Weber State swept at Arizona State

The Weber State University Division I Hockey Team went into last weekend's games against Arizona State University with a slim chance of making the playoffs. They left the weekend with an even slimmer chance. The Wildcats lost to ASU 5-3 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday, leaving the American Collegiate Hockey Association ranking committee with little to work with as far as bumping the Wildcats up in the rankings. WSU forward Anton Volkov said the narrow losses to ASU were tough for the team, but he said the team played well and the games just came down to the small details. "They were winning the little battles in the corners in our defensive zone that led to Arizona being able to score," Volkov said, "just little breakdowns throughout the game." The Wildcats have steadily improved their play since the start of the second semester. The improvements turned out to be too little too late. "From the first game when we got on the ice, I knew the team was ready for the weekend," Volkov said, "but it wasn't good enough, I guess. The games went really well, the team played amazing, the defense stepped it up; it was just a totally good weekend for all of us." Volkov scored a goal in Saturday's game. His line with Chris Cotsillis and Dane Ludolph continued to play well. Cotsillis had a goal in each game. Ludolph had an assist on Saturday. WSU players Nick Micek, Jared Darby and Aaron Dufford also added points for the Wildcats over the weekend. Three of the Wildcats' five total goals were scored on the powerplay. WSU defenseman Tristan Schwarz said the Wildcats didn't get much help from the referees over the weekend, picking up a large amount of penalty minutes. The penalties led to four ASU powerplay goals during the two games. Regardless of how the referees officiated, Schwarz said the Wildcats' level of discipline was not where it needed to be. "It came down to us having more penalties than them," Schwarz said, "and them being on the powerplay more than us and they took advantage of that." Schwarz also said that overall, the games last weekend were another step in the right direction for the drastically improved Wildcats. "We have been improving," Schwarz said. "We're becoming more of a team now. As the year has been going on, we're getting more and more used to each other. We're a fairly young team, and new team with everyone, and it takes time to gel. It's starting to come together right now, unfortunately at a bad time, but you've got to start somewhere." The Wildcats have just two games left in the season, coming against rival Utah State University. The Wildcats still have a bad taste in their mouths after losing to USU in the first game of the season. "Being a DI program," Schwarz said, "it's not fun losing to a DII team, a rival team as well. But playing them, we've just got to carry on to the next season. It will be good to end on a good note. That's what we're shooting for and also payback from the first game." These two teams met at the end of last season about one year ago, but under different circumstances. Last season, Utah State was playing for nothing in its final games of the season, with no postseason ahead. WSU however was preparing for the national tournament in a couple of weeks. This time the games will be WSU's last as they have no postseason berth, while USU will be preparing for the regional tournament as the sixth seed. Schwarz scored a career-high three goals in last season's 11-1 victory for WSU. He said he plans on a repeat performance. The games will be played Feb. 23 in Logan and 24 in Ogden.

You can reach reporter Jon McBride by calling 626-7983.