WSU Hockey Team not pleased with weekend homestand
Lack of team play kills the 'Cats against two tough DII teams
Jon McBride
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Sports
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As anyone near the WSU locker room after Friday night's game could tell by the verbal lashing, WSU Head Coach Zak Treasure wasn't exactly pleased with the results of the weekend.
"It's time for us to realize that we've got to start playing like a team," Treasure said. "It 's been two or three months together, and if you don't play as a team, you don't win hockey games. If you want to play another sport, go out there and wrestle, go and play tennis. They chose to play a team sport, and they're not playing as a team right now."
Friday night's game against the University of Denver was tight through two periods. Both teams entered the third period with the score tied 4-4.
The difference in the game was apparent in the third period as the Pioneers scored two goals on well-executed passing plays while the Wildcats were held scoreless in the final period. WSU players tried to score time after time on individual efforts from one end of the ice to the other, and time after time they were stopped by Denver defensemen.
"There was just a lot of individual play," said WSU defenseman Devon Benike. "We've really got to bring it together as a team. We should already be doing that by this time of year."
The loss to the Pioneers was tough for the Wildcats to take because Denver competes in a lower division than WSU. It was also tough for the Wildcats because they had a definite man-power advantage in the game. WSU dressed close to 20 players while Denver, due to injuries and other players not able to make the trip, only dressed 12 players. They also played a tough game against Utah Valley State University the night before. WSU came into the game after a week-long rest.
"Normally we're the short-benched team this year," Treasure said. "They took 12, 13, 14 guys and decided they wanted to come and be a team down here. I couldn't tell their best player from their worst player out there. That's what it was. It was a team effort. A team effort will win 99 percent of the time. There's not a bunch of one-on-one players out there."
It was ironic that on the night the Wildcat team fell apart as a bunch of disjointed individuals, they played a team that came together incredibly with few individuals.
"They were a big team. They came at you," Benike said. "They didn't have a lot of guys, so they were well conditioned. They moved the puck well. We came in here a little cocky, and they got the best of us."
Benike said the WSU players and coaches can talk all they want about what needs to happen to get the team to play together, but it just comes down to getting things done on the ice.
"We weren't mentally prepared at all," said WSU freshman Kyle Debungie, who scored his first career goal as a Wildcat Friday night. "They were the team that was prepared. You've just got to be mentally focused."
San Jose State University came to town Saturday for the Wildcats' second matchup of the weekend. The Wildcats continued to struggle as they lost to the DII Spartans 6-5 in a shootout. The game will officially count as a tie as shootout victories are not counted in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
The Wildcats now go back to phase one. They'll regroup in practice this week, getting ready to travel to the University of Oklahoma, to take on the 6th-ranked Sooners Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats have already lost twice to the Sooners so far this season, who are 10-1 this year.
"The sad thing is that we have enough talent with these guys to go out and compete," Treasure said, "but I don't think that these guys realize that we have to play together. There's not one player above anyone else on the ice."
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Jon McBride
posted 11/14/07 @ 12:31 PM MST
Correction: The Wildcats were not held scoreless in the third period against Denver. They pulled their goalie late in the game and scored to make the final score 6-5, not 6-4. (Continued…)
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