The San Diego State University men’s ice hockey team faced off a new — and potentially rewarding — era last Friday with a 6-3 cross-divisional win over Loyola Marymount University in front of a boisterous, overflow crowd of 850 fans at the Kroc Center Ice Arena.
The Aztecs, with just seven returners off last year’s 1-20-1 squad, faced off their second ACHA Division 1 season with a confidence-building win.
LMU, one of the stronger teams at the ACHA Division 2 level, scored the game’s jump goal before SDSU rallied to take a 2-1 lead. The Lions subsequently tied the game, 2-2 and went ahead, 3-2, before the Aztecs reeled off the last four goals of the fast-paced, physical contest.
“My teammate, Gavin O’Bryan, roughed up one of their guys and it fired us up,” SDSU first-year defenseman Braden Mayer said. “We came out a little slow but once the third period started our guys found their legs. Once they found their legs, there was no stopping us.
“I was so excited to get my first college goal, what a relief!”
Mayer, a local San Diego product from Eastlake High School, scored a 5-3 insurance goal at 10:45 of the third period and drew an assist on teammate Mason Brown’s insurance goal at 17:25.
The din inside the building was so loud on the last two goals that the public address announcer could not be heard over the crowd noise.
Mayer (+4 plus-minus) and Brown finished the opening night outing with four points (one goal, three assists) apiece. Forward Cameron Ferraz collected three points (one goal, two assists) while defenseman Sean Yeo had two points (one goal, one assist).
Yeo tied the game, 3-3, at 11:20 of the second period and Ferraz notched what proved to be the game-winning goal at 15:32 of the middle stanza.
Forward Marcus Kim had two assists for two points while Connor Hennigan and Logan Okanski each scored one goal. Lucas Bellig recorded one assist.
The teams combined for 59 shots in the 60-minute game — 34 by the Aztecs and 25 by the Lions.
Thirteen players registered a least one point in the game — eight for SDSU and five for LMU.
Of the 18 points produced by the Aztecs, three points came from two returning players (Bellig, Kim) while 15 points were generated by six newcomers (Brown, Ferraz, Hennigan, Yeo, Mayer and Okanski) to illustrate just how much impact the team’s “new and improved” recruiting class has made.
Garrett Fuller and Brody Hsiao suited up between the pipes for SDSU. Each played half a game with three goals charged against Fuller.
Hsiao played for the Chinese Taipei 18U, 20U and national teams. He posted a 3-0-0 record with a 1.07 goals-against average and 0.959 save percentage in 2022-23 for the full national team.
LMU’s Scott Macgillivray opened scoring in the game at 3:27 of the first period, assisted by Matisse Hawthorne. SDSU countered with back-to-back tallies by Okanski (power play at 4:04) and Hennigan at 7:23 for a 2-1 Aztec lead. Ferraz and Brown assisted on SDSU’s first goal of the season while Ferraz and Kim drew the helpers on the go-ahead goal.
LMU was game to counter with consecutive goals by Bryson Martin (unassisted) at 6:17 of the second period and Connor Kaczmarek at 9:53 (assisted by Spencer Engstrom and Hawthorne).
Mayer and Brown drew the assists on Yeo’s game-tying goal while Mayer and Yeo set up Ferraz’s go-ahead tally. Brown and Bellig set up Mayer’s first collegiate goal while Kim and Mayer set up the final SDSU goal of the game that elicited a crushing pack of Aztecs burying Brown at the end wall in celebration.
SDSU head coach Phil Bateman said his team had to overcome nerves and a lingering cloud of disappointment hovering over the team from last season. But the team pulled together the mental aspect while continuing to uphold the physical aspect to make a successful debut. In other words, the team accomplished its goal of winning the game.
Mayer and newcomer Sean Devaney are among SDSU’s San Diego locals and have played both ice and roller hockey together (and against each other) during their youth and junior odyssey to becoming first-year Aztecs.
“It was great,” Devaney said. “We were sluggish a bit, a bit nervous to start the game. We got the nerves out after the first period. It was a good win for the boys.”
SDSU, now buttressed by a re-tooled lineup of incoming junior hockey players, embarks on a two-game road trip to the University of Colorado-Boulder this weekend. The Aztecs return to home ice for a two-game set with Arizona State University Sept. 29-30.
Birds of a feather
The Anaheim Ducks have eight NHL preseason games on their slate, including the Sept. 29 date against the Los Angeles Kings at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
The Ducks opened their main training camp on Thursday and will face off against the Kings on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m. at the Honda Center before heading up the coast to San Jose for a game on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The Ducks will host the Sharks the next night before heading south to San Diego. The Sept. 29 preseason game will be the Ducks’ fourth in five days as the team starts to pare its roster.
