The Weber State University hockey team returned home on Nov. 16 to kick off the Beehive Classic. The first challenge took place against Texas A&M at the Ice Sheet, where WSU extended their win streak to five after defeating the Aggies 5–1.
Wildcats assistant coach A.J. Kapinos said his team enjoyed the return home.
Kapinos said, “This is a fantastic arena. We like having our home fans in front of us to give us a bit of energy, so it was a great time.”
The Wildcats broke the ice early on, taking the lead on freshman Kyle Waronker’s second goal of the season. Junior forward Troy Quarnberg then chipped in his team-leading tenth goal of the season it make it 2–0 in favor of Weber State. Texas A&M picked up a goal in the waning seconds of the first period to cut the lead to 2–1.
Weber State proceeded to break the game open in the second period with goals from Zan Hobbs and Chance Aquino, their final score coming off the stick of forward Jakade Capinos. Goalie Ryan Scheide collected 32 saves in 33 attempts.
“Being a goalie can be stressful at times,” Scheide said. “But whenever you have a good team playing in front of you, then it’s easy to make the saves.”
The Wildcats faced off against Williston State College Tetons on the team’s teddy bear toss night, taking a 3–0 loss in the second game of the Beehive Classic.
“The bears go to a great cause,” head coach Clay Hobbs said. “It was sad that we didn’t get a goal but on the other hand it was nice to see the support from all the fans.”
Fans in attendance were encouraged to bring bears to throw on the ice after the first Weber State goal with each bear going to a child at the local children’s hospital.
By the beginning of the third period, the Wildcats were trailing 3–0, and the score would hold until the final buzzer sounded.
“The difference was that we made a couple mistakes and they were able to capitalize on it,” Hobbs said. “We had good scoring chances but we weren’t able to bury the puck.”
The WSU hockey team continued their Beehive Classic play with a 12–1 loss to the second ranked Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks.
WSU’s first goal came midway in the second period off the stick of freshman forward Brian Martinez netting his ninth of the season. Zan Hobbs added his eighth assist on the Weber State goal. NAU then followed up with nine unanswered goals, bringing the score to the 12–1 final.
In the final game of the Beehive Classic, the University of Northern Colorado Bears beat the Wildcats by a score of 8–3.
The Wildcats struck first with an open net goal from senior forward Dakota Fox, his fourth of the season, with senior forward Lakoda Coleman picking up the assist.
In the second period, the Bears took full advantage jumping out to a 4–1 lead before the Wildcats could gather themselves.
Weber was able to stop the bleeding with a snipe from the blue line by Aquino, his sixth of the season. Quarnberg and Martinez both tallied assists on the goal. The Bears then scored three more goals, taking the score to 7–2.
WSU came out aggressively in the third, netting their third goal of the game just five minutes in from forward Zak Tollett, his fifth of the season, with the assist going to freshman forward Andrew Gorges.
“We knew it was going to be a tough weekend with great teams here” said coach Hobbs. “We weren’t able to hang with them this weekend, but it was a great learning experience and we’ll get back on the ice and continue to compete.”
