In the second round of the Pac-8 tournament, No. 3 Oregon (13-10, 6-4 Pac-8) faced off against No. 2 USC (13-9-1, 10-5 Pac-8) for a spot in tomorrow’s Pac-8 finals. Even though USC had the higher seed, Oregon got the win and eliminated the Trojans, 4-1. While it was only USC’s first game of the tournament, it was Oregon’s second. The previous night, the Ducks eliminated Cal after a 6-1 victory.

Oregon’s Chris Campbell had the lone goal of the first period – a period in which both teams collected a large amount of penalty minutes. Three and a half minutes into the game, Ellis Gould committed a cross-checking penalty. Oregon’s Joe Hoover picked up an interference call later in the period, which was followed a few minutes later by matching roughing calls between Ducks captain Patrick Sgarlata and Trojans’Evan Greenberg.

Early in the second period, Alex Sulitzer upped Oregon’s score by one with help from Trevor Shott and Will Daniels. However, the goal was answered by USC’s David Begert and Oregon’s lead was back to just one. For Oregon, a large part of the period was played a man down. The Ducks had four penalties in the 2nd, two of them for too many men on the ice. USC only had one penalty, which was for high-sticking.

While the third period was where Oregon pulled ahead — both Campbell and Sulitzer scored another goal apiece — it was  the period that Ducks’ goaltender Danny Cockriel shined. Of the 11 penalties in the period, six belonged to Oregon, leaving Cockriel to face more shots than he typically sees. He even defended the onslaught during USC’s 5-on-3 power play.

The championship game between Oregon and No. 1 Utah (21-12-2, 7-1 Pac-8) will happen tomorrow at 12pm PST.

Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz.

[Originally published here by the Daily Emerald on February 7, 2015.]