The game can be summed up in one word: great. In their first game against USC, Oregon broke their no-scoring streak and broke their losing streak all while in front of the largest (and loudest) home crowd they’ve seen all season.
“(The crowd) really helped,” Oregon forward Nick Sciabarra said. “It was great. We loved all of the intensity and the motivation they were giving us to win.”
After a losing grueling set of five road games in the San Jose Showcase and in Salt Lake City, Oregon club hockey finally found their way back on top with a 5-4 win against University of Southern California. The team was ready for a win and the fans were ready to see their Ducks return home for the first time in 20 days.
The both teams came out strong in the first period, but the Ducks had the advantage.
Oregon captain Tyler Halverson made the first shot of the game 27 seconds in, but the Ducks didn’t maintain possession for long as USC nabbed a few SOG of their own against goalie Danny Cockriel within the first three minutes. It quickly became a back-and-forth game.
But after 4:26, Oregon’s Dan Sulitzer scored with assists by Stephen Casey and Alex Sulitzer. The goal was not only the first of the game, but the first goal for Oregon in over four games. With Sulitzer’s goal, the team visibly had a weight removed from their shoulders and the pace picked up. Both teams continued getting pucks to the front of the net.
With only 3:18 left, Oregon proved their first goal wasn’t a fluke. Connor McBride, with help from Nick Kuehl, put the puck past the goalie. Then Oregon proved it again. Halverson scored only 26 seconds later. The Ducks led 3-0.
With just under three minutes remaining the penalties began truly coming in for the first time. USC’s Brian Weiniger went into the box for elbowing and was followed two minutes later by Oregon’s Trevor McCarty for tripping.
The momentum from their previous two goals was still rolling despite being on the penalty kill. While shorthanded, Sciabarra still stole the puck, weaved between two USC defensemen and got himself to the front of the net. Even though there was no shot fired, Oregon made it clear that they were still very much setting the pace of the game.
The players threw their weight around much more in the second period. In the first half, Casey connected with USC defenseman Ellis Gould, Gould had returned the favor against McBride and Sciabarra collided with Graham Bell of USC. Dan Sulitzer even checked the referee into the boards while aiming for a USC player.
Just over the halfway point, USC picked up the pace. The Trojans picked up back-to-back goals to bring the the score to 3-2 still in favor of the Ducks. Oregon responded, however, and scored two more goals of their own within the last few minutes of the second period. Alex Sulitzer picked up the first one and Sciabarra, unassisted, picked up the next for the game-winning goal. The Ducks regained their three-goal lead as the score read 5-2.
With only 54 seconds remaining, a fight broke out in front of the USC net. The fight yielded two roughing minors for each team in addition to a game misconduct for Oregon. Despite the calls, the game continued 5-on-5 play and the period ended.
In the third period, things were looking not-so-great for the Ducks. In the first three minutes, Patrick Taylor committed a tripping penalty and the Trojans capitalized on the power play. The board read 5-3. Then in the last two minutes, Cory Newman scored again for USC and suddenly the Trojans were within one. USC pulled their goalie hoping to gain an advantage.
Even with an extra man, USC couldn’t get the goal to tie it and the Ducks won the night 5-4.
“It was great,” Sciabarra said of the game. ” It felt great to go and score a couple goals out there. We hadn’t had a goal in four games, so it was great. It felt awesome.”
Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz
[Originally published here by the Daily Emerald on November 23, 2013]