyler Mistelbacher and Brian Gibbons did just that. The three combined for seven goals and 14 assists on the night. That offensive production is something the three have been replicating all season. MacDonald, Mistelbacher and Gibbons lead the Aggies in the three major categories: points, goals and assists. "They read each other very well and know where each other is going to be on the ice," Aggie assistant coach Paul Amidon said. "They play well as a unit." Play as a unit they did. The starting line found the back of the net five times in the first period alone. The Aggies' quick start led to an early 6-1 lead heading into second intermission. "The white team, every time we put them out, they seemed to have a lot of energy and got things going," USU head coach Jon Eccles said. That can kind of break a team's back." Montana State head coach Derek Porter wasted no time replacing his starting goalie with backup Will Thompson just 12 minutes into the first period. The change didn't pay off for the Hellcats as the Aggies talent prevailed. The Aggies have outmatched opponents all season and sometimes, MacDonald said, it is difficult to stay motivated and play well. "We knew coming in that we would be the better team," the forward said. "It was just matter of doing everything right." Mistelbacher notched a hat-trick in the period, getting his first goal just 21 seconds into the game, and MacDonald ripped a shot that deflected off Thompson, before slipping between him and the post for his first of the night. "My linemates are just great," Mistelbacher said. "They are the reason why I got my goals." Defenseman Joel Basson and freshman forward Gary Higgs also found the net for the Aggies. Montana State forward ii Cory Jewell scored for the Hellcats on a power play in the first period, but he was the only player to find the back of the net for the Hellcats in the first period. Utah State slowed down after its big six-goal period and only managed three goals in the second period. All three goals came courtesy of the MacDonald, Mistelbacher and Gibbons line. "We came out strong and put them away early," Mistelbacher said. "I felt like we got away from our game a little bit in the second period." Gibbons got the first goal, just three minutes into the second, and MacDonald added a beauty, one minute later. MacDonald fell in front of the goal but managed to place the puck past Thompson before he went down. We came out strong and put them away early." — Tyler Mistelbacher, USU hockey MacDonald completed his hat-trick thanks to great passes from Mistelbacher and Gibbons. Frustrations flared in the third period, which resulted in chippy play. Utah State sophomore Chase Allington was disqualified when he dropped his gloves and helmet and went fist to fist with MSU's Greg Slowinski. "Sometimes emotion takes over," Eccles said. "They become blinded and rage jumps out." Utah State penalties led to two Montana State goals. All three of the Hellcats' goals came on the power play. Mike Allport and Clark Brighton found space against Aggie goalkeeper Alessandro Mullane in the third period. The Aggies scored three more times to close out the game, including two from freshman Jordan Kerr. Mullane had 26 saves in goal for the Aggies. With the win Utah State remains undefeated on the season. The Aggies take the ice again Oct. 28, when Boise State comes to town. - meredith.kinney@aggiemail. usu.edu Tough road trip for USU volleyball, falls to SJSU, Hawaii BY CURTIS LUNDSTROM staff writer The Utah State women's volleyball team had a rough start to its road trip Wednesday, falling in four sets to San Jose State University, 3-1. Senior All-American Liz McArthur led the Aggies in the loss, finishing with 17 kills and hitting .140 on the night. "Liz got better as the match went on," said head coach Grayson DuBose. "She started off OK and got better and better, particularly in games three and four. She played like we expect her to." USU got off to a slow start, as SJSU quickly built a 4-1 advantage. The Aggies were able to battle their way back to an 8-8 tie, only to see the Spartans score the next six points. Junior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen had a solid first set for the Aggies, and her fourth kill of the evening brought USU back to within three, at 20-17. From there the two teams traded points, and San Jose State got a kill from senior middle blocker Kylie Miraldi to win the set, 25-21. "We went back to our old lineup," Dubose said. "We got better, but we hit some balls out of bounds and into the net. We had a tough time finding the court for awhile." The second set started much the way the first set ended. Teams exchanged points, resulting in a 5-5 tie, but It was all Spartans from that point on. Errors doomed the Aggies as they committed 12 second-set errors, and San Jose State went on a 17-3 run to blow the set open. Three straight kills from Sorensen gave the Aggies some hope, before the wheels came off and a pair of Utah State errors gave San Jose State the 25-12 set win, and a 2-0 advantage. "We got out of system, and