The Trojans took their last road swing of the semester up to Washington in their first trip back since their 2008 Pac-8 Tournament loss to Oregon. They faced a UW squad that knocked them out of the running for a Pac-8 title last year in Eugene. Worse for USC, the forwards they were missing would likely outscore the forwards they had with them on the trip. Adam Zacuto, Ryder Fyrwald, Alex Lofthus, Joshua Frazier, Mitchell Landsinger, Max Ernst, and Cory Adler all MIA for one reason or another. With the firepower missing and 15 total players in Washington, USC would need to scrape for their offense.
Period 1
The Trojans had a chance to get set early. UW took three penalties in the early going, but the mixed up Cardinal line of Szentveri, Helmer, and Comisar couldn't come through. When the Huskies finally got a chance of their own with a man up, they could. Two way-defenseman Daniel Carson wired a shot from the point. Zack Keith saved the puck once, but left a rebound loose. Jordan Chernesky jammed at it, but Keith stood tall. A second rebound try popped loose to Phil Harezlak who finished it off. That was the only goal of the period. The Trojans had a pair of tries in the slot, but couldn't finish and didn't have a large amount of quality chances. They skated to the locker room down a goal.
Period 2
The goals came in the second period, but not entirely in USC's favor. A hair over 7 minutes into the period, Nick Helmer started into his one-man show. He picked his way around the Huskie defenders, using balance and hands to get through. Taking it from the far post in an arc to the near faceoff circle, Helmer pulled the trigger.... on a pass. It was right on Noah Comisar's tape back door and Comisar one-timed the equalizer home. But then UW took control. 4 minutes later, the Huskies first line worked the puck to the crease. Two unmarked Huskies stood right in front and took advantage of Keith. Dan Herda reached in and grabbed a puck that just sat behind Keith's pads and hooked it across the line. Helmer nearly tied the game up with a wraparound try that had Danny Dougan, the Washington netminder, well out of position. But Huskie forward Corey James crashed back and poke checked the puck away at the last instant. With under 2 minutes remaining, James showed off his offensive ability. Grabbing a loose puck just outside of the Trojan zone, James turned and burned by Dante Caravaggio. He swept across Jason Bush and left him grabbing for air before coming in at a wide angle alone against Keith. Instead of dekeing across the face of the goal and trying to beat Keith that way, James made a move the other direction, towards the goal line. He got around Keith and tucked the puck inside the near post for a 3-1 Huskie edge entering the second intermission.
Period 3
After looking incapable of a comeback, the Trojans broke through on a power play as the clock ticked under 7 minutes to go in the game. Jason Bush creeped in from the left wing point to the top of the faceoff circle, and wired a shot through a heavily screened (and potentially interfered with) Danny Dougan. The goal sparked a little life in the Trojan attack and the potential for another third period rally was apparent. But it all came melting down in a bizarre sequence with just 50 seconds left. Following another close chance for Szentveri, he was taken to the boards by Jordan Chernesky. The Huskie forward and Szentveri locked up before Chernesky threw a couple of swings. They each received matching minors. Away from this action, Scott Mason checked a Huskie who was near the loose puck. According to Mason, he told the player, "Buddy, keep your head up." The referee slapped Mason with an unsportsmanlike conduct call that put the Trojans down a goal and a skater. According to Mason, as the linesman escorted him into the box, the linesman apologized for the call. Assistant captain Dante Caravaggio was refused an explanation at the time. Coach Wilbur then blew up and said a series of colorful words that is absolutely an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (use your imagination). The official threw a game misconduct penalty on top of that for Wilbur, ejecting him from the game. Down 5-on-3, the Huskies ran out the clock playing offense the entire time (without scoring a capping goal) and the game ended in a goal UW win.
Here's some news and notes from the contest:
- The frustrating part of this game if you're a USC fan is that despite Washington's second place ranking in-conference, they don't pass the eyeball test as an elite Pac-8 team. That's not to say that the Trojans have, but if I were ranking teams based on what I've seen on the ice, they would come in 4th in overall talent and 3rd as a cohesive unit. ASU and Oregon are strong candidates to win the title. This Trojan team has the raw talent, but needs to build up team chemistry and a consistent will to show up in a hurry if they want to win the hardware. If the Trojans had even two of the laundry list of missing forwards, I don't think they lose.
