Duplicating last year’s success in Los Angeles, the Oregon men’s club hockey team (12-2 overall, 10-2 Pac-8) swept then-first-place UCLA (9-4 overall, 7-3 Pac-8) Nov. 17 and Nov. 18 to secure the top spot in the Pac-8 standings.
The Ducks won 3-2 on Friday and 5-2 Saturday. Oregon swept the Bruins in 2005 at home, 1-0 and 3-2.
Thanks to a luggage mix-up at Los Angeles International Airport, Oregon, which has won six-straight games, was without star forwards Brian Carr and Colton Clay early on. Their luggage had been placed on a different airplane that arrived near the starting time of the contest.
Racing over to the rink, the pair laced up and were on the ice by the second period.
Oregon grasped a 2-1 advantage on Mike Hideghety’s and Eric Steinmann’s goals before Clay scored the goal that padded Oregon’s victory.
“We were on the power play,” coordinator Jeff Gibb said. “I was on defense and shot the puck from the point, and the goalie kicked it out, when Colton put it in.”
Oregon goalie Wren Arbuthnot had 53 saves Friday.
Oregon rattled off four unanswered goals after UCLA scored first en route to the 5-2 win Saturday. On one scoring drive in the game, forward Tom Stocklin carried the puck around the blue line in the Bruins’ zone to draw defenders to him. In a give-and-go play, a wide-open Matt Lutsch zoomed across the ice, received the pass from Stocklin and launched in the score on a UCLA goalie who Gibb described as “one of the best in the league.”
“It felt great,” Lutsch, a defenseman, said. “The whole weekend felt great.”
Ryan Pinckard contributed an efficient game in the net for the Ducks, registering 31 saves. Stocklin netted two goals and added an assist, Carr had a goal and an assist, Lutsch knocked in one goal and an assist and Gibb registered two assists. Steinmann, the Ducks’ leading scorer with 22 goals this season, also scored.
Lutsch found himself in a brief scuffle with UCLA forward Allen Grigorian in game two. Gibb said Grigorian must have had eight penalties, and went after Pinckard after the end of the third period.
“Matt stepped in and took control,” Gibb said.
The American Collegiate Hockey Association standings were released, with Oregon moving from ninth to eighth in the West, currently tied with the USC Trojans. The top 10 teams in the West Region are eligible to compete in the regional and national tournaments.
Arizona State, which has only played in four conference games so far, ascended to second place in the Pac-8 standings after UCLA’s losses. USC stands in third with a record of 8-3, while UCLA dropped to fourth at 7-3.
Oregon next battles at home against Gonzaga (6-5-1) Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, with each game starting at 7 p.m. The Ducks defeated the Bulldogs 4-3 last year in Spokane, Wash.