For the UCLA club hockey team, success is gauged by the first
period.
When they get a lead in the opening period, the Bruins can all
but ensure a tally in the win column.
But when they fall early like they did on Friday to Oregon, the
Bruins have a penchant for not being able to come back. Friday,
UCLA (9-2, 7-2 Pac-8) quickly dug itself in a hole against Oregon
and was unable to recover, losing to the Ducks 6-4 in El
Segundo.
But 24 hours later, the Bruins bounced back against Oregon,
establishing an early lead and holding on to it to edge the Ducks
4-3.
“If we win the first, we win the game,” senior left
wing Eric Allen said. “On Friday we were outplayed and
outscored in the first period. We gave them a chance to breathe and
they took advantage of it.”
By splitting its two games, UCLA knocked Oregon (9-1-2, 6-2
Pac-8) out of first place in the conference and now holds the
league’s best record.
The team’s dedication is certainly being rewarded, as the
Bruins are only one victory shy of tying their total number of wins
from the last three seasons combined.
“All the players are very focused in games and practices,
and can do anything as long as they believe in themselves,”
coach Michael Kelly said. “The team has already showed they
can beat anyone in the Pac-8, and will continue to win games as
long as the players are mentally prepared and play with the heart
they showed (on Saturday).”
With both teams expecting a high-intensity game, the players
were physical out of the box, with numerous penalties being handed
out early. Bruin Ryan Samec registered the game’s first goal
when he scored with 4:20 left in the first period.
“We knew the game would be a grinding game where there are
not many goals because they have a strong defense and a good
goalie,” Kelly said. “So we just tightened up our
defense in response and were able to stop them from scoring early
in the game.”
But Oregon was unwilling to accept defeat and came out strong in
the second period by scoring twice in the opening minutes.
The Bruins evened the score 2-2 when Brad Whitworth fired in a
deflected shot on a UCLA power play with 12:35 left in the
period.
“We just had to be more physical and work harder than they
did because they had a lot of speed and teamwork,” senior
captain Paul Medina said. “The team had to be very conscious
on defense.”
In what was a stalemate for the better part of the game, the
Bruins finally cemented the Ducks’ fate for good when junior
Martin Galstyan scored one of his conference-leading 26 goals with
only 1:11 left in the game. The Bruins hope to continue their lead
in the conference when they host USC on Dec. 3.