The Oregon club hockey team easily handled the first two games of the Portland State series this weekend, ending their homestand with 5-3 and 9-0 wins on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“There was definitely an improvement,” said goaltender Trevor Peterson of the second night compared to the first. “I think that PSU may not have played as well [the second night], but we also looked a lot better and a lot cleaner. We were a lot faster.”
During the first period of the game on Friday, the Ducks acquired a two-goal lead and looked like they would have no problem maintaining it. However, after an unassisted goal by defenseman Cody Albert, the Vikings put themselves on the board with under three minutes left to play.
The second period was more back-and-forth, with each team putting up an additional point. First, PSU’s Tanner Ward picked up a rebound after a flurry of shots on Anderton and tied the game. 1:45 later, Oregon rookie Trevor Shott took back Oregon’s lead with a powerful slap shot that made its way just past PSU goaltender Justin Nicklas.
The game got chippier heading into the third. With penalties occurring regularly for both teams, every third period goal was scored on the power play.
10 seconds after a cross-checking penalty on Portland State center Josh Powell, Alex Sulitzer scored and extended Oregon’s lead back to two. Then after Nick Sciabarra committed a cross-check during a small scuffle in front of the net, Charlie Kaser brought the score back to 4-3 for Portland State in an unassisted power-play goal. Sciabarra then made up for the previous goal by putting the puck in the twine himself and sealing a 5-3 victory for the Ducks.
Saturday night, despite the Ducks’ thorough dominance in a 9-0 win, both teams racked up the penalty minutes. Oregon had seven minors while Portland State had eight penalties, one of them being a 5-minute major for a face mask that left Oregon defenseman Will Daniels sitting in the penalty box with a bloody nose.
“I hit the kid and he, well, he grabbed my cage from behind and ripped off my helmet,” Daniels said of the play that earned himself a boarding penalty and PSU’s Patrick Von Bachellé a major at the end of the second period.
Other than Daniels’ bloodied nose, noteworthy events included Trevor McCarty’s hat trick and Trevor Peterson’s shutout.
Peterson, who had a shaky start during and had to be pulled during his last game against California, said he enjoyed these high-scoring games despite not seeing too much action in front of his net.
“I don’t really mind games like this,” he said. “The pressure in this game was to get the shutout and to finish it through. When it’s a close game, that’s a different aspect of stress. This wasn’t bad. I liked it.”
Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz
