Tag Archives: utep hockey

After what seemed like an extraordinarily long and hot summer, the wait is finally over and UTEP Hockey is back.

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

• Defenseman Chris Roosmalen has returned and will serve as assistant coach this season.
• Coach Herman will begin his 4th season as Miner head coach.
• UTEP finished last season in 3rd place at the TCHC Playoff Tournament.

For tickets visit the Miner’s website.

On Tuesday, the UTEP Hockey Club announced it’s non-conference game schedule. The addition of six games brings the Miners to a 26-game slate for the 2018-19 season.

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.

Monday afternoon, the UTEP Hockey Club announced the conference schedule for the upcoming 2018-19 campaign.

The Miners kick off conference play on the road. UTEP will play game one of the two game series against Texas State Friday, September 28 at The Pond in Austin, Texas. The Miners fell to the Bobcats, 4-2, during the first road trip last season.

However, the Miners won the following three games, including a sweep at home where the Miners tallied 26 goals.

Closing out the first weekend, the Miners will visit the Chaparral Ice rink in Austin, Texas, with a two-game series against division rival the Texas Longhorns, September 29-30. Last season, the Miners swept the Longhorns at home and split the series on the road with a 4-1 win.

The Miners will have to wait until the second semester to play the Longhorns at home, January 14-15.

Following a week off, the Miners will head back out on the road to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies, October 12-13, at the Spirit Ice Arena.

The Aggies swept the Miners during week one last season, but the Miners got redemption and swept the Aggies in El Paso, 3-1 and 5-4. The Miners met the Aggies during the first Round of 2018 TCHC Playoffs and won 5-3 to advance to the semifinals.

The Miners will face off against the Aggies following the winter break, January 7-8, at the El Paso County Events Center.

UTEP will head east, to Austin, for the final game of the two-game series against Texas State (October 14), started the previous road trip. The Bobcats will head to the Sun City for the final weekend of play, February 1-2, before playoffs.

Back in El Paso, the Miners will host the East Texas Baptist Tigers, November 16-17. The Miners and Tigers split at home during the final homestand of the 2017-18 season. This will be the only meeting between both teams as the Tigers will play in the northern division of TCHC this season.

Closing out the first semester, the Miners will play Dallas Baptist Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1. UTEP remains victories against the Patriots with wins in the last four meetings both at home and on the road.

The Miners will kick off their final road trip in Dallas with a two-game series against Texas Christian University, (January 17-18). Last year, the Miners swept the Horned Frogs in El Paso, 3-1 in game one and 3-2 in overtime in game two.

Closing out the road trip, UTEP will take on the TCHC Champions the North Texas Mean Green (January 19-20) at the Dr Pepper Star Center-Farmers Branch. During the last meeting the Miners swept the Mean Green in El Paso.

For more info on the Miners, visit their website, and stay tuned for upcoming game times and ticket information.

2018-19 TCHC Conference Schedule

September 28 – at Texas State

September 29-30 – at University of Texas

October 12-13 – at Texas A&M

October 14 – at Texas State

November 16-17 – vs East Texas Baptist University

November 30-December 1 – vs Dallas Baptist University

January 7-8- vs Texas A&M

January 14-15- vs University of Texas

January 18-17 – at Texas Christian University

January 19-20 – at North Texas

February 1-2 – vs Texas State

AUSTIN – Down 4-2 in the 3rd, the Miners came back strong Thursday night and defeated Texas A&M 5-4 to advance to the Semi-Finals of the TCHC Playoffs.

Miner Forward Jorge Duenas put the Miners on the board first, giving UTEP a 1-0 lead. Texas A&M Huston Svondrk answered and tied the game at 1. Then the Aggies’ Gary Russell, scores and the teams head into the first intermission with A&M taking a 2-1.

Back for the 2nd period, the Aggies increased their lead when Andrew Monhollen gets one past UTEPs’ Lazarski. Matt Sanca responds and cuts the Aggie lead down by one goal, making the score 3-2 at the buzzer.

Heading into the final frame, the Aggies waste no time and score once again, putting the Miners down by 2 goals. Following two back-to-back penalties on the Aggies, the Miners go on a 5-on-3 power play. Taking full advantage of the power play, Josh Baeza finds the back of the net and brings the Miners within one goal of the Aggies.

