It’s been a rocky season, to say the least, for San Diego State University’s men’s ice hockey team. The Aztecs faced off the season on a promising note with a pair of victories against ACHA Division II competition — 6-1 over Loyola Marymout University and 6-4 over CSU-Northridge.
But SDSU promptly got into its Division I schedule while playing the newcomer role as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey League, one of the ACHA’s premier playing circuits.
The Aztecs hosted Grand Canyon University last weekend at the Kroc Center Ice Arena. While the outcomes of the two games weren’t necessarily as dire as the teams’ initial encounter in October in Phoenix (8-3 and 11-0 victories for the host Antelopes), the scores again did not favor the Aztecs.
GCU skated off to 5-2 and 5-1 victories to leave SDSU’s WCHL record at 0-12.
The Aztecs (4-13-1) have suffered through an untimely spate of injuries that have put a drain on the team’s available manpower. The will is there, no question. But the facts speak for themselves.
The Antelopes out-shot SDSU 77- 13 in Friday’s game and 63-12 in Saturday’s rematch. The scoresheet was brutal. Liam Dee racked up 72 saves in Friday’s game while Nicolas Heinzle notched 58 saves in Saturday’s contest.
For the Aztecs to hold 12th-ranked GCU to 10 goals in the two games while being out-shot 140-25 is nothing short of heroic.
You gotta feel for the Aztecs.
Cameron Ferraz and Drew Gunderson tallied goals for SDSU on Friday while Brandon Grant scored the lone Aztec goal in the rematch.
SDSU has 10 league games remaining on its 2024-25 schedule, so while injuries may heal, the going likely isn’t going to get any easier against some of the upper echelon teams in the division.
UNLV is ranked No. 5 in the nation while the University of Utah is No. 11, Oklahoma is No. 13 and the University of Arizona is No. 16.
Moral victories are important at this point and could pave the way for a turnaround with hard work and a renewed emphasis on discipline.
Case in point: The Aztecs hosted No. 20 Arizona State University Nov. 15-16. SDSU played the Sundevils tough in a 2-1 loss in the first game while being out-shot 57-23 but could not keep up in a faster-paced game the next night in a 9-2 setback while being out-shot 54-35.
SDSU is riding a current 0-7- 1 winless streak following a disappointing home ice sweep by New York’s Canisius University Nov. 1-2. The Aztecs had leads in both games but came out on the short end of 4-3 (shootout) and 6-4 (empty net) setbacks.
“We’ve got to learn how to close out games.” head coach Dean Wilson stated. “We have to learn to play three periods. They stole two games from us.”
“Both these games got away from us,” Ferraz said. “We had leads in both games. It’s something to learn from.”
Certainly, it’s been a series of hard lessons this season.
In the meantime, the Aztecs will be looking to take it every game, every period, every shift. The season extends through Feb. 21.
