Same old, same old.
Now 11 games into their season, Oregon’s hockey team (6-5, 2-4 Pac-8) continues to be plagued by the same penalty troubles that hounded them earlier in the season.
In two home losses to archrivals@@m-w.com@@ Washington this weekend, the Ducks felt as if they out-skated the Huskies five-on-five but spent too much time in the penalty box and gave up several power play goals.
The Ducks lost 3-1 last Friday night despite outclassing Washington for most of the game. Oregon had the clear advantage in scoring chances, but the bounces simply didn’t go their way.
“I thought we outplayed@@m-w.com@@ them for the most part,” head coach Rich Salahor@@http://oregonduckshockey.com/recruit.html@@ said. “Their goaltender made some key saves, and we missed some key shots.”
Washington took the lead less than a minute into the first period and added the eventual game-winner on the power play later in the first period.
Trailing 3-0 late in the second period, Zach Peters@@roster: http://oregonduckshockey.com/team.html@@ scored Oregon’s lone goal of the night, and the Ducks had a golden opportunity late in the game to draw one back when the Huskies took a five-minute major for boarding but couldn’t score.@@not sure what a “five-minute major for boarding means,” but okay…@@
On Saturday, Oregon came out with more energy and led the Huskies 2-1 after the first period before eventually falling 6-5.@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?p=369@@ Oregon will now have to win twice in Seattle and beat the Huskies in a shootout to win the I-5 Cup.
“If we can go up to Seattle and stay out of the box and capitalize on our chances,” junior defenseman Matt Hanlon@@roster@@ said, “those games aren’t gonna be a problem for us.”
The Ducks have a tough slate of games this weekend when they travel to Utah for the Utah Showcase.@@can’t find anywhere else: http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?p=341@@ They open up on Thursday with a game against the Utah State Aggies who rank first in the West Region of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.@@http://achahockey.org/page.php?page_id=3117&league_id=1061@@
Utah State is 14-0-1 on the year@@site not up to date: http://www.usu.edu/camprec/htm/clubsports/hockey/games/hockeyschedule@@ and has scored more than 100 more goals than they have allowed.@@can’t find@@
The Aggies’ potent offense boasts two of the top five goal scorers in ACHA’s Division II in Tyler Mistelbacher@@http://www.usustatesman.com/hockey-chastens-hellcats-1.2657986@@ and Brendan MacDonald,@@previous@@ who have scored 22 and 21 goals respectively in 13 games for Utah State.@@previous stats indicate they’ve played 15, but schedule says 14@@
Playing a strong opponent will give a young Ducks team an opportunity to see how they can play against the nation’s best.
“This is the most ready we’ve been,” Hanlon said. “Whether this is as ready as we should be — that’s what this weekend will show.”
Despite the Aggies’ daunting numbers, the Ducks feel that if they can play at even strength, they can keep up with Utah State.
“We have a good team five-on-five, and we haven’t really gotten a chance to show that for an entire game,” Hanlon said.
The Ducks will look to weather the storm defensively and create a few chances of their own on the counterattack.
“We’re going to try to contain them for most of the game,” Hanlon said, “and look for little breaks that we can take advantage of it.”
When the Ducks play Colorado State on Saturday, it will be a reunion of sorts for Denver native Danny Cockriel,@@http://www.oregonduckshockey.com/?page_id=386@@ who played club hockey with a few players on the Rams team.
“That’ll be fun to play against them and talk a little smack,” Cockriel said.
After uneven start, Oregon club hockey prepares for top-ranked Utah State
Daily Emerald
November 14, 2011
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