It was a tough few days for Weber State University Ice Hockey Club during the Beehive Showcase as they ended their winning streak with a 2-2 tie to Boise and a 3-5 loss to Arizona.
“These games meant a lot to us,” said Jeremiah Holmes, “They were ahead of us in the rankings, we were 10-0-2 with no losing records in the past month and I think it just got to our heads, and [we] thought it was going to come to us, but it didn’t.”
The starting line-up for Thursday’s game against Boise had Weston Maughan in the net with Zan Hobbs, Holmes and Dax Hobbs on offense and Phill Jennrich with Landon Aylor on Defense. Quarnberg with an assist from Fox and Bohin made the first goal of the night, putting Weber in the lead. Boise came out to tie up the game in the second and again in the third, sending the game into overtime.
“We played hard the first period and kinda let them back in near the end,” said head coach Clay Hobbs. “It ended up being a 2-2 tie, and then the National Collegiate Hockey Association let us have a shoot-out just for fun, which we won. So we can say we won, but it was really a tie.”
Fridays game against the fifth-ranked team in the region, Arizona State, began with the same line up, save Maughn, who was replaced by Lucas Thatcher in the net. Within the first 10 minutes of play, Weber made two goals from Lakoda Coleman and Hobbs. This would be the last lead Weber would have.
“We fell apart in the second,” said Coach Hobbs. “We had a good lead, but we took penalties, and they scored three power-play goals. It wasn’t them beating us. It was us beating ourselves. We’ve got some guys who take penalties that are not tolerable and are putting the team in the hole. A penalty is a selfish play, and we don’t win games when we’re selfish.”
Nate Kiven Scored for Arizona within the first four minutes of the second period, which was followed by another power-play goal by Ross Bowden at 14:30 and once more by Scott Farr, sending Arizona to the lead. Weber scored one last time for the night to tie it 3-3. This was quickly followed with another goal by Arizona.
“We weren’t up to par with a lot of things,” said defensive player Evan Brown. “Defensive zone was a little sloppy, couldn’t get anything going in the offensive zone, and ultimately, we just had people being selfish.”
“Dax, our assistant team leader, said no one talk to the refs, don’t lose your head, sit down on the bench unless you’re called out and stay assembled, but … we weren’t listening.” said Holmes, “We thought we were the hero, and everyone did what they wanted to do, and that’s not how a team works.”
Weber took their goalie out of the net during the last minute of the third period in an attempt to blitz into overtime. Arizona took advantage of their open post, scoring again and ending the game 3-5.
“I don’t think this loss means much,” said Brown. “We need to get back on where we were and remember it’s a game. We have plenty more, and we’ll come back and work harder.”
“We’re ready to play NAU tomorrow,” said Coach Hobbs. “When we play five-on-five and use our speed, no one can play with us. We hurt ourselves when we hold onto the puck for ourselves or take penalties, and we’re not going to do that tomorrow.”
