Not many teams go 7-17 and consider it a successful season.
But the UCLA hockey team’s seven wins in 2003-2004 were
double the total of its previous two seasons combined. Top that off
with six losses by one goal, and the Bruins are very optimistic
about next season.
“Everyone is coming back next year, everyone’s more
experienced, and we don’t have a high turnover rate like we
have in the past,” junior forward Eric Allen said.
“I definitely expect us to compete for the Pac-8 title
next year.”
The Bruins’ season ended one week ago after a 10-1 loss to
USC on Feb. 12.
The loss wasn’t as bad as the score indicated, considering
USC is the best team in the Pac-8 and in club hockey on the West
Coast.
The Trojans not only beat the Bruins all five times they played,
but won by wide margins. USC (27-2-1, 16-0 Pac-8) has qualified for
the Division II National Tournament.
Still, because of strides UCLA made this season, the team
believes it can beat the other Pac-8 teams next year and compete
with USC.
The Bruins only had 19 players on their active roster for most
of the year, less than they had for each of the two previous
seasons.
UCLA also had close games with the three non-USC teams in the
Pac-8 tournament.
The Bruins split two games at California, lost in a shootout to
Washington, and lost by one goal to Washington State.
“We had games where we showed moments of
brightness,” junior forward Paul Medina said. “We had a
couple of individuals who stepped it up. (Goaltenders) Adam
Kubalksi and Matthew Miller kept us in the Cal games.”
UCLA did do a good job of beating all the teams it
should’ve beaten ““ something it either failed to do the
previous two seasons, or couldn’t do because it was the team
that should be beaten.
The Bruins beat Stanford all four times they played, and also
beat Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine.
Two games against last-place Oregon (2-19, 2-11 Pac-8) were
cancelled due to weather that could have resulted in two more
wins.
A Pac-8 record of 5-11 was good for fifth place, a big
improvement over the previous two seasons. The team was in playoff
contention until the final week of Pac-8 play.
Individually, several Bruins had standout performances. Junior
Ryan Samec led the team with 25 goals and 46 points. Medina was
second on the team in goals with 15, and freshman Scott Freschet
was second in assists with 15.
“Freschet made a huge impact on our team,” Allen
said.
The team is looking for a new coach, as Patrick Masson resigned
due to family reasons.
“Being our coach is a huge time commitment,” Allen
said. “We’re thankful that he volunteered so much of
his time.”
The team hopes to have a new coach in place soon.