If there is evidence that UCLA, ranked first in the Pac-8 with a 7-1 record, can be stopped, Oregon (10-2 overall, 8-2 Pac-8) should look no further than a few games ago.
Two weeks ago and on the road, the Bruins nearly slipped up against a Stanford team that is still winless in conference action – the same Cardinal team that Oregon crushed over the past weekend.
“Stanford was actually beating UCLA until late in the third to escape with the victory,” coordinator Jeff Gibb said. “It proves that they aren’t invincible.”
Last October, the Ducks also defeated UCLA twice.
But focused on the present, Oregon steamrolled Stanford, winning 14-3 Friday and 12-1 Saturday. Gibb said that around 160 fans showed up each night, some of whom opted to watch hockey Saturday over the Oregon football game at USC.
Oregon remains second in the Pac-8 behind UCLA and ninth in the ACHC West region following the sweep. The wins come just one weekend after Oregon outscored Washington 18-2 in two contests and one weekend before the Ducks travel to Los Angeles to challenge the conference reign of its Pac-8 foe UCLA.
“I think the wins we posted in the last two weekends put us apart from UCLA, who only beat Stanford by a couple of goals,” forward Mike Hideghety said. “We are showing our domination on offense and on defense through our shutouts.”
On Friday, about the only thing the Cardinal managed to do right was score first. After that, the Ducks rattled off a seven straight goals while putting down a snug defensive clamp on Stanford. Junior Eric Steinmann had a game-high three goals and also contributed two assists.
Steinmann added to his team-leading 20 goals on the season, and Freshman Tom Stocklin, sophomore Joel Dunham and junior Colton Clay each netted two goals. Stocklin sustained a leg injury earlier this season but was able to see his first action of the year. Every Oregon offensive player scored at least on point in the victory.
“It took us a few minutes to wake up and get going on Friday,” Gibb said. “They scored a quick goal and we are a much better team offensively.”
On Saturday, the Ducks continued their dominance, as Clay and Dunham each registered hat tricks that fueled Oregon’s relentless scoring spree. Coach Scott McCallum switched Clay from defense to offense midway through last season because of rash of injuries. Now a forward, he said the Ducks’ depth, along with a Brian Carr and Steinmann who are “in the groove,” have him feeling confident about the wins, and the upcoming weekend.
“They’re (Stanford) not a bad team, but they have a short bench so they don’t have a lot of players to go with,” Clay said. “So as the game (two) went along we were able to move around the bench.
“UCLA is first but we are going to work on some things in practice this week specifically for those games.”
Steinmann added three assists and Hideghety, a senior who currently leads Oregon with 17 assists this season, netted two goals last Saturday.
UCLA, ranked 10th in the ACHC West region, will host Oregon Friday and Saturday. The battle in California will be the last before new ACHC rankings are released.