The Weber State University Hockey team played the BYU team winning 9-1 and a loss to U of U team 1-2.
The puck dropped Friday night against the BYU Cougars, with the Marlon Hills Elementary Choir chanting “Weber State” louder than the music, before singing the National Anthem. Linda Calllister, the choir pianist, met the WSU hockey team during a fundraiser at the Smith’s near the campus and asked if the kids could sing, and the team agreed and even had a meet and greet with the entire team before the game, “informing the kids of the value of education first and reminding them that their passions matter too,” said Karen and Matt Flintton, parents of children in choir.
Weber quickly gained a commanding lead in the game with 3 goals in the first period and 2 more in just the first few minutes of the second period. The Wildcats decimated the Cougars defense and worked the score up to 7-0 with eight minutes remaining in the second period.
Friday night’s game also featured “Chuck a Puck” in the 15-minute break between the 2nd and 3rd periods. “Chuck a Puck” is a fundraiser where fans can purchase a rubber puck for a dollar or six for five dollars. Fans are to chuck their marked pucks as close to the center of the ice and win half of the total donated pot, with the other half going towards the WSU Hockey team.
Weber kept playing strong and scored 2 more goals in the third period with the Cougars finally scoring their first goal within the first 7 minutes of the third period for a final score of 9-1 WSU.
“Every game is a challenge, and every game is different. I’m not happy we didn’t get the shutout against BYU because of some small errors, but I am happy that the Cougars came to play and gave it their best.” said Tyler Belnap, in an after-game interview.
Saturday’s game against the Utes was an intense show of determination and a deep desire to win from both teams.
Bryan Duquette, an engineering major, said in a pre-game interview, “I expect the game to get dirty and be an awesome hockey match.”
The game had 14 penalties total—the penalty average for NHL games being around 20—with 8 of the 14 penalties going to WSU. The Utes’ penalties were mostly slashing, which is when a player swings their hockey stick at a player, regardless of contact, or breaks a players stick with their own.
The WSU players in frustration got aggressive with the Utes, causing them to be penalized for roughing, which is when two players are in a minor altercation. Jeremiah Holmes, WSU #11, said, “I wasn’t actively looking for an opposing player. I was just playing, and then I got a penalty for tripping,” in a penalty box interview.
The game was intense, and the score reflected this with the Utes finally scoring the first goal of the game with 3:47 remaining in the first period. WSU hockey scored their first goal with 4:28 remaining in the 2nd period. The games intensity continued with the Ute defense holding up against the Wildcat attacks throughout the entire 60 minutes of gameplay.
WSU goalie Westen Maughan, #32, didn’t know he would be playing in Saturdays game until 15 minutes beforehand, saying in an interview, “It was a good game, but we had some breakdowns, which kind of killed us.” The Utes scored a second goal with 9:06 remaining in the game, and the Wildcats attempted a rally with 2 minutes left but could not breakdown the Utes’ defense, leading to the 1-2 loss.