Still on the same power play, Miner Forward Matt Sanca scores unassisted and ties the game at 4. The Miners then take advantage of another Texas A&M penalty and Matt Sanca scores, completing the hat trick, to give the Miners their second lead of the game.

With two minutes remaining, the Aggies pulled their goalie. Shortly after, UTEP’s Kevin Duncan gets called for crosschecking with 1 minute and 26 seconds to go in the game.

Despite the 6-on-4 Aggie advantage, the Miners hold on to their lead and defeat the Texas A&M Aggies, 5-4 in Round 1 of the TCHC Playoffs.

With the win, the Miners advance to the Semi-final round where they will face off against top seed North Texas at 2:45pm MST

The Miners will host the East Texas Baptist University Tigers in their final home stand of the season, Friday (February 2) at 11am and Saturday (February 3) at 3:30pm.

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

• Miners are 17-9 overall, 16-4 in conference play.
• UTEP is in 1st place in TCHC.
• Freshman Dominik Taras leads the Miners in points and goals scored (28 G, 24 A).
• Junior Goaltender, Alek Lazarski averages 3.28 goals against and a .893 save percentage.

Up Next

The Miners will head to Austin, Texas for the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference Playoffs. Playoffs start February 8^th.   There is a ‘GoFundMe’ account to help the team raise money for the trip.

The Miner Hockey Team is all set for the 2-game home series against the Texas State Bobcats this weekend, January 20-21.

The puck drops for game 1 on Saturday at 3:30pm and the series will conclude Sunday at 11am. For detailed ticket information, click here.

• Miners are 13-8 overall, 12-3 in conference play.
• UTEP is in 3rd place in TCHC.
• Freshman Dominik Taras leads the Miners in points and goals scored (21 G, 14 A).
• Junior Goaltender, Alek Lazarski averages 3.41 goals against and a .888 save percentage.

Author: Tricia Luna  – UTEP Hockey Club

Photo:

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).

Looking to bounce back after a tough opening weekend the Miners hosted Texas A&M for Pink Out the Rink & Stick It To Cancer Weekend, in support of breast cancer awareness month.

Texas A&M was first to score in the 1st period and the Miners would head to the locker room down by one goal.

Eager to get the game going for the Miners, Nick Howell took advantage of the Miner power play and tied the score midway through the 2nd period.

Noah Vanderzwan would open the scoring for the 3rd with a shorthanded goal and give the Miners their first lead of the game. With about 4 minutes to go in the game, Jorge Duenas assisted by Nick Howell scored giving the Miners a 2 goal lead. The Aggies unable to respond and the Miners would hold their lead and win the game.

Returning Saturday night for Game 2, the Miners hit the ice ready to close out the weekend. Getting past the Aggie’s goalie, Dominik Taras would score first for the Miners, his 4th goal of the season. Texas A&M would answer with 2 goals and take the lead to the end the 1st period.

Noah Vanderzwan scores 8 minutes into the 2nd period and ties the game at 2. The 2nd period would see plenty of time spent in the penalty box by the Miners but the Aggies weren’t able to capitalize and the score remained tied at 2.

Back for the 3rd, Vanderzwan was called early for tripping and the Aggies would score on the power play taking the lead. Quick to respond Matt Sanca with the assist from his brother Jon Sanca would score and tie the game at 3. With 8 minutes to go in the 3rd, the twins would connect again as Matt would set up Jon and would score giving the Miners back the lead.

However, with 10.5 seconds left, the Aggies would get one passed Lazarski to tie the game and force overtime.  The Miners applied pressure early on in OT, and Dominik Taras scored 3 minutes into overtime, allowing the Miners to sweep the Aggies.

“It was a good team effort this weekend. We knew we were going to have to pull together as a team if we wanted to find success. I was really proud of the guys on how they responded,” comments Coach Herman.

With the victories, the Miners improved to 4-3 (conference play) and hit the road to Dallas to play Dallas Baptist in a game series. This will be the first meeting between both teams since the TCHC Championship game last February.

The Miners will then play SMU on Sunday before heading back to El Paso

Video courtesy UTEP Hockey

The reigning Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference champions are back on their home ice.

After a chilly start to the new season on the road, the UTEP Miners are looking to open their home season with victories this weekend as they take on the Northern Arizona Ice Jacks in a two-game series at the El Paso County Coliseum Events Center, 4100 East Paisano.

