Discipline has been a recurring theme of the Oregon Club hockey team’s season so far.
This weekend was a perfect example.
On the road against Western Washington, the Ducks committed fewer than 10 combined penalties in back-to-back victories. In each of its four losses, however, Oregon has been more frequently penalized.
“We are trying to stress discipline, especially heading into the Pac-8 Tournament,” Captain Mike Tornabene said. “We can win a game on discipline alone.”
In the first of two games against the Vikings, Oregon committed only three penalties — compared with Western Washington’s 11 — as the Ducks cruised to a commanding 11-2 victory.
Oregon then swept the series a night later, winning 9-1. Once again, the Ducks’ penalties were few and far between, which led to the convincing victory.
“They were a really physical team and
kept trying to draw us into fights,” Tornabene said. “But we were really disciplined and
out-skated them.”
With the two wins, Oregon’s record improved to 18-4-2.
The Ducks conclude the regular season this weekend at home against the Boise State Broncos then will travel to Berkeley, Calif., for the Pac-8 Tournament on Feb. 18.
Leary takes first in fencing
The Oregon Club fencing team had an impressive showing this weekend at the Grand Open
in Beaverton.
Joe Leary took home first place in the
division two epee competition by defeating Taylor Moore of the Northwest Fencing Club, 15-8. The bout with Moore was the closest match of the weekend for Leary, who dominated throughout the competition, according to head coach Adam Lake.
“Joe did an excellent job of sticking to the basics,” Lake said. “He fenced at a level I have never seen him accomplish before.”
Teammate Evan Cooley finished the weekend in eighth place. Abram Goodstein and Tiffany LeBrun finished 11th and 13th respectively.
In the division two foil competition, Robbie Teel placed 12th.
“Our conditioning was not as it should be, but as a whole, everyone was moving well,” Lake said. “It was great to see all of the hard work pay off.”
Sailing makes it to finals
The Oregon Club sailing team advanced to the championship round of a team racing regatta hosted by Portland State University this weekend, but a lack of wind forced a cancellation of the final round.
The Ducks, facing Portland State, Lewis and Clark, Western Washington and other sailors from the Portland area, finished in the top four to claim a spot in the championship before the weekend was prematurely ended.
According to head coach Rob Dubuc III, the experience of team racing will be invaluable in the future.
“I was pretty pleased,” Dubuc said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but we were all pretty positive.
“This is going to help us in the spring when we do more team racing.”
Oregon travels to Bellingham to face Western Washington next weekend for an individual-style race.
Luke Andrews is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald
