The Arizona hockey team faced Maryville University (18-8) this past weekend in the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, Missouri, on Friday, Jan. 19 and Saturday, Jan. 20. The Wildcats (8-11), coming off of their winter hiatus, entered the series riding a two-game winning streak after an absolute blast of a series against the ASU Sun Devils in early December. The Wildcats, having only won one game away from the Tucson Convention Center, faced a challenge with the series being on the road. Arizona enters the final stretch of the season near the bottom of the WCHL Table.
Maryville entered the series with a clear gap above the Wildcats in terms of games played (25 to 18) and a larger win margin (16 to 8). The Wildcats would need to channel the energy they had remaining from their last series if they wanted to come out of Missouri with some positive stats. The first outing for the Wildcats was a close one where they would fall to Maryville 2-1 in the final half of the third period. The second outing proved to be more difficult for Arizona, seeing them lose 4-1 after Maryville scored four straight goals before Arizona put up their one and only goal.
Game 1: Friday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m.
At the start of the first period, Arizona had an early power play opportunity after a penalty on Maryville, but they were unable to capitalize on the early advantage. Maryville would soon score the first goal of the series, putting the Wildcats down one just five minutes into the game. Arizona would close out the period scoreless, with just five shot attempts.
The Wildcats would enter the second period with something to prove. They limited the Maryville offense down to just five shot attempts, half of the 10 from the last period. Arizona scored late in the period with a Brody Selman goal, his second on the season. He was assisted by Ari Rossi, which was Rossi’s fourth assist of the year.
The Wildcats entered the final period drawn even with the Maryville Saints. It was quiet to start with the Maryville defense once again limiting the shots Arizona could take on goal. Maryville scored the breakthrough goal 13 minutes into the final period. This was the nail in the coffin for the Wildcats and proved to be a matchup Arizona needed to come back even stronger for.
Game 2: Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
The first period of the final game of the series would be the quietest between the two teams. Each side put up 13 shot attempts on goal. However, neither side was able to score. Each team also had two penalties in the first. Despite the absolute standstill for Arizona, they needed to desperately make noise against a team that was complete on both sides of the ice.
The second period was statistically quieter, with both sides putting up 11 shot attempts and only one penalty per team. Despite the quiet period, Maryville netted two goals, the first coming in the eighth minute and the second in the 18th minute.
Entering the third period, the Wildcats would have to mount a massive comeback. This comeback would not come to fruition, with Maryville scoring two more goals in the period, putting Arizona down 4-0. The Wildcats would finally find the net in the closing minutes of the period, putting the final score to 4-1.
Looking Ahead
The Wildcats will have three straight home games from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27. They will be pitted against the University of Oregon for a one-game series and then against San Diego State University for the remainder of the homestay. Oregon is coming off of a two-game winning streak in their series against the University of Washington, winning both games 5-1. Their next opponent, San Diego State, hasn’t played a game since Dec. 2, when they lost back-to-back games against the University of Utah. Arizona is returning to Tucson with hopes of improving their home record of 7-4. A sweep of their next homestand would be key to turning their season around.
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