The Miners, under coach Tom Herman, are 2-3. They opened the season with losses to Texas A&M and Texas State, but pulled off two wins against Texas Tech this past weekend.

The UTEP Miners Hockey Club is a registered student organization that was formed in 2015.

The team competes in the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference, which is part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The TCHC features two divisions and a final championship tournament that comes with an automatic berth into the ACHA Division 2 West Regional.

UTEP competes in the South Division with Texas, Texas A&M and Texas State, while the North Division features Texas Tech, North Texas, TCU and Dallas Baptist.

The games are set for 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14. Tickets are $7 for all seats and are available at the El Paso County Coliseum Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000 and online.

Keep up with the Ice Miners via:

Twitter: @UTEPHockeyClub

Facebook: facebook.com/MinersClubHockey

Instagram: instagram.com/utephockeyclub

The UTEP Miners Hockey Club announced Monday their 28 game regular season schedule for the 2017-18 campaign.

Coming off a historic season, the UTEP Hockey Club announced they will host Northern Arizona University Ice Jacks in their 2017-18 season home opener on October 13, 2017.

“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 7^th in the Western Region while NAU finished 2^nd, qualifying both teams for post season play at the ACHA Tournament.

The Miners Hockey Club has announced they will open the 2017-18 season on the road against Texas A&M on September 29, 2017 at the Spirit Ice Arena. This matchup kicks off conference play for the new season.

The Miners and Aggies opened up their season last year in College Station. The first game saw the two teams trade goals back and forth and ended up going into overtime. Neither team scored in OT, however the Miners were able to win the game 7-6 in a shootout.

The following night, the Miners and Aggies were back at it. Again both teams didn’t have issues scoring early. However, the Aggies outscored the Miners to win 5-3.

Opening up the second half of the season, the Miners and Aggies faced off in El Paso. The first game once again saw the Miners come out strong. They took the first game 6-3. However, they couldn’t get the home sweep against the Aggies. The Aggies would win 2-1.

“We are starting our conference play against one of the strongest teams. It’s no secret A&M has had a strong club for several years. Although we have only played them a handful of times, the games are always exciting and something our team looks forward too.” commented Coach Herman.

Last season, the Miners finished 1st in the South Division and the Aggies were a close 2nd. During the TCHC tournament, the teams were in opposite brackets for a potential matchup for the championship. However, the Aggies were upset by UT in overtime the opening game.

The Miners went on to win the TCHC Championship by defeating the DBU Patriots by a score of 6-0.

Both teams will look to build on their success from last season as the TCHC enters it’s second year.

Author: UTEP Miner Hockey

While the Denver Pioneers may have gotten the best of the TCHC Champions on the ice, the Miners 2016-17 season was still an unqualified success.

The Miners arrived in Greeley, Colorado Thursday afternoon. With a 9 am start time, the Miners packed up the bus in the 17-degree weather and snow and were off to the rink.

This was the Miners first time at the ACHA Western Regional Tournament.

The Miners took the ice and came out ready to face off against the Denver Pioneers. The Miners found their rhythm quickly and Dominik Taras opened the scoring for the Miners.

The Miners continued to be strong defensively against the Pioneers. Late in the 1^stperiod, Denver scored and both teams would head to the locker room tied at 1.

Back for the 2^nd period, the Miners didn’t let up and kept fighting. Denver scored and took the lead 7 mins into the 2^nd. Dominik Taras would tie the game for the Miners with his unassisted goal. With 2 mins remaining in the 2^nd period, Denver would take the lead by 1 goal, 3-2.

The Miners knew this would be their chance to take back the game. Denver would start off the 3^rd period with a goal and the Miners were down by 2. Miner Forward Jeramy Rezaeepour wasn’t ready to give up and scored to get the Miners within 1 goal of the Pioneers.

With just over a minute to play in the 3^rd, Coach Herman called a timeout. Lazarski would go to the bench and the Miners would get an extra player on the ice. Despite their best efforts the Miners would fall short and lose the game 4-3.

Despite a disheartening loss in the 2^nd round of the ACHA Regional Tournament the Miners concluded their 2^nd season (30-4-1) overall on the season and as the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference Champions.

On behalf of the UTEP Hockey Club they would like to thank their amazing fan base, families, coaches and staff for their continuous support.

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.