San Diego State hockey (0-7-1-0) fell 8-2 to the No. 13 University of Utah (5-4-0-1) on Oct. 25 at the Kroc Center Ice Arena.
“What we saw in today’s game was that the level of intensity lasted 60% to 70% of the game,” assistant coach Jason Galea said. “What we’re trying to teach our guys is that we’re basically trying to change things up, educate them that it’s a long race and it’s a skill to be able to finish a game.”
Utah defeated SDSU the previous night 8-1 with seven players having a multi-point game, and forward Brady Schwab scoring two goals and one assist.
For the second game in a row, the goalie matchup was between SDSU junior goalie Brody Hsiao and Utah goalie Garrett Fuller, who played with the Aztecs in the 2023-2024 season.
SDSU will be without junior goaltender Liam Dee for the time being due to a lower-body injury, so Hsiao slots in as the number one option, compared the split role that Dee and Hsiao shared. Junior Nicholas Heinzle sees an elevated role as he goes from the third-string to the backup goalie.
The first period only had two goals, both by Utah, as they scored twice in 76 seconds from Schwab, his third of the weekend, and forward Jacob Slater.
The Scarlet and Black played a competitive start to the second period as they had their best scoring chances of the game, but they couldn’t get the puck past Fuller.
Junior forward Cam Ferraz drew a hooking penalty as he crashed the net with the puck to put SDSU on the power play 10 minutes into the period. SDSU scored their lone goal last game with the man advantage, but they failed to score this time.
The Aztecs had back-to-back power-play chances in the middle of the period, but they couldn’t convert on either.
After the power-play chances, Utah took control of the play, but Hsiao remained firm and kept the puck out of the net.
There was no scoring in the middle frame as Utah still held a 2-0 lead, marking just the third period this season that the Aztecs have kept an opponent scoreless.
After perhaps their best period all season, SDSU fell apart in the third period as they faced a 4-0 deficit after two goals in 30 seconds from forward Paul Waldhauser and defenseman Coltin Johnson.
“The third period where we saw [bad defensive awareness] happen multiple times,” Galea said. “I think what we’re seeing is mental fatigue. For example, we had two guys in front of the net who were just assuming that the puck was going to end up in the corner after the original shot, but it went to the front of the net and we got scored on.”
Junior forward Kolby Hennessy was called for a tripping penalty early in the third period, and Utah made the Aztecs pay as Schwab scored his second goal of the game to extend the lead to 5-0.
Less than a minute later, junior forward Cam Ferraz answered for SDSU with his second goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
Midway through the period, Utah quickly put the game out of reach when forward Tyler Sunagel and Schwab scored just 19 seconds apart, pushing the lead to 7-1. After the goal, junior goaltender Nicholas Heinzle replaced Brody Hsiao, marking Heinzle’s first game action of the season.
The Aztecs added another late tally when junior forward Mason Brown buried a rebound after Ferraz was stopped on a breakaway. However, Utah’s Gion Coray capped the scoring with the Utes’ eighth goal, their sixth of the period, sealing an 8-2 loss for SDSU.
With the loss, SDSU falls to 0-7-1-0, while Utah improves to 5-4-0-1. The Aztecs will host Division II UC San Diego at the Kroc Center Ice Arena in an exhibition game on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
