Left winger Austin Simpson led the way for the Miners picking up 7 points on the day, with a hat trick and 4 assists. Goals were not in short supply tonight, as junior defenseman Kevin Duncan (3 G, 1A) and sophomore forward Noah Vanderzwan (3G, 2A) recorded hat tricks tonight.
Freshman Angus Campbell was fantastic between the pipes, in his collegiate debut, although Texas Tech was not given much of a chance to score.
The Miners put on relentless pressure from the beginning of the game and the Red Raiders spent the whole game in their own zone. The Miners outshot the Red Raiders 53-10.
A dominant display from the Miners special teams as well as they scored 8 power play goals and allowed zero goals on the penalty kill. The Miners set a new club record with 21 goals scored at home in a single game.
The Miners are back for game two against Texas Tech, Saturday at 3:30pm.
The puck drops on the 2018-19 season this Friday, as the Miners will begin the season with a pair of non-conference games against Texas Tech.
Start time for Game 1 on September 21 is at 7pm, with Game 2 slated for Saturday at 3:30pm.
This weekend will be the fourth consecutive season that the Red Raiders meet the Miners at center ice. Friday marks the 10th time both teams have met.
Dating back to the 2015-16 season, overall the Miners and Red Raiders are 7-1 (5-1 at home, 2-0 on the road). Without including the Miners 7-1 win against Texas Tech in the semi-final round of the TCHC Playoffs in 2017.
Last season, UTEP traveled to Odessa winning Game 1, 6-3, before coming back in overtime the next morning to close out the series, 4-3, with a goal scored by Jorge Duenas.
The Miners add ten new players to their roster this season. Including former Rhinos Jake Kopinski, Austin Simpson, Jayden Ritchie, Carlo Wittor and Angus Campbell. Leading scorer, Dominik Taras will not be on the bench for the Miners this weekend but is expected to return later in the season.
Juniors’ Kevin Duncan, Jorge Duenas, Matt Sanca and Jon Sanca return for their third season in a Miner jersey. Last season, Matt Sanca helped lead the team with 42 points (14G, 28A). Forward Noah Vanderzwan returns for his sophomore year with the Miners following an explosive first season with 18 goals last season.
Quick Miner Facts
The Miners will kick off the new season at home against Texas Tech, September 21-22. This will be the 5th meeting between the Miners and the Red Raiders with an overall record of 7-1.
Texas Tech was the first team the Miners played at home during their inaugural season in 2015.
Back at home following a few weeks on the road, the Miners will host the University of New Mexico Lobos for a two-game home stand, October 20-21.
Then UTEP will head to Albuquerque, November 2-3 to complete the series. The last time the Miners played the Lobos was during the 2016-17 season.
The puck drops September 21st at 7pm at the El Paso County Events Center with game 2 on Saturday at 3:30pm. For the complete 2018-19 UTEP Hockey schedule, visit minershockey.com.
Stay tuned for upcoming game times and ticket information.
Following a 0-3 start on the season, the TCHC Champs have gone on to improve to 17-9 overall. Coach Herman comments on the final home stand, “Looking forward to closing out the season this coming weekend. It’s been a great season at home this year and we look forward to ending on a high note.”
This will be the first meeting between both teams as the ETBU joined the TCHC conference at the start of this season. Currently, 12-5 on the season ETBU has notable wins over Texas A&M, Dallas Baptist, North Texas and Auburn University.
This Friday, the Miners will host their final Science on Ice home game. Over 900 students will be in attendance at Friday’s game. Throughout the game, students will learn about the science behind the sport of hockey.
From the science applied when creating ice to how skates are made, students will enjoy a fun educational day at the rink.
The Miners will honor the Senior Forward Josh Baeza before the game. Baeza has played for the Miners for the last 3 seasons. As part of the inaugural team, Baeza also played a role in creating the club team on campus by petitioning the Recreational Department to start the club. Baeza will graduate in May with a degree in Finance.
The business major will play his final game at the El Paso County Events Center this Saturday. In their final home of the season, the Miners will honor their fans at their Fan Appreciation game.
Scouting the Tigers
ETBU is led by Forward Riley Knott and Michael Garvie who each have 56 and 44 points this season. Knott leads with 20 goals and 36 assists.
While Garvie has scored 26 goals this season. Goaltender Nick Bozzuto has logged 1082 minutes in net for the Tigers as the only starting goalie for the season. Bozzuto has allowed 78 goals, 4.32 per game and has 372 saves this season.
Quick Miner Facts
Up Next
The Miners will head to Austin, Texas for the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference Playoffs. Playoffs start February 8th. There is a ‘GoFundMe’ account to help the team raise money for the trip.
Last season the Miners and Aggies split 2-2 overall. To complete the road trip, the Miners will play Texas State (Oct.. 1) in Austin.
UTEP will then head north to the pan handle to face off against Texas Tech (Oct. 6-7). Returning home after two weeks on the road, the Miners will host Northern Arizona University in the the season home opener (Oct. 13-14).
Last season NAU finished #2 in the West Region to earn a bye to the National Tournament. This non-conference home stand will prove to be a big test for the Miners early in the season.
