By Keanu Haghighi (@KeanuHaghighi):
San Jose State hockey (1-2-0) will travel out of state for the first time this year to play the Montana Tech OreDiggers (1-0-1) in Boise, Idaho, its first of four matches this weekend.
The Spartans look to bounce back after they suffered a pair of three-goal losses last weekend to the Boise State Broncos. In the three games it has played this year, San Jose State has conceded a horrendous 14 goals.
The defensive play will need to improve as Montana Tech is coming off an impressive win over Eastern Washington where the team notched eight goals.
In the back-to-back games the Spartans played against the Broncos, goalie Eddie Berlin faced 86 shots, saving 77 of them. He hopes to have less work in front of the crease this weekend in Boise.
However, with four games to be played this weekend, it will be interesting to see how much playing time backup goalie Evan Sutherland will get. In the one period he has played this season, Sutherland saved 12 of 13 shots and earned a win against the UC Berkeley Golden Bears.
On the attacking side, the Spartans will depend on forward Jared Ansett to continue his stellar play. Ansett has tallied seven points (three goals and four assists) in the first three games of the season. He also scored both goals in the Spartans 5-2 loss against the Broncos last Saturday.
Puck drop is at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday.