On a cold and rainy night at the Northwoods Ice Center in San Antonio, Texas State Hockey’s return to the ice was dampened by UT Austin.
In a hard-fought and defense-focused contest, the Texas State Bobcats lost to UT Austin 3-0, behind two goals from Longhorn Owen Just.
The Bobcats (2-7) were shut out by the Longhorns (9-6) in an otherwise strong defensive performance. Longhorn junior forwards Owen Just and Charlie Drage netted goals off assists from junior forward Ian Silberstein. They were backed up on the far end by a 32-save showing by senior goalie Jesse Reinhard.
The first period saw the first goal, scored one minute and 33 seconds into the contest by Just, and the Longhorns led 1-0. Despite the unpromising start, the Bobcats showed no loss of fire, shutting down passing lanes and deflecting scoring tries. However, Texas State found it difficult to get the offense going.
“[We need] good shots, we’ve gotta get in front of the goalie in those lanes…we’ve gotta be able to crash the net more and then have more success,” freshman defenseman Connor Claughton said.
Claughton has a strong second period, as he lay out and slid full body across the ice to block a shot and redirect the puck to produce a breakaway for the Bobcats. The breakaway chance ultimately went by the wayside, and Just scored his second goal with three minutes and change left before the horn sounded. Yet Claughton was a glimmer of hope in a chess match of a second period.
“Learning to take everything away from [the opponent] by sliding at them, waiting for the right time. If I slide too early, they stop and I look stupid, but if you time it just right, you make a good play,” Claughton concluded.
The final period of play was more of the same: methodical chess moves by both squads with minimal penalties (and in turn, powerplay chances) and sniffing out passing lanes and shot opportunities.
The Bobcats did better in possessing the puck and giving themselves chances to put the puck on net. They even outshot the Longhorns in the third period, 15-12. Reinhold, however, held firm between the pipes, and Drage notched the game’s final score.
Junior winger Garrett Shantz spoke after the game on the team’s performance, “We definitely proved tonight we can play with them, we just need to score. It’s hard to beat anybody without scoring. We need to stop making the extra, cute passes and shoot more, get rebounds, then attack the net.”
Saturday brings another showdown for the Texas State Bobcats against the Texas Longhorns at 8:45 p.m. on Nov. 22, at Northwoods Ice Center in San Antonio. All the Bobcats’ games can be streamed at Black Dog Hockey.
The University Star’s 3 Stars of the Game:
First Star: FW Owen Just- 2 G
Second Star: FW Charlie Drage- 1 G, 2 A
Third Star: FW Ian Silberstein- 2 A
