San Jose State hockey rolled on with 2 wins against UC San Diego [6-2], and Palmer College [12-6]. A. Sheldon has more on each game.
SJSU DEFEATED UC SAN DIEGO 6-2 NOV 5TH
San Jose State Spartans Drown UC San Diego Tritons 6-2
The UC San Diego Tritons were saved by the buzzer. The game ended before the San Jose State University Spartans could pelt the UCSD’s netminder with the puck for the 60th time during the 60-minute match Friday night at San Jose’s Logitech Ice Center.
SJSU goaltender Ryan Lowe had to make a comparatively minimal number of saves throughout the game. The Tritons tallied just 17 shots on goal for the evening, one more than the number the Triton goalie faced in the first period alone.
Despite a total of 32 shots in the opening stanza, both goaltenders remained perfect in the crease. It was the first time the Logitech crowd would catch a glimpse of a blank scoreboard prior to the initial 15-minute break.
Less than four minutes into the game, SJSU captain Ray Kellam slammed the puck up the left side boards behind the UCSD net, only to recover his own dump in with a great fore check to maintain possession.
With 11:56 remaining in the first frame, Spartan defenseman Trevor Lee was knocked off his skates with an open ice hit delivered by the Tritons Charlie Blake. Roughly 20 seconds later, SJSU forward Jon Barney reciprocated the gesture by slamming Blake up against the far-side boards in the neutral zone.
The first penalty was called against UCSD for hooking after Spartan forward Lonny Lovins was pulled down while rushing toward the Tritons net with the puck.
A few seconds into the man advantage the Spartans nearly registered a power play goal when a shot rang off the San Diego post.
San Jose State opened the middle stanza with a flurry of shots - 6 in 10 seconds before the Tritons goalie was finally able to cover up for the whistle.
Minutes later, the referee signaled a delayed penalty on USCD. Just as netminder Ryan Lowe dashed for the boards to bring on the extra attacker, SJSU forward Adam Dekeyrel connected with the back of the net to put the Spartans on the board with their 24th shot of the night.
“Lonny (Lovins) passed it from the other boards wide and I walked in and their forwards just split. One of their guys dove at me and I just toe-tucked it around him and drove it five-hole,” Dekeyrel said.
At 5:05 and 5:19, Spartan forward Kelly Spain tallied the second and third goal of the contest on consecutive shots.
“Their defense wasn’t very strong and our 4th line has been playing well,” Spain said.
With 12:18 left on the clock in the second period, forward Lonny Lovins and a Tritons skater were assessed matching minors for roughing.
The Tritons Kolin Ozonian would be the only member of the UCSD squad to solve Lowe, beating the SJSU netminder by the tapping the puck into the open net for the first of two goals.
At the midway point, the referees began to lose control over the game – inhibiting the flow of the match with a plethora of penalties.
The first multiple infractions were dealt to San Diego as two of their players were sent to the sin bin, with SJSU forward Mason Nave also in the box at 10:24.
Freshman Kelly Spain scored the hat trick on the resulting power play with 9:00 remaining in the middle period to put the Spartans up 4-1. Spain said it was his first hat trick on ice.
“I was a roller hockey player before, so this is my first season on (ice) skates,” Spain said. “I give a lot of credit to the crowd. The fans are awesome.”
A couple more calls were made, for high sticking and cross checking – whistles blown after what seemed like every other shift.
Spartans head coach Ron Glasow blamed the melee on one referee.
“One ref just ran a bad game. He lost control. The other ref was fine. One good – one bad,” coach Glasow said. “It’s really a pathetic job. The one guy we never want to see back.”
At one point, SJSU found themselves on a 5-3 penalty kill for 1:38 with Jon Barney and Mike Villalobos serving 2-minute minors.
San Jose captain Ray Kellam made a diving effort to clear the puck from the Spartan zone to successfully keep the Tritons from capitalizing on their 2-man advantage.
With 6:25 left on the clock, SJSU D-man Nate Panek put a great hit on UCSD’s Chris Tran, dropping him against the boards and seconds later smashing Tran with another hard check behind the San Diego cage.
At 17:24, Spartan forward Mike Villalobos ripped the puck past the Triton goalie to provide the home team with a 4 goal lead before the final frame.
In the first 5 minutes of the third, each team managed just a single shot on net before more penalties were divvied out as the team captains were each given 2 minutes for roughing.