- What a great arena atmosphere for college hockey. The turnout from UW fans was great, but what really sold it was the Huskies band. They were rock-concert loud, but made it a fun experience. I especially enjoyed their rendition of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration". They only come out to one UW game a year, and they chose this one.
- Zack Keith had a solid, but not spectacular performance. Keith is at his best when he doesn't have to make the flashy looking saves. His style is to always be in the right place. Besides a small rebound coughed up on the first goal, none of the three were bad goals. The defensive zone coverage was to blame for two of the three on the night. In the waning moments of the game, Arne Krogh blasted a puck hard enough that it stuck in Keith's mask. Wow!
- What UW does have is a productive first line. Corey James, Phil Harezlak, and Dan Herda each had a goal, and carried the entire offensive load from a scoring perspective. Their second line isn't bad either (Tristan Wickliff is one to watch out for), but the Huskies didn't go much deeper than that the entire night.
- Noah Comisar has been the beneficiary of a lot of great feeds from his teammates. Give him credit... other Trojan players have a difficult time finishing off goals from the doorstep.
- Max Szentveri is USC's official "Close But Not Quite" player. In games when he's been on the first two lines, he always seems to find himself in prime scoring opportunities but not on the scoresheet. His play reminds me of Michael Nijjar's two seasons ago when the forward would miss on sure goals on a nightly basis. The good news for Szentveri? Nijjar worked out the kinks and started finishing the very next year.
- Elliot Dawson may get two nicknames from now on. "Two Minute" Dawson, for all of the minor penalties he serves on behalf of his teammates, and "Crash Test Dummy". Dawson has a penchant for getting absolutely hammered into the boards multiple times in a game. In the first period, he took two clean, but vicious hits. One of them knocked him backwards into the cornerboards, the other one came close to crunching his collar bone into the offensive zone glass. Somehow, someway, he always seems to get up. Gotta love Dawson's heart and enthusiasm. He's also one of the most under-the-radar comedians on the team.
- Scott Mason got in trouble at the end of the game, but nearly got into a brawl earlier that same period. On a long dump-in, Dougan swallowed up the puck. Mason hustled in from the blue line, and sprayed the goaltender with a close-in hockey stop. There were some angry Huskies after that one.
- Wilbur's game misconduct does not make him ineligible for Saturday's rematch against UW if the NCAA rulebook is to be believed. If he is somehow ineligible, I'm going to make a strong bid to have him commentate on the broadcast.
- Phil Adams was the expected and scheduled starter for the game. However, he was, well, under the weather and simply exhausted. This led to some hilarious moments at Adams' expense on the flight to Seattle. Adams violated nearly every minor, flight-attendant corrected violation on the Jet Blue flight besides wearing his seatbelt. He had a bag on his lap, he had his cell phone on, he had his tray table down and his seat back during taxi, takeoff, and final approach. This led to a good-humored battle between flight attendant Jody and Phil. She won easily. The best moment came when shortly after takeoff, Jody used the plane's PA to tell everyone that there was "a celebrity sitting in 17B that you should ask for an autograph". A fellow traveler one row back across the aisle immediately reached out with a pen and a barf bag for Adams to sign. Priceless.
- Shawn Ahern made his USC debut and arrived early in the second period (he missed the morning flight and got a later one). He looked rusty but added a much needed body at forward. Given time, he could develop into a solid 4th line contributor this season and possibly more next year.
- The Trojans are staying at their road hotel of choice.... a Courtyard Marriott. The team always loves the free internet and roomy beds.
That's all for tonight, tune into the rematch at 6:00 PST tomorrow.
OFFICIAL TROJAN SCORING
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
Comisar - 7 (Helmer)
3rd Period
Bush - 4 (Caravaggio) PP
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