The performance the San Diego State University men’s ice hockey team pulled off last weekend at the Kroc Center Ice Arena — a two-game sweep of 19th-ranked Colorado State — had been building in recent weeks.
The Aztecs, who compete at the Division 1 level in the American Collegiate Hockey Association club tier, faced off the 2023-24 season with a 6-3 come-from behind win over Loyola Marymount University’s Division 2 team in a cross-over game. SDSU then got into the meat of its second Division 1 season with six consecutive losses for a 1-5-1 start.
But as the season has developed, so has head coach Phil Bateman’s team.
SDSU lost, 1-0, to visiting Arizona State University on Sept. 30. It came on the heels of a 6-2 loss the previous evening. The teams’ four-game series shifted to the Arizona desert for games Oct. 13-14. ASU won the weekend opener, 11-0, but had to go to overtime to eke out a 3-2 win in the closer.
The Aztecs then took flight to the Atlantic coast to engage the United State Naval Academy and George Mason University in back-to-back games Oct. 20-21. SDSU defeated Navy, 7-6, in overtime before coming up a wee bit short in a 2-1 regulation contest to GMU.
The run of games left the Aztecs with three consecutive one-goal games and four one-goal games in a stretch of five matchups, including two games decided in overtime.
Back in the Southwest, SDSU faced fourth-ranked UNLV in a pair of games in Nevada. The Aztecs lost 6-1 and 8-1 — much improved over last year’s 16-0 drubbing by the Skatin’ Rebels.
SDSU (4-8-1) finally turned the corner last weekend on home ice with a 4-3 win over the Rams on Friday and a 6-2 win on Saturday.
“It was a great weekend for the program,” Bateman acknowledged. “This 2023 Aztec team continues to mature their game. This weekend’s games were exceptional. The detail, work ethic, and determination that they played with were some of the best this program has ever seen. Colorado State was trending upwards coming off of two impressive wins over No. 16 Arizona State the weekend prior.”
The Aztecs scored comeback wins in both games last weekend.
Mason Brown (two goals) and Max Kathol (two assists) keyed SDSU with two points each in the first game while Lucas Bellig’s first goal of the season stood up as the game-winner.
SDSU finished the third period of Saturday’s game with a five-goal flourish. Sean Yeo (four assists) was the high-point man while team scoring leader Cameron Ferraz (three assists), Marcus Kim (two goals, one assist) and Eastlake’s Braden Mayer (two goals) all picked up multiple points.
Returner Luke Desmarais had the OT winner against Navy, his second goal of the game, while Sean Devaney (Otay Ranch) and Kathol each collected a goal and assist.
“It was a good trip east,” Bateman said. “We were hoping for two wins, but we continue to learn as a team to manage games. We also went a little shorthanded unfortunately, so we didn’t get to show our best.”
Goaltender Garrett Fuller (3-7-1, 4.29 GAA, 0.887 save percentage) racked up 74 saves in the two games against UNLV while making 66 saves in the two games against Navy and GMU.
“Projecting forward we are not focusing on wins or losses, but rather making sure the process continues to evolve and refine itself,” Bateman said.
The Aztecs head to Arizona this weekend (Nov. 17-18) for a pair of games against 30th-ranked Grand Canyon University, another opponent from the Western Collegiate Hockey League, then off to No. 21 University of Utah (Dec. 1-2) to finish off the calendar year.
On that note, SDSU was officially invited to join the WCHL to start the 2024-25 season.
“We graciously accepted and are now a proud member of the most competitive conference in the ACHA Division 1,” Bateman said with an air of pride.
The WCHL currently includes 10 teams in two divisions: No. 2 Central Oklahoma (13-1), No. 4 UNLV (11-1), No. 11 University of Arizona (7-5-1), No. 15 Missouri State (7-7-1), No. 19 Colorado State (9-5-2), No. 20 Utah (6-6-1), No. 24 Arizona State (5-4-2), No. 26 Oklahoma (9-5-1), No. 30 Grand Canyon University (6-81) and No. 35 Colorado-Boulder (5-5-0).
