The Oregon club hockey team split a two-game series with Santa Rosa Junior College last Thursday and Friday to close out the regular season with a 19-6 record. The Ducks finish the year atop the Pac-8 standings, and will face the California Golden Bears in the first round of the Pac-8 playoffs this Friday in Seattle.
This past Friday night, the Ducks’ seniors said their farewells to the Lane County Ice Center, falling 3-2 to Santa Rosa. The Ducks fell behind 1-0 after the first period, then gave up a quick goal in the second period to fall further behind.
Trailing 2-1 midway through the second period, the Ducks appeared to have the tying goal, but referees disallowed the score because of a high stick.
Late in the second period, Santa Rosa scored to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. With 7:17 left in the third — exactly 20 minutes after their previous goal was disallowed — the Ducks pulled one back to make it a 3-2 game.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Oregon thought it would begin a power play after a Santa Rosa player laid an apparent dirty hit right in front of the referee. Despite pleading, no call was made. To make matters worse, the Ducks were called for a retaliation penalty a few seconds later, making a comeback all but impossible.
“If we don’t take that penalty at the end, who knows what happens,” head coach Eddie LeRoy said. “We had all the momentum, then it’s just one call that didn’t go our way that just ends the game for us.”
Officiating aside, LeRoy said Oregon had other things to worry about after the loss. Specifically, he wasn’t pleased with the lack of intensity the Ducks showed up with until the third period.
“We can’t make those excuses, because the reality is if we would have showed that intensity the whole game we wouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with,” LeRoy said.
For senior forward Erik Brody, who has also played with the Eugene Generals, it was the end of an era.
“Walking into the rink, it was kind of surreal,” he said.
While losing his last game on home ice was rough, Brody said the season is far from over.
“We look forward to Pac-8s,” Brody said, “and hopefully we can get a couple Ws up there and cap this senior season off right.”
In their first meeting last Thursday night, the Ducks jumped right out of the gates and beat Santa Rosa 4-3, scoring their first goal less than a minute into the game. The Ducks built a 4-1 lead by the middle of the second period, but Santa Rosa scored twice in a span of less than 10 seconds to make it a game again.
“We squeaked that one out,” LeRoy said. “We had a big lead and we blew it quickly, and we hung on to win. In the third period we controlled really well and I’m real happy with that, but we got to play a lot better.”
The games reunited Oregon defender Matt Hanlon, who grew up in the Santa Rosa area, with many of the same players he’s encountered in pickup games.
“It was nice kind of knowing their tendencies, because I definitely noticed that, especially on the power plays,” Hanlon said. “It really gave me a leg up.”
LeRoy said the team will have to work on playing a full 60-minute game to avoid a first round let-down against the Golden Bears on Friday.
With a win against Cal, the Ducks would face the winner of the Pac-8’s other semifinal matchup between the USC Trojans and the host Washington Huskies.
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Oregon club hockey splits last matchup, readies for Pac-8 playoffs
Daily Emerald
February 7, 2011
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