University of Texas Game 3...
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Texas A&M University Aggies (6) VS. University of Texas Longhorns (2)
With the Longhorns as Host Team, A&M and UT travelled to the American Airline Center in Dallas to continue the fight for the Texas Challenge Cup, an annual Hockey game initiated in 2003 by Governor Rick Perry. This evening’s game start time was 7:45 p.m. and followed a Dallas Stars / Edmonton Oilers contest.
The Longhorns won the first three years, but the Aggies took the Cup in 2007 and were looking to return the Cup to College Station for the balance of the season. After winning both prior Home and Home games of the season, an Aggie victory would also assure A&M of a winning record versus the Longhorns for the 08-09 schedule. The Longhorns were coming off a Western road trip and were spoiling for a victory.
As typical of this on-going series, the game tempo was fast and physical with open, end to end action. Strong defensive plays and goaltending from both ends kept a scoreless game until mid point of the first period.
A&M scored first at 12:05. With good puck control, Aubrey Berkowitz pulled a defender to create open ice for John Rortvedt. An accurate, low slap shot into traffic eluded the UT net minder, 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, a similar play developed again in the UT zone as Nick Xenakis worked the puck down low. Defenseman Nic Culliton received the pass on the point and fed his partner. Captain Phil Lowery skated into open ice and with a nice wrist shot, found the back of the net. The period expired 2-0, Aggies.
A&M opened the second period with three goals. At 16:36 on a power play opportunity, Lowery fed Eric Engelking crossing the UT blue line. Jeff Diltz, in support, received a drop pass and sniped the goalie high glove side.
At the 12 minute mark, Diltz used another drop pass to feed Justin Cooley deep in the Longhorn territory. An accurate shot produced a rebound captured and buried by Engelking.
With 4:31 remaining, more goal crease scrambles created another Aggie score. Nathan Banks and Mark Moreno cycled the puck to create another shot on net, and Aubrey Brekowitz bounced on the rebound.
The Longhorns score at 2:28, but was answered in less than 30 seconds. On a goal crease scramble, Dustin Roark whacked at a loose puck. With an opportunistic bounce, A&M finished the period scoring to take a commanding 6-1 lead to finish the second period.
During an exciting third period, the Longhorns score with 7:15 remaining.
And the Aggies return the Challenge Cup to College Station for the 2008-09 season!
Game Notes:
A&M and UT evenly split 18 minor penalties.
A&M continues to enjoy a balanced attack with six individual scorers.
Aggie goal tender Kyle Vrla played a strong, stand up game to earn the Team win.
The Texas A&M Hockey Team also enjoyed the “Good Luck” of our Jr. Starting Aggie. Tristan H., an 11 y.o forward with a local Wolves Youth hockey organization, participated in our pre-game routine and led the Aggies out onto the ice. Our many Thanks, and best wishes for a successful Wolves season!
The Texas Cup victory concludes the 2008 portion of our schedule as the ACHA league enjoys the Christmas Holidays.
Next games:
Go West to California!
Please check our website ‘Schedule’ for dates and times.
To all of our fans and Hockey enthusiast of all ages, we continue to thank you for all of your support, and Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Happy and Successful 2009!
Keep your stick on the Ice!
A&M Hockey Club Defeats Texas for Third Time...
By: Patrick Hayslip
The Texas A&M men's club hockey club team defeated Texas for the third time in 2008 with a 6-2 win on Sunday. The Aggies won the Pride of Texas Cup, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Senior captain Phil Lowery led the way with a goal and an assist while senior forwards Jeff Diltz and Eric Engelking added a goal and an assist each.
The A&M defense gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from defenseman Lowery and senior defenseman John Rortvedt.
A&M bolstered its lead to 5-0 in the second period. Texas senior forward Cameron MacDonald broke up the shutout with a power play goal with 2:51 remaining in the second period. A&M responded with an unassisted goal by junior forward Dustin Roark with 1:21 remaining in the period.
"I think the entire team stepped up," said A&M assistant coach Scott Ball. "There is good leadership from the captains and our goalie played very well."
The American Collegiate Hockey Association ranks A&M No. 14 in the West region of its Division 2 hockey teams.
"We knew that [Texas] would be coming out much harder this game because this would make their season to beat us here and win the Pride of Texas Cup," Diltz said.
The Aggies improved to 14-2 and have won five consecutive games. A&M has 11 games remaining on its schedule, two of which are against Texas in February.
On Thursday, the Aggies lost Head Coach Arturs Kupaks when he resigned as coach because of personal reasons. Ball took over the job for Sunday's game.
"He did a really good job running the bench. It really helped us out," Engelking said.
Before the Aggies' game, the Dallas Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in a National Hockey League matchup. A&M and Texas took the ice after the game for a mix of Longhorn, Aggie and Stars fans.
"We love playing here," Diltz said. "It's really fun because it's a big stadium and extra people came to the game."
The game against Texas closed the Aggies' fall schedule. A&M will return to the ice in January when the team travel to California to face Long Beach State and San Jose State.
The Aggies need a Top 10 finish in the West region to qualify for ACHA playoffs. The top two teams in each region get a bye to nationals and the remaining eight teams in each region play for the region's remaining two spots in the tournament.
"They are setting themselves up for our next trip to California where we play two ranked teams," Ball said. "The balance of our schedule is critical. We need to do very well in order to receive rankings so we can go to regionals."
