BYU’s hockey team, dealing with a short bench, lost 8-1 on the road to Utah.
Already managing with a short roster, the team was forced to deal with several players out with injuries, contributing to Utah’s second win over BYU this season.
“We have five guys out on injury and we already have a small bench,” Tanner Bilingsley, one of BYU’s captains said. “It was absolutely the biggest factor.”
One of the Cougar’s better offensive players, David Keefer, returned earlier than expected to season play after having been out for appendicitis and assisted Ryan Hokey for the Cougar’s only score.
“What happened was that you want to give as much effort as you can, but with so few players, you can’t put in as much effort, and then you start to make some mental mistakes because of fatigue,” Billingsley said. “You can’t be happy with an 8-1 loss, but considering the circumstances, we can live with it.”
The Cougars hope to have a better chance concentrating on scoring their next game instead of conserving energy for defense, as three of the injured players should be returning to the BYU lineup. BYU has yet to win a game this season, but will try to change that Thursday against California-Berkley.
