Coming off a 3–2 loss to the University of Utah on Sept. 27, Weber State University played a three-game weekend from Oct. 3-5.
Starting off the weekend, Weber played against the University of Providence on Oct. 3. Last seen on Feb. 9, Providence won 5–2. Last season, Providence defeated the Wildcats in all three matchups.
“We haven’t beat these guys in seven years, so it was a big game,” Trey Hirschfield, Weber State’s men’s hockey goaltender, said.
During the first period, Weber State gained control of the puck, allowing Cory Mater to open the scoring for the Wildcats with assistance from Jaden Hewes and Caden Hunter. The Wildcats took the game’s first point within a minute of the starting face-off. Having eight shots on goal, Providence didn’t score, ending the first period with WSU in the lead 1–0.
Keeping the momentum during the second period, Weber’s Landen Reed added to the score off an assist from Louis Poliquin and Caden Hunter at 2:18. Following, at 9:21, Andrew Alonzo, with an assist from Jack Jones, scored, putting Weber up 3–0.
Providence scored 2 points near the end of the second period, but they were unable to take the win; the Wildcats won with a final score of 3–2.
“In practice, we just did systems all weekend long, just worked on our defensive zone or our neutral zone,” Hirschfield said.
Following Providence, Weber faced-off against Montana State University on Oct. 4. The Bobcats defeated Weber 4–3 in overtime.
The game was neck-to-neck until, during the first over-time, Montana’s Hayden Klem scored off an assist from Caleb Brownell and Steven Irick at 4:31. Klem’s point broke the tie and the Bobcats took the win.
To end the three-game weekend, WSU went up against University of Montana on Oct. 5 which resulted in a 3–2 shutout loss for the Wildcats.
Both teams came ready to play, keeping the score 1–1 until the third period, and went into the shoot-off 2–2. The Bobcats’ Jackson Knutsen won the sudden death and took the win for Montana.
To start the season, the men’s hockey team is currently 2–4–0 through the first six games. Weber State’s men’s hockey team will have another home game at the Weber County Ice Sheet, where they will face off against Lake Region State College on Oct. 11 at 7:15 p.m.