San Diego’s Kolin Ozonian netted his second tally at 7:05 as he tapped the biscuit into the open net during a scramble in the paint, bringing the Tritons to within 3.
Just 30 seconds later, San Jose’s Gabe Sackman and San Diego’s Scott Anderson, Andrew Gutierrez and Jeff Humphrey were sent off the ice to serve 2 minutes, providing a short stint of 5-on-4 action.
San Jose State’s Adam Dekeyral was then assessed a 2 minute slashing penalty after disrupting a Triton breakaway on Lowe with 11 minutes left to play.
SJSU’s Jon Barney and the UC San Diego captain would be back in the box serving 2 minutes, allowing more 4-on-4 open ice competition.
With 7:09 left in the game, SJ’s Chris Lee poked the puck through the 5-hole for the final tally of the night to put San Jose on top 6-2.
Madness would ensue for the remainder of the game, leaving the Tritons with only 3 skaters and a back-up netminder on the bench.
The Spartans Jon Barney, Andy Whiteside, Lonny Lovins and Chris Clark were sent to the locker room early, as was the Tritons captain Kevin Davis, Jesse Tenenbaum and Andrew Gutierrez.
UCSD’s captain taunted the crowd as he made his way to the locker room door, waving his arms in the air, beckoning for more boos from the rowdy crowd.
A couple more cross checking infractions were assessed and SJSU’s Chris Lee was given 5 minutes before the whistle-ridden choppy game finally drew to a close.
#10 ADAM DEKEYRAL SHOOTS AGAINST UCSDThe Spartans Punish the Pride 12-6 - Rookie Chris Clark Nets First Goal of the Season
The First ACHA Western Region rankings were revealed on Saturday, November 6th. Of the 32 teams listed in the west the San Jose State University Spartans were dropped in the number 4 slot behind Colorado State, University of Colorado and Utah State.
Despite authoring the best record in the west thus far, the Spartans were placed below Utah State, the team that handed SJSU their only loss in a crushing 6-5 overtime decision on October 28th in Logan, Utah.
The referee's regulating that match slammed SJSU with consecutive infractions late in the game allowing Utah to register the game tying tally and ultimately garner a victory in the extra stanza. The questionable calls were reminiscent of the classic 1972 USA vs. USSR basketball game – play until the home team wins.
With the rankings revealed, later that night at Logitech Ice Center, the Spartans opted to play against Palmer College, even though the Pride padded their decimated roster with 5 alumni, therefore technically providing SJSU with an automatic victory regardless of the outcome.
Once again the Spartans put 12 pucks behind the Pride’s netminder and the revamped Palmer offense managed just one more tally this time around.
Spartan winger Jon King said they didn’t have as many skaters when the two teams last met.
“For this game they had so many more players so they had a better game,” King said.
However, it was not enough to squander San Jose State’s strong offense. Within the first 30 seconds of the game the referee waved off an SJSU goal on their second shot on net. It would be a full minute before Palmer managed to throw a puck at Spartan netminder Joe Best.
The Spartans third line posed the biggest threat to the Palmer Pride. SJSU forward Jon King said their line consists of skaters more familiar with hardwood floors than ice.
“I’m on the roller hockey line with Kelly Spain and Adam Dekeyrl. It makes it easier when everyone else finishes. I just kind of pass them puck,” King said.
King walked up the far side boards and went for the wrap-around. He wristed a shot their netminder couldn’t contain. The rebound jumped back onto King’s stick and he roofed it at 2:32 of the contest to give the Spartans the important first tally.
The 21-year-old junior would notch his second point on a pass from the corner boards to linemate Adam Dekeyrl stationed in the slot to drive home the one-timer that put the Spartans up 2-0 with 13:11 left in the opening stanza.
Two minutes later, SJSU caught the Pride in a bad line change, flooded the zone and on a nice drop pass from King, forward Lonny Lovins ripped the puck past the glove of the Palmer goalie, lifting their lead to 3-0.
The Palmer Pride was able to pick up the pressure late in the first and their effort paid off as the Spartans were called for a high stick with 4:05 left on the clock. With San Jose blueliner Trevor Lee in the box, Palmer were able to cycle the puck in the Spartan zone for a full minute before the Spartans were able to clear and successfully kill the penalty.
With less than two minutes remaining in the first frame, Palmer spoiled Best’s bid for a perfect period when they connected with the back of the net on a screened shot at 18:22, drawing within two goals before the horn sounded.
