San Diego State hockey came out with a strong offensive force in consecutive days on Nov. 1 and 2 against Washington where it was able to defeat the Huskies in both games (6-1 and 6-3) in front of a home crowd at Joan Kroc Center.
Game 1
The first game against the Huskies on Friday started out as a back-and-forth effort between the teams.
The Huskies gained their first lead 30 seconds into the first period with a goal from freshman forward Aaron Morris, which would be the only goal from them the rest of the night.
After the first goal, SDSU put its first point up on the board five minutes into the first period with a goal from sophomore forward Derian Theberge.
“Ultimately, one of the things this team does is attack 5-on-5,” head coach Phil Bateman said. “When it’s flat and pucks aren’t moving it brings the thing down that’s why it looked even in the beginning.”
The offense struck in three goals during the second period. Senior forward Aaron Meyer scored the Aztec’s second goal of the night five minutes into the second period.
Washington’s confidence seemed to dwindle away as the Aztecs continued to move the puck with force, finding the net two more times in the second period with goals from freshman Blake Reed and a power-play goal from sophomore Elisha Reece.
The Aztecs’ offensive possession came as no surprise to coach Bateman.
“They’ve been doing it all year,” Bateman said. “Coming into this game we were actually third in the nation in offense out of 192 teams.”
The Aztecs were able to score two more goals in the third period to end game regulation with a final score of 6-1.
Game 2
Coming into game two against the Huskies, Aztecs junior captain Reece Breuckman said his message to his team was to not get complacent.
“We can’t just assume we’re going to come out here and win again,” he said. “We need to play exactly how we did today and come out with the same type of energy.”
SDSU came out with energy that led to five goals in the first period. Aztecs sophomore Mickey Sullivan scored the first goal of the game 49 seconds into the first period.
Washington (3-8-1, Pac-8 Conference) was given a two-minute penalty for tripping to give the Aztecs a five-on-four advantage over the Huskies. Junior Wesley Varrasso was able to take possession of the puck and find freshman Blake Reed who took a backhand shot to score a power-play goal giving the Aztecs a 2-1 lead.
Exactly five seconds later, sophomore Derian Theberge broke away with the puck to score another goal for the Aztecs.
Washington was able to get its first goal of the game moments before the end of the first period as sophomore forward Jonathan White shot a backhand that went right under the post of the net.
The Aztecs (11-2-1, Pac-8 Conference) came firing back five seconds later as senior forward Aaron Mayer went speeding down the line to take a shot against Washington goaltender Bennett Jarvis to give the Aztecs a four-goal lead.
Mayer scored three goals total in the two games.
Things began to slow down in the second and third period.
The Aztecs were unable to score in the second period and let Washington gain some momentum by allowing them to start the period with a power-play.
“Anytime you start a period killing a penalty you’re going to be in your heels,” Bateman said. “It changes the mindset. I felt like the first half of the second period we never got out of that funk.”
The Aztecs were given a one-man advantage seven times total in game two, thanks to Washington penalties but were only able to score in one of those power-plays.
“We need to shoot more and stay in our positions better,” Theberge said of the missed opportunities. “We will definitely work on that at practice the next coming weeks.”
Despite these issues, the Aztecs still managed to come out on top with a final score of 6-3.
Editor’s note: The Aztecs defeated UCLA by a score of 8-1 on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Amber Salas is a junior studying journalism. Follow her on Twitter @ambersalass.
