Tag Archives: miner hockey

After downing ETBU 7-1 in the semi-finals Friday night, the UTEP Miner Hockey squad manhandled the Texas A&M Aggies in the TCHC Championship game Saturday, 8-1.

Four minutes into the first, Jayden Ritchie fed Carlo Wittor who shot and scored off the deflection of Aggie goalie Reynolds glove, putting the Miners on the board for the first goal of the game.

The Miners kept pushing as Reynolds can’t grab the loose puck and Fabian Perez gets it passed him to increase the lead to 2-0.

As the puck dropped for the second period, Austin Simpson made his mark on the championship game, scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer making the game 3-0, 7:44 into the period.

On the penalty kill, Kevin Duncan fed it to Carlo Wittor, who then fed Austin Simpson which was redirected by the Aggies. On the redirect A&M sent the puck past the line and the Miners got their fourth goal of the game.

Then, with just over two minutes remaining in the period, Matt Sanca beat Aggie goalie Reynolds on the rebound, scoring the Miners second power-play goal of the game, giving the Miners a 5-0 lead at the buzzer.

Heading to the final stanza, the Aggies came out trying to cut the deficit but Miner goalie Angus Campbell – making his second start in two days — would hold tight.

To drive the point home, UTEP’s Dominik Taras scored off a feed from Matt Sanca, pushing the Miners lead to 6-0, 4:45 into the final frame.

Texas A&M finally got on the board, as Kyle Mills beat Duncan and Campbell to the back of the net. UTEP came right back as Austin Simpson found Dominic Foggia open near the faceoff zone, feeding him a pass and allowing Foggia to score, giving the Miners a 7-1 lead.

With just under four minutes to go in the third, Prystayko takes Campbell’s place in net for the Miners. Then the Aggies are called for too many men on the ice and the Miners use the man advantage as Pablo Duarte scored the Ice Miners final point.

With the win, the Miners snag their second TCHC Championship in three years.  The championship game win also gives the Miners an automatic bid to the ACHA Western Regional Tournament, February 28-March 2 in Tempe, Arizona.

The UTEP hockey team is hoping to extend its winning streak this weekend on home ice against one of the best teams in the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference.

UTEP, with an impressive 11-2-1 record so far this season, has won six of the last seven games.

The Miners are coming off an impressive two-game sweep of East Texas Baptist, winning 5-3 and 10-0, while Dallas Baptist is 17-4 after crushing North Texas 22-0 and 24-0.

The Miners hope to add two more victories as they face off with the Dallas Baptist Patriots at the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center, 4100 East Paisano.

The games are set for 11 a.m. Friday, November 30, and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, December 1.

Tickets are only $7 for any seat in the rink and are available at the Coliseum Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000, online and at the Coliseum Events Center Ticket Booth, which opens an hour and a half before game time.

The Ice Miners are back home this weekend, as they host the University of North Texas Mean Green, December 2nd and 3rd.

The puck drops for the two-game series on Saturday at 3:30pm and a new start time of 11am on Sunday. This will be the only meeting between the teams during the regular season. The last meeting was last fall where the Miners topped the Mean Green 10-1.

Scouting the Mean Green

The Mean Green are 4-3 in conference play. Prior to the Thanksgiving break UNT swept LSU posting wins of 8-4 in game 1 and 16-4 in game 2.

Similar to the Miners, the Mean Green swept both Dallas Baptist and Texas Christian University putting them in 5^th place in TCHC.

North Texas is led by Senior Forward Andrew Keane who has 26 points this season. Keane leads with 13 goals and 13 assists. Tanner Holmes has logged 553 minutes in net for the Mean Green. Holmes has allowed 42 goals, 4.55 per game and has 217 saves this season.

In addition, James Bennett has made 3 appearances this season allowing 9 goals, 4.89 per game and has 36 saves this season.

Miners Give Back

The Miners hope to spread a little joy this holiday season as they collect children’s books this weekend during the UNT series. Bring a children’s book and receive one (1) ticket to the December 2-3 series against UNT. Books will be donated to a local school in the El Paso area.

Quick Miner Facts

• Miners are 9-8 overall, 8-3 in conference play.
• UTEP is in 4^th place in TCHC.
• Freshman Dominik Taras leads the Miners in points and goals scored (15 G, 12 A).
• Junior Goaltender, Alek Lazarski averages 3.62 goals against and a .886 save percentage.
• The Miners 3-2 win over TCU was Coach Herman’s 50^th win as the Miner Head Coach.

