No. 12 Arizona hockey just never clicked over the weekend, as it was swept in shutout fashion by No. 4 Iowa State at the Tucson Convention Center, outscored by a total of 8-0.
Friday night, fans were supposed to throw stuffed toys onto the ice for the second annual Teddy Bear Toss, but the Wildcats (10-10-0) failed to get on the board and fell 3-0. However, the crowd threw the teddy bears after the third period buzzer sounded, and more than 650 were collected and donated to Aviva Children’s Services.
“That’s such a disappointment. We could not score a goal,” said head coach Sean Hogan. “The pressure just starts getting on after each period like, ‘We gotta score, we gotta score,’ and you get nervous.”
Saturday was even more frustrating for the Wildcats, as Iowa State (18-3-1) escaped the TCC with a 5-0 win. The Cyclones scored two goals in both the first and second periods and ISU sophomore forward Jake Bruhn beat Arizona freshman goalie Garrett Patrick with 15 final seconds of the game.
“They [Iowa State] had a good forecheck and they trapped us [the UA defense] pretty well a few times,” said junior defenseman Matt Nowicki. “But we have a strong defensive corps that works hard, and we play so aggressive. We moved the puck up the wings and were able to get the puck out of our zone and transition from defense to forward right away.”
Arizona couldn’t get anything past Cyclones junior goalie Matt Cooper, who stopped all 74 shots faced the past weekend. Iowa State’s defense was spectacular all weekend long as well, holding the UA to 0-11 combined on the power play.
After his resignation last week, it was the first weekend that ISU was without former head coach and general manager, Al Murdoch, since he founded the program in 1969. Interim head coach Jason Fairman was selected by his players to take over, and began his tenure with a pair of perfect wins.
“He’s a very good coach,” Hogan said. “I was impressed with him.”
The Wildcats don’t have have any games until Dec. 6, when No. 1 ASU comes to Tucson (19-0-0). Hogan said he is giving the entire team time off from practice until next Tuesday.
“I’m just going to relax and completely forget about hockey for a week,” Patrick said. “ I’m going to heal up my body, have fun with the family back in Wisconsin and come back fresh and ready to play, ready to take it to ASU.”
—Follow Joey Putrelo @JoeyPutrelo
