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Show Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Page 9 StatesmanSpOrtS HOCKEY USU knocked out in national semifinal BY SEAN O'SULLIVAN staff writer Utah State's hockey team travelled to St. Louis to participate in the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament. They entered the tournament as the top seed in the West. The competition started with a round of pool play followed by single-elimination knockout. Michigan State 6, Utah State 2 The Aggies drew Michigan State, the winner from Pool B, in the semifinal round. Utah State started out strong, earning a five-onthree power play within the first two minutes of the game. Brian Gibbons scored an early goal to give the Aggies the lead. However, the Spartans answered quickly, scoring twice to gain a lead they wouldn't give up again. Michigan State scored once more in the second period before Ian Beckstrom scored on a power play. Soon after, the Aggies were called for a penalty the Spartans took advantage of, scoring seconds into the power play. This killed the momentum USU was earning and the Aggies wouldn't recover. Michigan State scored two more goals as they moved on to the finals against Grand Valley, eliminating Utah State. Utah State 5, Saint Louis 4 Utah State's club hockey team started its bid for a national championship with a win over host-school St. Louis by a final score of 5-4 Friday in the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament. The Aggies started out slow and were down 2-0 early in the first period. "First game jitters, plus we're playing on small ice when we're used to bigger ice has something to do with it," said head coach Jon Eccles. "Plus we just weren't getting the bounces there for a while until we started outworking them." Aggie captain Brian Gibbons put the Aggies on the board in the first period and forward Chris Videto tied the game at two later in the first. Utah State hadn't played a competitive hockey game in over three weeks, and there was some rust. "We just needed to settle down, focus and play the way we know how to play," Eccles said. The Billikens scored again to take a 3-2 lead in the second, but it was the last time the home team would have a lead. Freshman defenseman Shaun Gibbons tied the game and senior forward Matt Hamilton gave USU its first lead of the night. St. Louis scored one final time to tie the game at four before forward Cooper Limb found the back of the net for the game-winner. Bowling Green 6, Utah State 5 The Utah State club hockey dropped its second game Saturday with a 6-5 loss at the hands of Bowling Green. Another slow start doomed the Aggies after they fell behind 2-0 early in the first. "It's our breakouts — little breakouts here and there that when you add STU HEBURN SKATES UP THE ICE during the Aggies' loss to Utah in the final game of the regular season Despite the loss, USU advanced to the national tournament and won its pool before falling in the national semifinals to Michigan State. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo them up, it's a lot of scoring chances," Eccles said. "We were down 2-0 before we started to get going." The Aggies attempted the comeback, but fell just short of at least a tie. "We never gave up, which was great, but we're letting too many goals to be scored against us right now," Eccles said. "Ten goals in two games is uncharacteristic of our team." Scoring for Utah State were defensemen Sean Erwin, Jordan Kerr and Ty Johns. Forward Brian Gibbons added two more goals for the Aggies. The loss put the pressure on Utah State to come out and win their next game. With St. Louis and New Hampshire tying 2-2 in their game, the Aggies still had a chance to come out of Pool D and into the semi-finals. "I think we need to play with a little more sense of urgency," Eccles said. Utah State 5, New Hampshire 3 The Aggies knew just before game time on Sunday that with a win, they were in. Saint Louis beat Bowling Green earlier in the day, which meant that the winner of the USU-UNH game won the pool and earned a spot in the semi-finals. With this knowledge, the Aggies went into their game ready to play hard. "The boys were so excited," Eccles said. "They were pumped up and everyone played their hearts out." Utah State was down early once again after New Hampshire converted a penalty shot against goalie Bryce Scherschel. The shot trickled by Scherschel after he got a piece of it. However, once Utah State tied the game at 1-1, they wouldn't trail the rest of the game. Salt Lake City-native Cooper Limb scored Utah State's first three goals and the Aggies were up 3-2 in the third period when forward Stu Hepburn notched an insurance goal that proved to be the game winner. New Hampshire added one more goal and then pulled their goalie to put an extra attacker on the ice. Johns took advantage of the opportunity and scored an empty-netter. "I think we just out-ran them," Eccles said. "We out-skated them and they got too tired." The conditioning level of the Aggies has been a strong point for the team all season. It's especially important when playing up to five games in five days. "We've been training at altitude, so we had a little more jump," Eccles said. – sean.osullivan@aggiemail. usu.edu Twitter: @seansy89 AGGIES: Christensen's late game heroics not enough to overcome Vandals °From page 7 long, but I'm proud of her for stepping up and giving us a shot there at the end." Schivo was fouled by Vaaulu, who was going up for the block, on the next possession. Schivo hit both her free-throws to win the game. Christensen finished with a career-high 37 points — 26 coming in the second half — in the losing effort. She was 14-24 from the field and 9-16 from beyond the arc. Her nine made 3-pointers are a WAC tournament record. "I felt space and I was just trying to shoot," Christensen said. "I tried to get things going for myself and my team. We started to fight back so I'm proud of everyone for that." Fellow senior Johnson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Makenlee Williams continued her strong tournament with 12 points and three steals. Idaho's Stacey Barr put in a team-high 26 points and pulled down six rebounds. The Vandals had a trio of players finish with 12 points in Karr, Jessica Graham and Alyssa Charlston. USU postseason dreams aren't over yet, as they could still be invited to the WNIT. If Seattle wins the WAC championship, the Aggies get an automatic berth into the WNIT since they were the second seed. "I look back and this team started 2-8 this year," Finkbeiner said. "We have covered a lot of ground since then to end up 18-13. I feel bad for the kids because we were in the right place emotionally and mentally today." – jborba@aggiemail.usu.edu Twitter: JBorbal5 USU: Aggies lose in first round of WAC tournament for second-straight year ► From page 7 6-9 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc to go with six rebounds. The Aggies shot 58 percent from the field despite UT Arlington's aggressive defense. "Trust me, we were in the huddle complaining to our guys about it," Cross said. Jarred Shaw led the Aggies with nine rebounds and 20 points, 13 of which came in the second half. "It was nerve-wracking as a coach," Cross said. "Usually when you've led the entire game and then a team makes a run and the crowd gets involved and they've got great fans and students that are there cheering, I mean a lot of teams get down." Roland gave USU life in the first half, hitting two threes and finishing with 16 points and four rebounds. He also turned the ball over five times. "A lot of times you look at stats and they don't D Worry. Were MG Don necessarily tell the story of the game," Morrill said. "Tonight I think they really do." Butler scored a game-high 23 points and five rebounds for the Mavericks. Senior forward Karol Gruszecki hit four threes as part of his 17 points. Four UT Arlington players scored in double figures. "It was just frustrating," Butterfield said. "We were so close to just breaking it open and every time they would answer back. You've got to credit them for that." – tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu Twitter: @StuckiAggies UTAH STATE SOFTBALL IN NI WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 4 PM nn STATE enough to handle your job. UTAH STATE -VS- A Professional Quality sauare one r/ P rin 630 West 200 North 153-8815 /7 5 Printing A Business Forms A Thesis, dissertations AWedding Invitations & Accessories BELIEVE $1 11101 D 0 W HILE SUPPLIES LAST A |