The Miners will open their TCHC home schedule against the Texas A&M Aggies (Oct. 20-21). This will once again be a big test as the Miners and Aggies battled for first place in the TCHC all season long last season.
“It will be an exciting two weeks in El Paso opening up against NAU and then against our TCHC rival Texas A&M. Both weekends will be very competitive and very important to us as a club and our success throughout the season,” comments Coach Herman.
After a two-week home stand, the Miners will head back on the road to face-off against the Dallas Baptist Patriots (Oct. 27-28). The Miners defeated the Patriots in the TCHC playoff final last season 6-0 to be crowned the inaugural TCHC Conference Champions.
The Miners will head back on the road (Nov. 3-4) to Flagstaff to complete their series against the Ice Jacks of NAU.
Following two weeks on the road, the Miners will head home to host Texas Christian University (Nov. 10-11).
This will be the Horned Frogs first trip to the El Paso County Events Center and the fifth meeting between both teams. The Miners are 4-0 against the Frogs over the past two seasons.
The Miners will close out the first half of the season at home against the University of North Texas (Dec. 2-3).
Coach Herman commented, “The first half of the season will be a big test for the club. We play the top team from the North last season in DBU as well as four games against our divisional rival Aggies. And on top of a tough conference schedule the first half, we play four non-conference games against NAU who was ranked in the top 5 the entire season last year.”
To finish their TCHC home schedule in the spring semester, the Miners will host the University of Texas (Jan. 9-10) and Texas State (Jan.20-21). The Miners will also host East Texas Baptist University (Feb. 2-3).
The Miners road schedule will see them in San Diego to play two non-conference games against SDSU (Jan. 12-13), as well as TCHC games against Texas State (Jan. 25) and UT (Jan. 26-27).
UT will host the TCHC Playoff tournament (Feb. 8-10). Following last season’s championship, the Miners will look to head back to the tournament to defend their title.
“Opening up against the NAU Ice Jacks will be a very good test for our club. They were 1 of 2 representatives from the Western Region to automatically qualify for Nationals. Our club knows they will be looking to improve from last year just as much as we are. We played one of our best games last season against them in January. It should make for an exciting opening home stand,” comments Coach Herman.
Last season the Miners hosted the Ice Jacks in their second home weekend of the season. The Miners swept the series with a win on Friday (5-2) and Saturday night (4-2). In late January the Miners met Northern Arizona in a three game matchup. The Miners lost game one (2-0) but swept the rest of the weekend against NAU to cap off the final road trip of the season.
Game time is TBD. The two game series will be played at the El Paso County Events Center.
The Miners finished 7th in the Western Region while NAU finished 2nd, qualifying both teams for post season play at the ACHA Tournament.
After claiming their first-ever Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference title, the UTEP Miners hope to continue their impressive hot streak as they compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Regionals Friday.
The TCHC champs enter the West Regional Tournament with a stellar 30-3 record as the No. 7 seed and will face the No. 6 Denver Pioneers at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at Greeley Ice Haus in Colorado.
The UTEP Miners Hockey Club is a registered student organization that was formed in 2015. This will be the first postseason appearance for the Miners.
The game will be streamed live online at minershockey.com/live
Here is the full schedule for the West Regional Tournament:
Thursday, Feb. 23
• No. 12 UCLA vs. No. 9 San Diego State
• No. 11 Metro State vs. No. 10 Cal State Northridge
Friday, Feb 24
• No. 6 Denver vs. No. 7 UTEP
• Second lowest remaining seed vs. No. 4 Utah State
• Lowest remaining seed vs. No. 3 UNLV
• No. 5 Northern Colorado vs. No. 8 Weber State
Saturday, Feb 25
• Second lowest remaining seed vs. second highest remaining seed
• Lowest remaining seed vs. highest remaining seed
The ACHA Nationals are scheduled for March 9-19 in Columbus, Ohio.
As the regular season comes to end, the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference-leading UTEP Miners will face a Southwest rival to get prepared for the playoffs on the horizon.
The Miners will close the regular season against the University of New Mexico Lobos in an American Collegiate Hockey Association two-game home series at the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center at 4100 E. Paisano.
The games are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3-4 and fans are asked to wear orange.
UTEP, now 25-3 (16-2 in the South Division in Division II of the ACHA in the TCHC, while New Mexico is 12-9 (10-6 in the Pacific Division in Division I of the ACHA). The Miners have been receiving solid play all season from forwards Lukas Znosko with 35 goals and 63 points, and Jeramy Rezaeepour with 32 goals and 60 points.
The Lobos are looking to the strength of center Nate Taglialegami, who has 14 goals and 28 points.
Tickets are $5 for general admission, Black Section and Grey Section; $10 for Orange Section; $15 for Glass Section; $20 for Balcony; and free for military with ID. They are available at the El Paso County Coliseum Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000 and online.
The TCHC playoffs and championship game are set for Feb. 9-11 in El Paso. The ACHA regionals are scheduled for Feb. 24-26.
El Paso Herald-Post El Paso News & Opinion
