Tuesday, January 28, 1997
CLUB:
Defending league champions edge out Bruins in close gameBy Rocky
Salmon
Daily Bruin Contributor
For the second consecutive weekend, the UCLA men’s hockey team
lost a heartbreaking shootout.
A week removed from losing a shootout to USC, the Bruins looked
to rebound with a win over California, the defending league
champions.
Entering the second period of the game, the Bruins kept the
score tied as goalie Mike Michelena, stopped many Golden Bear
attacks.
With 3:20 remaining in the period, Cal finally pushed in a goal
after having the puck in the Bruins’ zone for almost the entire
period. Two minutes later, Cal once again scored as tremendous
checking slowed down the Bruin defense.
"We got pretty tired in the second period," Paul Mahlow, senior
defender, said. "We had a tough time getting the puck out of our
zone (and it) had a snowball effect on our offense."
The Golden Bears ended up outshooting the Bruins 17-13 in that
second period.
As the third and final period started, a re-energized UCLA club
took the ice and constantly pressured Berkeley’s zone. But all of
the Bruins’ offensive chances were stifled until ten minutes
remained in the game. Then UCLA punched a goal into the net, but
not before the puck deflected off of numerous Cal defenders.
"The first goal put a little spark in our step," freshman Ben
Theule said. "It gave us momentum for the rest of the game."
Seven minutes later captain Mike Segal made another goal to tie
the game at two apiece. Seconds later, the Golden Bears netted
their third goal.
In an act of desperation, the Bruins began pounding the
offensive zone. With 30 seconds remaining a penalty was called on
Cal, giving UCLA a 6-on-4 power play.
With 15 seconds left, freshman James Campbell launched a scoring
shot from 10 feet out to send the game into the shootout.
"Our goalie kept us in the game," Mahlow said. "I felt we let
him down by only scoring once in the shoot out."
Michelena stopped every Bear shot but three, while James
Campbell scored the only goal for UCLA on the other end.
"We have played good games but still come up short," graduate
student Zachary Ryne said. "As the season passes I hope we can
start working on things for next year."
With next Friday’s contest with Long Beach State being the only
home game remaining, the Bruins hope they can find a way into the
playoffs.
Coming so close to an elite team, such as Cal, the Bruins are
confident that they can indeed stake a claim to a postseason
berth.