It once again came down to the final few minutes in the Ducks’ hard-fought 4-3 victory over USC on Saturday night.
The Oregon hockey team’s momentum seemed to have finally started to turn. Hot off of a much-needed win the previous night, the Ducks looked to rob another two points from the University of Southern California. USC, on the other hand, had only lost by one the night before and looked to get the win they had been in reach of.
Oregon had won the first face-off, but that gave little indicator as to who had the early advantage. Both teams were getting in front of the net, both teams were getting shots, and both teams were getting physical.
The first goal came late in the first period by Oregon’s Dillon Abate. Assists were given to forward Jake Yale and defenseman Jesse Leonard.
Just over a minute later, Oregon paired their goal with a penalty as Alex Sulitzer entered the box for hooking. USC wasn’t even halfway through their power play before Newman sunk one into the top of the netting to tie the game.
Oregon quickly responded. Connor McBride scored one off of a great pass from McCarty on the break less than a minute after Newman, with the puck finding its home just under the left glove of the USC goalie. Oregon regained their lead and only 5:09 remained.
The first casualty for the Ducks happened with 2:24 to go. In the USC zone, Alex Sulitzer had a huge hit against USC’s Graham Bell. The hit was ruled as a 5-minute major for boarding in addition to a game misconduct and an immediate game ejection for Sulitzer. With that, Oregon lost their first man.
USC did not like the play one bit. Brendan Weiniger of USC came to the aid of his fallen teammate to engage Alex Sulitzer. Alex’s brother, Dan Sulitzer, came to protect his kin and shoved off Weiniger while the rest of the Oregon team held off USC. Weiniger earned a roughing penalty.
“I think it was definitely checking from behind, a two-minute and a ten, but a five and a game ejection was a little bit too much for me,” Oregon forward Patrick Taylor said of the ejection. “But I can see from the standpoint of the ref that it could be an intent to injure. He (Alex) did come from the top of the circle all the way down to a player with the puck. His back was to Alex and he hit his back into the boards, so it could’ve gone either way.”
Seconds before the period ended, Oregon suffered their second causality of the game. A USC player had sent a slapshot toward the Ducks’ goal, but instead of the puck making it to the net, it made it straight into captain Tyler Halverson’s wrist.
“It just swelled up like a balloon and I got some ice on it,” Halverson said. “I couldn’t finish up the game, but I’ll be back very soon.”
In the second, both teams were still playing evenly. Both teams scored a goal in the first five minutes of play and, excluding the penalties by Alex Sulitzer that carried over from the first, both teams were nearly matched in penalty minutes. USC even had an injury of their own. Anthony Tabanji collided with another player at center ice, was down for a few minutes and needed a trainer to help him off the ice.
Everything came down to the 3rd period.
In the third period, tensions were still running high. Weight was being thrown around by everyone. Ducks forward Matt Ackman was flattened against the boards in the first four minutes by USC Chris Roman and was visibly hurting. Roman was charged with roughing.
Halfway through the period, Dan Sulitzer scored for Oregon giving the Ducks a two-goal lead. The score was 4-2.
Soon only 2:36 remained and the Trojans managed to score again, putting themselves into a situation similar to the one the night before. Once again USC pulled their goalie and hoped to get one last goal during the final minute or so of play. Once again USC was unsuccessful.
The Ducks won 4-3.
As for what the pair of wins meant to the Ducks, Halverson described it only as being “amazing”.
“How can it not feel good?” Halverson said of the wins. “Honestly, it was good. We really needed that as a confidence booster. Hopefully it will get our momentum swinging in the right direction. It’s a downhill battle now.”
Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz
[Originally published here by the Daily Emerald on November 24, 2013]