(10-16-06)
By Justin Ellison
Roseville, CA - Starting off the hockey season with an 0-3 record is not what any team should consider “promising”. It can, though, be considered “fuel for the fire”. That is exactly what it was for the Sacramento State Hornets Ice Hockey team. A rough first three games for the Hornets only made them hungrier for their first win of the season.
The scenario also made the idea of their first win insinuating for Sac State. Their first “official” home game of the year would be against none other than local rival, UC Davis.
Both the goose egg in the wins column and the heated rivalry were only part of the reason why the Hornets wanted this win the most. The main reason? In their short history of college hockey, The Hornets had yet to beat Davis in all previous meetings between the two. Well, the Hornets got the monkey or, Aggie, off their backs Friday night.
Sacramento demolished the Aggies 7-1 in a game full of huge hits, big goals, and of course, trash-talking. The Hornets rode the play of their top line of Jamison Meikle, Tom Billiter, and Justin Ellison. The trio combined for all 7 goals and 12 of the 19 points produced by Sac.
Meikle and Billiter both put up 3 goals and an assist, while Ellison came out with a goal and 3 assists. Defensemen Craig Kellogg and Matthew Van Atta both chipped in 4 and 2 assists respectively.
Though the score says it was a night full of offense for the Hornets, their defense is what really shined. Led by the amazing goaltending of Timmy Kesner, the Hornets kept the Aggies scoreless until a late goal in the third period. Kesner had 33 saves on the night, many of which that could have been described as spectacular at the least. Sac State’s D-Men showed no mercy in the physical part of the game. Bone crushing body checks were the theme of the night for the Hornets and Aggies.
Another huge factor was the big crowd that showed up for the game. The fans showed an immense amount of spirit for the Hornets and played a huge role in helping them win the game. There were a couple of times during the game in which the crowd got on their feet and began to cheer and scream like crazy. The fans really made life hard for the Aggies as they reminded them loudly of every single goal and big hit.
Toward the end of the game when Davis knew they had little or no chance to come back, they began to get into penalty trouble. Davis committed 18 of the 28 penalties called. 9 of those penalties came in the third period where things really started getting ugly. The Davis penalty box was full for the last few minutes of the game. Luckily the referees kept everyone at peace and the game ended calmly.
Sacramento State will not spend too much time celebrating their win over Davis as they must prepare for a 2 game home stand this weekend. The Hornets will host both the UC San Diego Tritons and the Fresno State Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday Night. The games will be played at Skatetown Ice Arena in Roseville and will start at 7 p.m.
If you have not yet made it out to a game, please come support the team and bring your friends. It promises to be a huge weekend as the Hornets will try to get their record back to .500.
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