The Oregon club hockey team easily handled the first two games of the Portland State series this weekend, ending their homestand with 5-3 and 9-0 wins on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“There was definitely an improvement,” said goaltender Trevor Peterson of the second night compared to the first. “I think that PSU may not have played as well [the second night], but we also looked a lot better and a lot cleaner. We were a lot faster.”
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.
The first period looked hopeful.
Coming off of a rough weekend at the San Jose State showcase where the Ducks left 0-3, Ducks hockey was back on the road for their third game in the University of Utah series. Oregon wasn’t alone with their losses, however. The Utes were coming off of a three-game losing streak from both Utah State and Weber State.
Both teams came out strong, but the Utah offense proved to be a challenge. Only twenty seconds into the first period, Oregon goalie Danny Cockriel had to make the first save of the game. 17 seconds later, he had to make the second. 37 seconds after that came the third save by Cockriel.
The stands may have been empty, but the back of Washington State’s net wasn’t.
After what first seemed like a rocky start this weekend against Utah, Oregon’s club hockey team pulled through against WSU and won the third game in their four-game homestand.
At first, it looked as if the Ducks were repeating their previous two nights when the Cougars scored the first goal of the night on goalie Ty Anderton only 3:12 into the first. It went straight downhill for the Cougars after that. One minute and 41 seconds after that first goal, Oregon tied it up and began the eight-goal scoring streak which lasted halfway into the second.