After losing the first two games of the year, the Oregon hockey team has rattled off five consecutive Pac-8 victories after a three-game sweep in Southern California during the weekend.
The Ducks are currently tied for third place in the conference, trailing Arizona State and Washington.
After handily beating UCLA last weekend at home, the Ducks continued to dominate the Bruins, winning the first game of the weekend set 9-0 on Thursday night. Goaltender Wren Arbuthnot recorded the shutout for the Ducks.
Oregon scored twice in the first period, four times in the second and three times in the third period to put the game out of reach. Eric Steinmann scored two goals and had two assists, and Colton Clay and Tom Stocklin each had two goals and one assist each.
“What I was most happy about was that we held them to five shots the entire game,” said head coach Scott McCallum. “They couldn’t even come in our zone.”
To finish the weekend, Oregon played USC, the reigning Pac-8 champion. Oregon made its statement and got a bit of revenge as well, beating the Trojans 4-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday in Anaheim. Making the games even more important was the fact that the two games are the only two scheduled between the Ducks and Trojans until the conference tournament. The wins against USC marked the first time Oregon had ever beaten the Trojans in California.

“Anyone who’s ever played USC with us had revenge on their mind because we’d obviously lost to them in overtime in the finals (of the Pac-8 tournament) the past two years,” said McCallum.
On Friday, the Ducks jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Clay. After a second period that saw both teams score goals, Oregon’s Cam Forni scored to make it a two-goal lead. After USC scored with 2:42 remaining in the final period, they substituted their goalie for an extra attacker and a one-man advantage. With 21 seconds remaining, Tyler McCarty scored on the empty net for the final score. Cal Brackin added the other score for the Ducks.
“The guys really just laid down the hammer in that first game,” said McCallum.
Saturday night’s victory, which appeared to be an easy victory on the score sheet, was uncertain for most of the game with the Ducks finally adding insurance goals late in the third period to win 3-0.
Steinmann put the Ducks on the board 48 seconds into the second period, but the Ducks were stymied by the tough Trojans defense for the rest of the second period and much of the third. With three minutes left, freshman Jeff Kraus scored. Goaltender Ryan Pinckard tallied 17 saves in the second game.
Oregon will face Cal (2-2) at the Lane County Ice Arena this Friday and Saturday, with each game starting at 7 p.m.
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