The University of Oregon club hockey team won the Pac-8 Championship tournament for the second consecutive time last weekend, defeating Washington State 6-2 on Saturday and Washington 4-3 on Sunday on the back of tournament MVP Cameron Forni, who scored two goals and had an assist in each of the two games.
Apart from senior forward Forni’s effort, some of the Ducks’ best performances came from junior forward Kevin Keeland, who had a goal and four assists over the weekend, and junior forward and assistant captain Sam Cehula, who had a goal and an assist.
In the title game Sunday, Washington took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after a slow start from the Ducks, but the lead was soon erased with three quick goals in the second period, after which Oregon never looked back.
Oregon didn’t have to play USC, the second seed in the tournament and the team the Ducks had faced in each of the last four championship games, because the Huskies, who beat Stanford in the first round, upset the Trojans 5-3 on Saturday. Senior captain and first team All-Pac-8 selection Jeff Gibb said the team was prepared to face either Washington or USC, but “Washington’s goaltending is a bit weaker and UW had to play two games before the championship, so that played to our advantage.”
Cehula offered a different take, saying “I thought (facing Washington) was a disadvantage because we beat them four times already this year. It’s hard to beat a team five times in a year.”
Gibb was not the only Pac-8 award winner from the Ducks. Sophomore Justin Lacasse, the other first-line defenseman, was also first team All-Pac-8. Forni was on the second team, and three Oregon players were named as honorable mentions: Cehula, senior forward Cale Meyer and senior goaltender Wren Arbuthnot. Oregon head coach Scott McCallum was named the co-Coach of the Year, along with Washington’s David Kell.
Gibb said the title was the perfect way to end his career for UO.
“My freshman year, we lost the championship to USC on home ice in overtime,” Gibb said. “Since then we have had a lot of success, but being able to finish my career with a championship win at home is a great feeling. It is the best way to end my senior season.”
Even though they are losing key players in Arbuthnot, Gibb, Forni and Meyer, Cehula thinks the Ducks will be able to win a third straight Pac-8 championship, because “we have enough good young guys to fill the holes.”
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Mighty Ducks
Daily Emerald
February 17, 2009
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