our ball control broke down," DuBose said. "That makes it tough on our outside hitters." USU would bounce back in the third set, as the Aggie defense would come up huge. Utah State recorded seven blocks in the set, and forced 10 Spartan errors en route to a 25-15 set win. McArthur paced the Aggie attack with four kills and a block, while sophomore outside hitter Tamua Etimani added three kills and two blocks. "We dug a bunch of balls, and we blocked a lot of balls," DuBose said. "We had chances, and got where we needed to be." Utah State kept the momentum going into the fourth set, and neither team was going to give an inch. In a set that saw 10 ties and nine lead changes, all Aggies wanted in on the attack. Five different USU players recorded kills, and Utah State overcame a 15-10 mid-set deficit to knot the score at 23. The Spartans weren't going to allow a fifth set, however, and their offense proved too much for Utah State. San Jose State squeaked out the 26-24 win to take the match. The Spartan tandem of freshman outside hitter Savanah Leaf and junior outside hitter Krista Miller out-dueled Aggie duo Sorensen and McArthur down the stretch. "We didn't start off as quickly as we needed to," DuBose said. "We made it close there at the end, but it was too many points to come back from. The last two games we played pretty well, but we had too high of a percentage of errors." The Aggies finished with 29 errors as a team and 14 blocks. With the loss, USU falls to 9-9 on the season, and 4-4 in WAC play. San Jose moves to 8-13 for the year, and 3-5 in the WAC. Utah State will look to rebound against eighth ranked Hawaii on Friday, Oct. 21 at 10 p.m. "We have to be better under pressure," DuBose said. "We had chances under stress to end the game, and we weren't as good as we needed to be." HU 3, USU 0 The Utah State women's volleyball team finished a two-game road trip Friday night, coming out empty as it was swept by the No. 8 University of Hawaii in three sets, 3-0. Junior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen led the Aggies in the loss, recording seven kills and finishing with a .036 hitting percentage on the night. "Shay stepped up and did what we wanted her to do," said head coach Grayson DuBose. "We want her to take some leadership here. She came in as a walk on three years ago and earned a scholarship. She's worked real hard, and has gotten better and has really improved her game." It was a rough night for Utah State, as errors once again plagued its play. The Aggies held their ground in the beginning of the first set, playing the Rainbow Wahine to an 8-8 tie in a set that saw seven tie scores and two lead changes. The Aggies were unable to keep up the energy, however. Sophomore middle blocker Emily Hartong started a 12-4 run for Hawaii, then made sure the Aggies wouldn't be able to crawl back into the set. The Rainbow Wahine took the set, 25-16. Hartong finished the night with 15 kills and a .344 hitting percentage. Hawaii just kept rolling from there. After starting the set with a 7-3 run, Hawaii opened up an eight-point advantage and looked poised to win the set comfortably. The Aggies didn't quit, however, and they managed to crawl their way back to within one, at 22-21. After an Aggie error, freshman outside hitter Jane Croson had two straight service aces to preserve the set for Hawaii, 25 21. "They're physical, and they're big," DuBose said. "They're especially tough at home (because) of the time change. We're not here long enough to get acclimated well." Sorensen paced the Aggies with four kills in the set, while senior All-American Liz McArthur added three kills. Both teams finished with a negative hitting percentage in the second set. "Neither team was really good," DuBose said. "We had a chance to tie it up, but we missed some serves, and they hammered some serves, and we didn't respond well." Utah State looked like it would rebound to avoid the sweep in the third set and jumped out to a 7-3 advantage but the wheels fell off. Hawaii responded with a 22-3 run to comfortably win the set and complete the sweep, 25-11. Freshman outside hitter Rachel Orr had two kills and two blocks for the Aggies in the final set, then finished with two kills, while the Aggies finished the night with three service aces. "We tried to change it up. We changed up our lineup, but we just couldn't find a good combination," Dubose said. "We need to find a way to be better on the road." With the loss, Utah State drops to 9-13 on the season, with a 4-5 record in WAC play. Hawaii improves to 20-1 on the year, with a perfect 8-0 record in the WAC. The Aggies return to the Spectrum for a two-game home stand Oct. 27 and 29, hosting New Mexico State University and Louisiana Tech University. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. "We have three matches left at home, and it would be nice to be good and get some momentum going into the WAC tournament," DuBose said. "Why not us? Why not now? If you get hot at the right time, anything can happen." - - curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu |