Trojans were on a solid 4-game winning streak and looking to make it 5 against an LBSU team that they'd just edged out the night before. But they'd have to do it shorthanded. USC missed Jason Bush, Coach Wilbur, and Josh Frazier. Cory Adler was fighting through a foot injury that hindered him throughout the game. Facing all of that and a raucous LBSU crowd, the Trojans had a tough task for the night.
Period 1
At first, USC seemed up to it. Phil Adams started off what would turn out to be a remarkable performance with a shutout first period. Offense was hard to come by in general for the Trojans, but a powerplay midway through the period was just what the doctor ordered. Dante Caravaggio sent a pass over left wing for Noah Comisar. He broke into the zone, and then sent a cross-ice pass onto the stick blade of a marked Adam Zacuto. As he was hauled down, Zacuto still had the presence of mind to snipe the glove-side high corner from his knees. Simply ridiculous. 1-0 Trojans after 1.
Period 2
The lack of personnel was bound to catch up to USC at some point though. The Trojans ran out of gas in the second period and the 49ers made them pay. On a 5-on-3, James Robelotto finished a cross-crease pass to tie the game up 1-1. The score stayed knotted at 1 for a good chunk of the period, but only by virtue of the skill of Adams and the luck of early referee whistles. On at least two occasions, loose pucks were sent into the net moments after the official blew the play dead. The luck, however, would even out. On another man advantage, the 49ers caught a bit of a break. A shot from the point came wide of a screened Phil Adams. Unfortunately for USC, Adams never saw the original shot and simply went into a butterfly position and waited for a shot to come. The loose puck settled behind the net. LBSU's Sean Hoang noticed the frozen Adams and wrapped the puck around the far post and into the goal. The Trojan offense meanwhile was stuck in the mud the whole period, unable to break cleanly into 49er territory. 2-1 LBSU after 2.
Period 3
Adams continued his monster play in net, but unfortunately for USC, the best defense did not amount to any offense. Shots were still hard to come by for the Trojans. Running a shortened bench, the team looked flat tired. The game remained close down the wire, but eventually USC's time ran out. With Adams on the bench for the extra attacker, Sean Hoang gathered a dump in off of the end boards and stuffed it home from the crease. That sealed the game with 17 seconds left, and the Trojans win streak ended in a 3-1 loss.
Some news/notes from the game:
- Nobody can blame Phil Adams for the loss. He kept this game from turning into a rout by using every inch of his body and pads to keep pucks from going behind him.
- Frustration with the refereeing from Friday's contest bled over into Saturday's game. During the third, USC was put shorthanded 5-on-3 when Coach Langille argued a little too colorfully for the referee's taste and gave the Trojans a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.
- The forwards struggled in general, but kudos to both Cory Adler and Mitchell Landsinger. Adler, as I mentioned, played through pain the entire night. Landsinger was his usual aggressive, hard-skating self. They both played well in defeat.
- Scott Mason sat for two once again. Without the scoresheet handy in front of me, I believe it was a holding call in the first period. Mason has got to play more disciplined hockey if he wants the ice time to show off his underrated goal-scoring ability.
- Right after Adams got run during the third period, Matt Lewis protected his goaltender very literally. He threw a 49er down to the ice. Lewis definitely got his money's worth on that minor penalty.
- This loss struck me as very different from the 9 others this season. The Trojans have a great locker room camaraderie going. It just look like they got beaten by a hungry LBSU team and their own exhaustion. They'll have two weeks to rest up before their final game of the semester against this same LBSU team.
OFFICIAL TROJAN SCORING
1st Period
Zacuto - 13 (Comisar, Caravaggio) PP
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
NONE
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