ROSEVILLE, CA - From the drop of the first puck the Sacramento State Hornets took control of the game and never let up as they earned their first win Saturday night against the Fresno State Bulldogs 7-1. Sophomore forward Brian Cowell led the way for the Hornets earning three goals and assisting on three more. Junior forward Malachi Mahan used the Bulldogs penalties to his advantage, scoring both his goals in the first and third period on the power play.

            Alex Shaposhnikov and Matt Vanatta helped keep the Hornets offense rolling scoring two quick goals in the start of the second period off starting goalie Joe Ricupero. Cowell was the only Hornets player to earn a goal and an assist in every period.

            Fresno’s lone goal came towards the end of the first period on a breakaway by sophomore forward Trent Fisher. Ricupero was replaced by backup Nate Lamberty in the third after Cowell’s goal at the 14:15 mark, he stopped all shots he faced.

            Regarding the loss, head coach Marcel Bourdase stated the momentum had been building the past few games and finally came to a head against Sacramento State.

            “The way we’ve started the first period, I think tonight we came against a team who was a better team than I think anybody on our side expected,” Bourdase said. “I give credit to Sac State, I mean that’s the reality of it, they had some guys who made some plays tonight, and we weren’t ready to play. And at the end of the day, if we’re not ready to play and the other team is, it’s going to be difficult.”

            The Bulldogs will return to practice this week in preparation for their next home stand against Northern Arizona University and Bourdase will continue to reinforce his idea of playing hard and strong for a full 60 minutes.

            “I think the biggest thing is we have to learn how to prepare,” Bourdase said. “We’re mainly freshmen and sophomores, consistency’s tough to get, so we’re just going to get back to work and hopefully we can start working on our preparation, so we can be the team that dictates from the drop of the puck. When we can start doing that we’re going to be a better team.”

            Fresno State will return to the ice Friday at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 16 against NAU at Gateway Ice Center. Admission is free to students with a valid I.D.; general admission price is $5. The game can also be listened to live at http://bulldogicehockey.com