After No. 1 UVU handed No. 2 BYU its first loss of the season, BYU head coach Matt Schneck gathered his team for a postgame huddle, one that was longer than usual.
“I wanted these guys to know that sometimes having a game like this is exactly what you need to propel you to the next level,” said Schneck. “The reality is that they haven't been really challenged in a way like they were tonight.
“And hats off to UVU. They played a really great game. They've got an excellent team,” he added.
The Wolverines defeated the Cougars 17-11 in a game that featured four ties and six lead changes. UVU looked every part like the No. 1 team and held BYU to their lowest scoring output of the season, with their dominating face-off performance.
UVU has one of the best face-off specialists in the nation in Tyson Stidham, a senior from South Jordan, Utah. Stidham wins 70-80% of his faceoffs, which allows UVU to dominate the time of possession. In comparison, BYU’s faceoff specialists win about 60% of the time.
In a game where every possession is important, the face-offs begin to quickly add up.
“Our face-off specialists have done an excellent job this year. They're facing off traditionally above 60%, which is pretty good,” said Schneck. “But that difference (between BYU and UVU), you can feel it when you're not able to get the same number of possessions.”
Attackman Gavin Taylor added, “At the end of the day, at the face-off spot, winning however many face offs (UVU) won, that's just a lot of possession time. It's hard to compete with.”
At the end of the first quarter, BYU led UVU, 6-5. However, BYU never led again after that, with UVU scoring five goals in the second quarter compared to BYU’s one goal.
Coming out of halftime with a 10-7 lead, the Wolverines changed their game plan. Instead of running a high-tempo offense, UVU opted to slow down their play and use most of the shot clock.
While this certainly limited BYU’s offensive looks and shot quantity, the Cougars had many missed opportunities of their own.
“We had our opportunities; we just didn’t execute,” said Schneck. “In that third quarter, I think that you could probably count eight or nine times that the goalie (Patrick Thomas) made just either outstanding saves or (the ball) hit the pipes.”
Taylor added, “We were probably shooting ourselves in the foot more so than not. Throwing the ball away, taking the wrong shots, (and) not capitalizing when we need to.”
Despite the loss, the Cougars remain optimistic about their preseason goals of competing for a national championship.
And for Taylor, he’s using the loss to UVU as added motivation for the rest of the season.
“Moving forward, I think we just got a lot a lot of people are saying (to) put this one behind us and forget about it. I, personally, disagree with that. I think this is fantastic motivation coming into the season.”
Taylor added, “We’re still a phenomenal squad. I got every ounce of faith in our guys that we can go all the way. It's just a little reality check, and honestly, I'm here for it.”