Utah Valley’s hockey team took to the ice against Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 5, in hopes of bouncing back from a loss against Brigham Young last weekend.
The Wildcats came out with full control of the puck from the moment it hit the ice. It took less than a minute for WSU’s Jeremy Regeon to send the puck past UVU’s goalkeeper Mason Walsh to grab the early lead. The Wildcats ran with it, scoring not once, not twice, but six more times in the first 20 minutes of play. The Wolverines couldn’t find an answer to stop the Wildcats on either end of the ice, and would end the first period scoreless at 7-0.
Six different Wildcats scored in the first period, with Bryan Fobair scoring on the Wolverines twice. A power play was scored by WSU’s William Fobair, while the seventh puck flew into the net thanks to Cobe Walker — despite having a man in the penalty box.
The Wolverines switched things up on defense after six unsuccessful saves, replacing Walsh with Keaton Morrison at goalie with eight minutes left in the first period. Morrison would man the net the rest of the game.
UVU’s defense stepped up in period two, only letting the Wildcats get three pucks into the net, one of those again coming from Bryon Fobair. However, when defense intensifies, so do the penalties. The Wolverines had five penalties, for a total of 10 minutes with a player in the penalty box. In contrast, the Wildcats only had one penalty in the period.
Period three gave the Wildcats the chance to score three more times and they did just that. Don’t be fooled, the lack of scoring on behalf of WSU wasn’t because of the lack of effort. The Wildcats controlled the puck as well as any other period, the Wolverine defense just played that much harder in the third, to keep the puck out of their own net. Â
At this point one might wonder where all of the UVU goals are — well, sadly they never came. It’s almost as if the Wolverines studied really hard for a test, but realized upon arrival that they studied for the wrong one. They just didn’t have any answers to any of the 12 Wildcat goals.
Former NHL great Wayne Gretzky once said: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and boy did the Wolverines miss out on a lot of shots. UVU finished the night being outshot 58 to 18.
The Wolverines will again face-off against the BYU Cougars on Friday, Oct. 11, this time on new ice. The game will take place in the Maverik Center, in West Valley City, Utah. Show up early to watch the Utah Grizzlies home opener against the Idaho Steelheads.
