Following a 6-4 win the previous night, the San Diego State Aztecs aimed to repeat their performance and sweep the two-game series against the Western Michigan Stallions. 

Strong play from the previous night for the Aztecs continued as the team largely controlled possession for a large portion of the first period. 

San Diego got the first goal of the game thanks to forward Brandon Grant scoring his fourth goal of the season 8:13 into the first period on a wonderful tic-tac-toe passing play from forward Cam Ferraz and forward Luke Desmarais.

The Stallions tied the game 1-1 at 12:48 seconds thanks to defenseman Jameson Bain’s slamming the puck on a rebound past Dee. 

Following Aztec defenseman Sean Yeo’s interference penalty, the Stallions took their first lead of the weekend on a powerplay goal by forward Ryan Elenich. San Diego then followed up with their own power-play goal 17:02 into the first on a goal by forward Kolby Hennessy tying the game at two a piece. 

The second period for the Aztecs had an undisciplined start as they took three penalties in the first 8 minutes of the game. One of the penalties proved to be costly as it led to a Stallion power play goal from forward Layne Egner to take a 3-2 lead. 

Aztecs largely controlled play the latter half of the second period however, they were unable to convert their chances. 

San Diego kept the momentum going with Hennessy scoring his second goal of the game on the power play 25 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 3. The third period was largely back and forth between the Aztecs and the Stallions until forward Patrick Fast converted on a breakaway thanks to a beautiful pass from defenseman Zach Stroozas to put the Aztecs back in front 4-3. 

That was all the scoring for the rest of the game as the Aztecs cruised to a 4-3 win and swept the two-game series with the Stallions. The two straight wins come after a six-game losing six on the road. 

“The wins lips our morale around, being down and coming short,” Hennessy said. “Then to get these two wins was really rewarding for us.”

Following the win, the Aztecs move to 4-6 while the Stallions fall to 0-10. The next game for the Aztecs is on Oct. 25 and 26 in an away two-game set between the Colorado State Rams at 7:15.

Photo Courtesy Credit: Megan Ellis