Additional preseason games for Anaheim include Oct. 1 against the Arizona Coyotes at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Oct. 3 against at the Kings, Oct. 5 against the visiting Coyotes and Oct. 7 against Arizona in Tucson.
Acrisure Arena is the home next of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, AHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken. The Firebirds reached the Calder Cup Finals in their first year of existence in 2022-23 and will be looking to continue making history in their second season on the ice.
The Firebirds and Gulls will once again be Pacific Division rivals.
The Gulls, under new head coach Matt McIlwain, expect to provide fans with a more entertaining product than last season’s last-place team if the results of this year’s NHL Rookie Face-Off are any indicator.
Fourteen of the Ducks’ 21 rostered players registered at least one point as Anaheim finished 2-1 in its three games at this year’s tournament Sept. 15-18 in Las Vegas. The Ducks have generally enjoyed success at the annual event with a 14-2-3 record since 2016.
Anaheim faced off the tournament with a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights, then came up short to the Avalanche by a score of 5-3 before closing out the event with a 4-2 win over the Kings.
Greg Terrance keyed the young Ducks with four points in the three games while Leo Carlsson, the second overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, picked up three points (one goal, two assists). Anaheim was able to give three goaltenders one full game each. Calle Clang (23/25) and Tomas Suchanek (29/31) both earned one win while Gage Alexander absorbed one loss.
Clang and Alexander both had cups of coffee with the Gulls last season.
Tristan Luneau, the Defenseman of the Year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season, tallied twice in the win over the VGK while Coulson Pitre and Pavel Mintyukov each scored one goal.
Ben King, Carlsson, Yegor Sidorov and Rodwin Dionicio each scored once in the win over the Kings.
Suchanek, 20, entered camp as undrafted invitee after posting a 27-14-1 record with Tri-City Americans in the Western Hockey League last season. He turned heads by leading the Czech Republic to the silver medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 1.52 GAA and 0.934 save percentage.
Pitre is a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
The six participating teams drew their rosters primarily off their top developmental affiliates in the American Hockey League as well as 2023 draft picks.
Carlsson, the player of the year in the Swedish Junior League last season who is known for his puck possession and play-making ability, has a good chance to make the Ducks roster out of training camp as an 18-year-old. Some of the young prospects at the rookie tournament expect to see time in Anaheim for the upcoming NHL season, though they may start the season on the Gulls’ AHL roster.
The rookie tournament allows the young prospects from the teams to test themselves against one another, get a taste of a professional training camp and the atmosphere that goes with it, and make an impression to coaches prior to heading into the main camp.
Each team played three games. The Avalanche finished 3-0 while the Ducks, Coyotes and Sharks all finished 2-1. The Kings finished 0-2-1 while the VGK finished 0-3.
Many of the names on the Anaheim prospect roster may be unfamiliar for now but they will not be soon.
The tournament served as a formal introduction for players to McIlvain, who will be charged with their development over the next few seasons with the Gulls to reach and contribute to the parent team.
The Ducks face off regular season play Oct. 14 in Las Vegas against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.
The Gulls have their lone preseason game scheduled Oct. 8 at the Ontario Reign, the AHL affiliate of the Kings. San Diego faces off McIlwain’s first season with the team Oct. 13 and Oct. 15 in Ontario before hosting the Reign Oct. 20 in the Gulls’ home opener.
SDSU NOTEPAD
College football
SDSU saw its record dip to 2-2 following last Saturday’s 26-9 non-conference loss at Oregon State University. The Aztecs received a 52-yard field goal from senior kicker Jack Browning (West Hills) and a six-yard rushing touchdown from junior Jaylon Armstead.
The 16th-ranked Beavers (3-0) built a 12-0 lead while out-gaining SDSU 475-326 in total yards.
The Aztecs host Boise State (1-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Snapdragon Stacium in their next game.
College soccer
SDSU’s men’s team (5-0-1) topped visiting Life Pacific, 12-0, in a non-conference game on Monday to extend its unbeaten and shutout streak to six matches. The 18th-ranked Aztecs have outscored opponents 21-0 this year.
The 12 goals were the most scored by the team since 1984. SDSU outshot the Warriors 40-2.
“It was a very professional performance tonight,” Aztec head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. “We stuck to our identity and did the things we have been working on in training. We challenged them to pay attention to the details and we did a good job on both sides of the ball.”
Seven SDSU players recorded at least two points. Terence Okoeguale collected a hat trick, Lorenzo Hernandez had two goals and two assists, Seth Clark had two goals and an assist, Christian Engmann had two goals, Alexander Levengood had a goal and two assists and Noah Cretier had a pair of assists.
Djibril Doumbia and Elliot Pavis combined for the shutout in the net.
SDSU is one of two teams that hasn’t conceded a goal to start the season.
