BYU took advantage of power plays, defeating the Wolverines 13-7 on Friday and 7-2 on Saturday.
Both games the Cougars found the open seams in the Wolverines defense, scoring 20 goals after two games while UVU scored only nine.
At Seven Peaks Arena on Saturday, BYU scored off a shot from the weak side in the first minute of the game. The Cougars found the weak side was their key to winning against UVU. After opening up the lead 4-1 in the first the period, the Cougars used superior speed and positioning.
“Tonight was tough,” said Captain Eric Bowman. “It was a game we would have loved to have won. It’s just not coming together for us. We’re in a slump, and when you’re in a slump like that it’s hard to come out of it.”
“They broke down our defensive zone tonight,” said injured assistant captain Michael Drummond, who is recovering from a stretched MCL. “We had a lot of stupid penalties today. A lot of them were worth it — protecting your teammates, you know.”
Drummond continued to say that they played lazily. They lost their cool by tripping the other team. Fixing that will minimize mistakes in the future.
Wolverines head coach Tony Furness just had his gall bladder taken out and did not attend the games. Helping coach was coach Cook, who helps the team when he can.
Focused on improvement, Bowman says that BYU exploited a weakness that they know we have. BYU dished out nearly four goals just off power plays. The backside defense needs to get better, and it’s an issue that’s going to be addressed at practice, says Bowman.
Coming on the ice Saturday, the Wolverines chose to wear pink. The jerseys are in honor of a friend of the team who is fighting breast cancer. The money that the team made off tickets sales will go to the breast cancer research foundation.
It was the first time they have worn pink jerseys says Bowman. He doubts they will use them again.
One thing that did go right for the Wolverines was the impressive school spirit says Bowman. “Our school’s got a lot of school spirit. UVU had more fans than BYU, and our fans all stayed the whole game, even though they were down,” said Bowman.
