To begin the Beehive Classic hockey tournament, the Weber State University Wildcats claimed a decisive victory over the Metro State University of Denver Roadrunners.
Against the Roadrunners, WSU won by 3–1, with all three goals coming from Jonathan Cosman. The hat trick was one of Cosman’s best games of the season.
“He was in the right place in the right time, and the guys fed him the puck,” coach Clay Hobbs said. “You’re always happy to see somebody get a hat trick.”
On the evening of Nov. 18, the men’s hockey team held another fundraiser. The purpose of this Teddy Bear Toss was to give some joy to sick children.
After the first goal of the game against the University of Colorado, the fans mustered their strength to participate in the fundraiser.
While the Buffaloes scored first, it took the sibling connection from Dax Hobbs to Zan Hobbs for Weber State’s first goal of the night.
“It’s always sweet to have a brother to brother connection,” Dax Hobbs said.
Right on cue after the goal, the fans stood up, picked up their teddy bears and launched them onto the ice. Once the bears were collected, they were taken to the hospital to be given to sick children.
For the team, the Teddy Bear Toss made this more than another game, it gave a layer of humanity and importance to the match.
“It gives everybody a purpose to play. Rather than just playing hockey, you’re playing for something. It makes everything a little more special,” said Dax Hobbs.
The toss was only after the first goal, but that didn’t stop the ’Cats from scoring even more. Only minutes after the toss, Weber State took the lead with a goal by Alex Pizarro.
The next two goals for the team came from the same pairing. Two more goals came from the stick of Lakoda Coleman, off of assists from Pizarro.
Coleman is one of the faces of the team, and his goals gave the team a 4–1 lead at the end of the first period. With large leads, it can be challenging for teams to remain focused to the game at hand.
“We’ve got good captains on our team,” Coleman said. “They try to keep us focused on the goal at hand and try not to get away from the system.”
In the second period, Weber State added another goal to their total as they inched away from the Buffaloes. In the third period, Dax Hobbs went ahead and put the icing on the cake with the Wildcats sixth and final goal of the game.
It was a thorough victory for Weber State, where they trailed for only three total minutes and were only tied for eight minutes throughout the game.
The matches against Metro State and Colorado were the first two in the beginning of the Beehive Classic, a tournament that had the Wildcats playing in games for four straight days.
Much of the team has played together for quite some time and is comfortable as a team.
“As long as we keep this up, we’re going to succeed,” Coleman said.
