After an eye-opening loss against Northern Colorado last week, the BYU hockey team had two strenuous practices before they hit the road this weekend to face off against UNLV, who beat the No. 2 ranked team.

"Practices were more intense and we got after them to put a little more effort into their checking and to make their passes a little crisper, things that we were lacking," said assistant coach Don Homan.

The 6-4-2 Rebels are coming off an emotional win against UVSC, the No. 2 team. Last Friday the Rebels won 5-4 in an exciting, physical match. But the energy expended by the Rebels Friday did not leave much oomph for Saturday's game and it showed as UVSC shut them out 11-0 at the Seven Peaks arena in Provo.

"In a lot of ways the Rebels are similar to UVSC," Homan said. "They have a couple of guys that can find the net, and they run off of a lot of emotion more than anything else. If you let them into the game, it can get scary."

One of the Rebel players Cougar defense will have to control is Anthony Greener. He leads his team with 25 points this season, including assists and goals, and will be expected to provide offensive power this weekend for UNLV.

The BYU coaching staff will be looking to Brandon Holmes, Derek Battisti and Jason Griffiths to carry the offensive load, especially with the absence of Beau Adams. Adams has been a consistent offensive contributor, but the Cougars will have to do without him for the next six to eight weeks.

"Last week we changed up our lines and systems so we are getting used to playing with new line mates," Griffiths said. "We have been skating hard in practice and we are going to get two wins this weekend at UNLV and go into Thanksgiving on a positive note."

The 4-1-1-1 Cougars beat UNLV 2-1 last year in Provo, and look to continue their streak on Friday and Saturday at the Sobe Ice Arena, located in the Fiesta Ranch Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.



Copyright Brigham Young University 16 Nov 2007