The Oregon Club hockey team (19-6-1 overall, 13-4 Pacific-8 Conference) literally came within inches of realizing its season goal.
At the Pac-8 tournament held Feb. 10-11 in Eugene, the Ducks overwhelmed their first opponent before losing the championship match to USC in a dramatic penalty shootout. The narrow defeat signaled the end of the season for the club because its final season ranking was too low to qualify for the regional tournament.
After watching USC come from behind to defeat UCLA in a shootout in the first game of the tournament, the Ducks took the ice to face California. The teams split the season series of two vastly different games. Oregon took the first meeting 14-1, but dropped the rematch the following night by a 3-2 score.
The third matchup resembled their first encounter; the Ducks jumped on top of the Bears early, outscoring them 5-2 in the first period. The Ducks then coasted to a 10-3 victory.
Cal Brackin, Colton Clay and Eric Steinman each scored twice for Oregon, while Matt Olson racked up three assists.
“We were in our flow, passed well and made things happen,” Oregon defenseman Jordan Guffin said.
Two weeks prior to the tournament, the Ducks swept USC in a two-game series. For the title match, however, the Trojans were at full strength, having regained the services of two of their premier offensive players.
“We knew it was going to be our hardest game of the season,” Guffin said.
USC scored first with a goal nearly six minutes into the first period. That was the only point for the first 20 minutes, but there was plenty of action in the penalty box. USC was whistled for four infractions in the first period and 13 penalties in the game, while the Ducks were called for eight offenses during the contest. Steinman put the Ducks on the board in the first minute of the second period with assists from Brian Carr and Mike Roley. USC struck back with a shorthanded goal to retake the lead. The Trojans expanded on their advantage late in the same period when Shon Smith tallied his second goal of the night for a 3-1 lead.
Oregon took advantage of its opponent’s indiscretions to get back into the game. Following a five-minute major penalty for checking from behind, Carr scored a power-play goal at 4:24 in the third period. Less than eight minutes later, the Ducks scored again on the power play, this time through Olson to tie the championship game at 3-3.
Regulation ended with the teams still deadlocked, setting up an overtime period. Oregon found itself with a man advantage after an interference penalty halfway through the extra time, but couldn’t convert the opportunity into a goal. Still tied after the overtime, the squads advanced to a penalty shootout. Both goaltenders showed their skills as they each allowed just one goal after five attempts.
In a final attempt to break the tie, the shootout went to a sudden-death format. On the first attempt in this new round, a shot by Brackin clanged off the goal post. Smith took the next shot and put in the net, securing the hat trick for himself and the win for his team.
“We did a good job to come back from 3-1,” Guffin said. “It was a valiant effort.”
The Ducks ended the season ranked 11th in the West region, two places behind USC and one place out of the regional tournament. The 11th-place ranking tied Oregon with UCLA, which the Ducks defeated earlier in the year.
“We proved we weren’t a one-year wonder,” Guffin said. “People know we have a team now.”