By Kayla Boardman (@kaylarboardman):
San Jose State hockey is looking to turn its season around this weekend with three back-to-back games against Santa Clara University and Long Beach State.
The Spartans (1-5-1) are coming off a weekend break after a disappointing performance in the Bronco Showcase in Idaho the previous weekend. The team tied one game and lost the other three in the weekend showcase, keeping its win count at one for the first seven games of the season.
The reigning Adam’s Cup champions have struggled against some tough opponents so far this season. However, that means the team needs to learn from its mistakes and start reminding the other teams why they won the cup last season.
As has been the case recently, the team has relied heavily on senior goaltender Eddie Berlin. He had 125 saves over the four-game weekend, with 51 saves against Utah State.
One player to pay attention to this weekend is senior forward Jared Anstett who scored two of the five SJSU goals for the entire weekend. He is also leading the team with nine points, five of which are from goals.
The first team the Spartans will face is the Santa Clara University Broncos (1-0) on Friday. The Broncos started the season off strong, winning its first and only game 5-1.
It should be a good battle between the two teams as they both are technically playing on home ice in the battle of the Alameda.
Then, SJSU will face off against Long Beach State (2-1) on Saturday and Sunday. The Spartans will have another strong opponent in the Beach as they are coming off two eight-goal wins over the weekend.
A player the team is going to need to keep an eye on is forward Kody Ichinaga, who has six points in three games. In his last game, he scored a hat trick against Chapman University.
The Spartans play all three games this weekend at Solar4America Ice in Fremont. The puck drops for the first game at 7 p.m. on Friday.
