The University men’s club hockey team picked up two big victories against the USC Trojans this weekend, starting the 2008-09 season with a 4-0 record.
“We’re not looking at our record much right now,” junior forward and team coordinator Sam Cehula said. “It’s nice to have won those games, but the experience we have gained as a team is more important.”
Oregon, the reigning Pac-8 Conference champion, historically has a heated rivalry with USC; the two teams have matched up several times in the championship round of the Pac-8 tournament in recent years. Last year, the Ducks came away with a 5-1 victory in the game and carried that confidence into this weekend’s matchup.
Throughout the early goings on Friday night, the Ducks struggled to find their groove. After Oregon took an early 2-1 lead at the end of the first period, the Trojans managed to find the back of the net twice in the second period to jump ahead 3-2. Shortly thereafter, senior Cale Meyer knocked in a power play goal and the Ducks kept the momentum from that point on.
In a thrilling finish, freshman Zach Peters tipped in the winning goal with 46 seconds left to seal up the 4-3 Oregon victory. Freshman Matt Stolzberg and senior Tom Stocklin also had goals for the Ducks, while sophomore Justin Lacasse dished out two assists.
Oregon senior forward Kevin Keeland suffered a serious concussion Friday when he lost his footing and fell head-first into the end boards, losing consciousness and straining tendons in his neck and back. He’s expected to recover fully in a few weeks.
“Keeland is a huge part of our team; it will be a tough few weeks without him in the lineup,” senior captain Jeff Gibb said. “Luckily, we have a lot of depth this season and there are plenty of guys ready to step up in his place.”
With momentum in their favor, the Ducks came into Saturday’s game ready to battle, and that’s exactly what they had to do.
USC jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first period before Oregon came out with a powerful second period, which featured goals from Stocklin, juniors Cehula and Tyler McCarty, as well as the first of two goals from senior Cam Forni.
The Trojans were able to get back on the board with a goal in the second and two more in the third.
Forni’s second goal broke the tie and gave Oregon the 5-4 advantage. But with 48 seconds left in the third, USC’s Michael Joyce scored to send the contest into overtime.
The additional five-minute overtime could not settle the game, so the teams matched up in a best-of-five shootout. Oregon goaltender senior Wren Arbuthnot, who had 63 saves on the weekend, was able to save all three USC attempts, while senior Joel Dunham, Forni and Meyer each converted on their shots to seal the Duck victory.
Oregon will begin a three-game road trip when they match up with San Diego State University on Thursday before playing at UCLA on Friday and Saturday.
“At this point our team is optimistic,” Gibb concluded. “We showed we can win clutch games, but the exciting part is we have yet to play our best hockey.”
[email protected]