Up Next

Following the Holiday Break the Miners will host the Univeristy of Texas Longhorns at home (January 9-10).

Following their big win to become the first ever TCHC Conference Champions the Miners earned a No. 7 seed in the ACHA Western Regional Tournament.

UTEP is set to face off against the seed No. 6 University of Denver Pioneers, Friday February 24 th at Greeley Ice Haus. Puck drops at 9am and will be streamed live on Black Dog Enterprises.

The Miners reached the tournament after their 6-0 win over the Dallas Baptist Patriots last weekend. With the win, the Miners became the first-ever TCHC Conference Champions.

UTEP enters the ACHA Regional Tournament with a 30-3 overall record.

This will be the first appearance for the Miners in the tournament in the clubs 2-year program history.

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.

After Texas A&M put an end to UTEP’s 15-game win streak in a split decision last weekend, the Miners hockey team is seeking to get back on track this weekend.

The league-leading Miners will host the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference two-game home series showdown at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, and 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, at the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center (4100 E. Paisano.)

The powerhouse Miners are a stellar 14-2 and lead the South Division, while Texas Tech is 5-9 and competes in the North Division.

This season, UTEP has been paced by standout sophomore center Lukas Znosko with 53 points and sophomore goalie Alek Lazarski with 20 wins. Forward Austin Murray leads the Red Raiders with 12 goals and 14 assists.

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.

Tickets are available at the El Paso County Coliseum Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000 and online.

With nearly a month-long break to reflect on the current season, the red-hot Miner Hockey Team is looking forward to finishing the season the same way they started: dominating the ice.

At the mid-season break, the Miners are currently 19-1 (13-1 in conference play) with 12 games remaining in the season. Dating back to October 2nd, the Miners are on a 15 game win streak (7 road games and 8 home games) and remain undefeated at home.

This is the longest win streak in club history.

Sitting in first place, the Miners also lead TCHC (Texas Colligate Hockey Conference) in win percentage, least goals against (37), power play percentage (18.87), and shorthanded goals (10).

Sophomore center, Lukas Znosko, has had an impressive start to his second season with the Miners. Znosko is the leading scorer in TCHC, 2nd in goals in all of ACHA D2, and is ranked 10th overall in the nation.

“Lukas has had a fantastic start to the season. You can see all the work he put into his summer training as well as his practice is paying off. He’s a leader on this team and we will look to him more as we begin our playoff run.” Commented Coach Herman.

With 19 wins, Alek Lazarski ranks in at number 1 in ACHA D2 in wins. As the lone goalie for the Miners, Lazarski has played a key role in the Miners successful first half of the season.

The sophomore goalie leads TCHC with 18 wins (13 in conference play), 2.60 GAA (goals against average), and minutes played.

Coach Herman on Lazarski- “He’s been a huge reason for our success. We rely a lot on his play and he is always there to make the save when called upon. He’s always the first at practice and works hard each and every day to improve.”

On the season so far, Herman added, “It’s been a great start for our club. However, we know going forward we still have lots to do. We set goals at the start of the year to not only win the TCHC, but to go to the Regional championships. It will take more hard work and every player buying into the system. The fan support has been amazing and we will rely heavily on their support for the final push of the season as well as the TCHC Championships here in El Paso come February.”

UTEP secured 2 places in the Top 5 scoring leaders in TCHC, Lukas Znosko and Jeramy Rezaeepour. Jeramy Rezaeepour has had a solid first half helping the Miners with 44 points (21 G, 23 A). Although not in the Top 5, Freshman Matt Sanca has also had a good start to his college career with 35 points (18 G, 17 A).

Following the holiday break, the Miners will be back on the ice in the new year preparing for the Texas A&M Aggies two game home series on January 8th and 9th.

The Aggies are 11-4 in the season and are in second place in TCHC. This will be the final meeting for both teams in the regular season

Author: Tricia Luna / MINERS HOCKEY CLUB

The Miner Hockey Team continues to roll, splitting the series vs the UNM Lobos with Saturday night’s 8 to 5 win. Andres Acosta was there and brings you his view in this Story in Six Pics.