Dan Sulitzer has played ice hockey for 20 years. His brother, Alex, has played for 17. However, despite both having played since the age of 5, they’ve never played together.
At least, until now.
Dan and Alex wanted to change the fact that they had never been on the same team, so late in the summer of 2012, they made a pact: they would both attend the University of Oregon and play for the Oregon club hockey team together in the fall.
After a 5-2 victory against UCLA the night prior, the three seed Oregon club hockey team took on the top seeded No. 15 Arizona State University Sun Devils where they fell 5-1. The loss meant elimination for the Oregon Ducks as ASU moved on to the Pac-8 Championship against the reigning champs, the No. 5 Utah Utes.
Three seed Oregon took on six seed UCLA for the first game of the Pac-8 playoffs held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Ducks emerged victorious with a 5-2 win over the Bruins.
The win over the Bruins means that the Ducks will be facing the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils, the top seed in Pool B, tomorrow night for a spot in the Pac-8 Championship, where the Ducks had fallen to Utah the year prior.
Even though it was their last two games before playoffs, the Oregon club hockey team had their focus elsewhere. For seven seniors, it would be their last home games as Oregon Ducks and, for some, their last competitive ice hockey games period. For these two nights against the College of the Canyons Cougars, the number on the board didn’t matter as much as playing with friends and playing for fans and family.
It was a rough night at the Lane County Ice Center for Oregon club hockey.
After losing 3-2 in an extremely penalty-riddled Game 4, thereby splitting the four-game series, Oregon and Washington turned to a five-man shootout to determine who would ultimately take home the I-5 Cup.
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 boys were chippy Saturday night.
Oregon was looking to win the fourth and final game of the Portland State series during their second home game in a row against the Vikings. Win they did. With a 5-1 score at the end, Oregon swept PSU for the second year in a row.
The win didn’t come too easily for the Ducks, however. With tensions still high from the night before and Portland having something to prove, the play was rough and tough.