At the start of the second period, Spartan forward Mason Nave attempted to skate the puck out of their defensive zone when he was pulled down during an attempt to deke past Palmer’s #5.
On the resulting SJSU powerplay rookie Sean Scarbrough fed the puck through the crease to freshman Kelly Spain posted at the backdoor. Spain slammed the puck into the open net at 2:29 for San Jose State’s fourth goal.
Midway through the match, the Pride’s #14 was sent to the sin bin on a boarding infraction. Less than a minute into the SJSU powerplay, another Palmer skater was hit with a two minute minor, providing the Spartans with a 1:07 two-man advantage.
The home team was unable to convert on the 5-3 opportunity; however, forward Adam Dekeyrl tallied an even strength goal at 8:18 with assists from fellow roller hockey players Jon King and Kelly Spain.
At 10:30 the Pride was able to connect with the back of the net for their second tally on just their first shot of the second stanza. SJSU netminder Joe Best was able to make a partial save with the left leg pad, but the biscuit trickled past the goal line for a score of 5-2.
The Spartans answered back a few minutes later when SJSU captain Ray Kellam fed the puck to freshman forward Sean Scarbrough racing through the neutral zone. Scarbrough beat the lone Palmer defenseman before forcing the Pride netminder to stack the pads, which allowed Scarbrough to easily chip the puck into the cage on their 30th shot of the night.
With 4:57 left on the clock, San Jose would strike again when veteran defenseman Nate Panek took advantage of a scramble in the crease, posting his first goal of the game on a pass from Jon King.
The SJSU squad would put another puck past the Palmer goalie while on the man advantage, when winger Kelly Spain scored on a pass from Sean Scarbrough providing the Spartans with an 8-2 to lead going into the final frame.
The final 20 minutes provided the most action as the rival teams battled hard along the boards and managed to split 8 third period goals.
During the power play awarded to SJSU early in the period, forward Adam Dekeyrl put the Spartans up 9-2 with the hat trick.
With 17:40 remaining in the game, two skaters for the Pride were sent to the penalty box, forcing their penalty kill unit to fend off a full 2 minutes of another SJSU 5-on-3 powerplay.
Halfway through the Palmer PK, Spartan offensive d-man Andy Whiteside found the back of the net, putting the Spartans up 10-2.
Palmer’s #17 snapped a shot from the neutral zone, hitting Best directly in the crest. Soon after, #14 on the Pride took the puck behind the Spartan net and made a perfect past to #5 situated in the slot who then slapped it home for their third goal.
At 9:19, Palmer managed their first back-to-back tallies when weak SJSU back checking allowed a 3-1 rush for Palmer College, which led to an easy goal for #17.
The Pride was unable to keep the momentum in their favor when rookie defenseman Chris Clark lit the lamp for the first time this season on a feed from defenseman Trevor Lee at 10:33.
With less than 5 minutes left in the game, SJSU had more than doubled Palmer’s shots on goal and a frustrated Pride retaliated physically when #44 pounced on the Spartan’s heavy hitter Jon Barney at the far side corner boards, dropping him to the ice. Another Palmer skater jumped in forcing the ref to break up the scrum.
Spartan forward Mike Villalobos said that’s when all hell broke loose.
“Barney was just taking it like a man and that guy came up and just mauled him. Then of course we’re going to stand up for our own players so our guys got in it and it was a mess for no reason,” Villalobos said.
More pushing and shoving ensued when Spartan forward Lonny Lovins wrapped up with the Pride’s #61.
Jon Barney and a Palmer College skater were sent to the locker room for the remainder of the match. Lonny Lovins was sent to the box and 3 Pride players would reside in the sin bin for 2 minutes, resulting in a 5-4 SJSU powerplay.
“They’re good players, they’re smart – they’re just hacks,” Villalobos said. “So, it’s kind of irritating actually because we started blowing them out of the water and they started getting chippy and trying to get us kicked out.”
When some semblance of fluidity returned to the game, SJSU forward Adam Dekeyrl would score his fourth and final goal on a shot from the far point that connected with the right inside corner of the Palmer net.
In the last few minutes, once again the Pride kicked up the intensity as #14 scored on yet another break away with 2:53 seconds left. He struck again seconds later, beating Best in the exact same spot to bring the final score to 12-6 in favor of San Jose State.
*** Palmer College veteran blueliner Brent Brown did not play because of injuries sustained during the Pride’s last game against SJSU. He remained behind the bench, supporting his teammates.