By Hector Valencia

The Weber State University hockey team won its second game of the season at home last Saturday,  an 11-1 victory against Brigham Young University.

The Wildcats were the first ones on the scoreboard, scoring a goal two minutes into the first period as sophomore Dax Hobbs found the back of the net for his first goal of the night.

Ten minutes later, junior Kris Yelderman also scored his first goal of the night, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead against the Cougars.

“We had a pretty good start to the period,” said senior Josh Giudice. “We stayed focused and moved the puck. We had slow plays in this period, but we picked up our rhythm really fast.”

Two minutes before the first period ended, junior Phillip Jennrich scored the third goal for the Wildcats off of the assist from freshman Tyler Arnold to give the Wildcats a three-goal lead.

“We did a great job on defense in the first period,” Giudice  said. “We had a lot of great shot blocks.”

At the start of the second period, Jennrich scored his second goal of the game, this one a shorthanded goal, giving the Wildcats a 4-0 lead. In the ninth minute of the period, Hobbs scored the second and final goal of the period for the Wildcats, expanding the lead to five goals.

“We started out fast this period,” Giudice said. “We kept moving the puck and not giving up too many for the other team. I liked that we played very concentrated in the period. That is the most important thing in a hockey game.”

One minute later, after the Wildcats scored their fifth goal, the Cougars scored their first and only goal of the game.

“BYU is always a good team to play,” Giudice said. “They always show some sort of enthusiasm in the rink.”

Two minutes into the third period, team captain and senior Braxton Green scored the sixth goal for the Wildcats. One minute later, sophomore Coleman Ashworth scored a goal to expand the lead to six for the Wildcats, with the assist from junior Anthony Modreck.

“I was pretty proud of my team’s performance in the third period,” said goalie Ian Frank. “It was a great team effort by all of us. We played well together as a team. Our team looked good out there.”

Five minutes later, freshman Alex Pizarro scored his first goal of the game and the seventh goal of the night for the Wildcats. Pizzaro scored another goal minutes later for the Wildcats.

“I like the way the team played tonight and the crowd support,” said freshman John Miller. “I like the great team effort of the boys. We all did an excellent job tonight.”

Green scored his second goal three minutes later to give the Wildcats a nine-goal lead against the Cougars. Two minutes before the game ended, Pizzaro scored his third and last goal of the game to complete his hat-trick for the night. The final score was 11-1.

“I like that my teammate Pizarro scored his first goal and also a hat-trick,” Frank said. “I’m excited about our young talent.”

The Wildcats will return to the ice Saturday as they travel to Salt Lake City to play the University of Utah. The next home game for the Wildcats will be Oct. 18.