Hey everyone,
The Pac-8 Tournament opened this morning with a sixth meeting between USC and UCLA. It set up to be a classic. The Trojans were looking to avenge losing the Crosstown Cup to the Bruins 8 days earlier. Winner goes to the Semifinals. Loser goes to the 5th Place Game.
Period 1
Early in the game, it was difficult to tell that USC was a squad seeking revenge. The Bruins jumped out of the gates and took it to a sleepy Trojan squad. Just a minute and a half into the contest, Daniel Vaynter parked himself in front of goal and punched a loose puck in the crease home despite a pile of bodies in front. USC took a too many men on the ice minor penalty a minute later. 30 seconds after that, Charlie Linehan bulged the twine with a seeing-eye wrister to the top corner. Just more than 3 minutes in, UCLA had a 2-0 lead. The Trojans would recover, and the process started with the dominant (and reconfigured) first line of Adam Zacuto, Alex Lofthus, and Ryder Fyrwald. On a man advantage, Zacuto split the Bruin defense but was denied a breakaway goal by Al Ricciardelli. The rebound kicked out to Lofthus, who simply buried it. The momentum went firmly in USC's direction. Ricciardelli stood strong until one dagger of an equalizer came with 48 ticks left on the clock. Dante Caravaggio broke Lofthus loose. Ricciardelli stoned him on the breakaway, but Fyrwald followed with a tying goal on the rebound. 2-2 hockey game after 1, and the Bruins were disheartened thinking they'd missed their window of opportunity.
Period 2
The momentum appeared to roll into the second period. UCLA took a delay of game penalty leaving the locker room too late, and then followed that up with captain Neal Parsons hooking a Trojan to draw another minor. The 5-on-3 took 15 seconds to pay off, and it was the first line that cashed the check. Fyrwald fed Zacuto in the low slot, and Zacuto picked gloveside low as his target. He chose right. The lead didn't last long. Shorthanded, Vaynter one-touched a cross-ice pass that found linemate Zack Tenney at the top of the far faceoff circle. Tenney found daylight in the top of the net with a wrist shot. The game stayed deadlocked for almost the rest of the period. UCLA had several chances to seize the game on several silly Trojan penalties. With under two minutes left though, Zacuto broke through again. This time Lofthus set him up in prime scoring territory. USC's leading scorer made it 4-3.
Period 3
And then the Trojans decided that they didn't like losing games to the Bruins, so they decided to put it away. More than 7 minutes in, Lofthus came on a wide-angle breakaway. Ricciardelli flinched towards the far post and Lofthus thought he caught him, but the Bruin goaltender jerked back and held the post. The puck popped out, to a net-crashing Fyrwald, who jammed it in short-side to double the lead. Another Parsons penalty led to a Trojan goal. Zacuto worked his way to the faceoff circle from the near half-wall. A slight screen in front opened up all the space Zacuto needed. A twisted wrister zinged above Ricciardelli's blocker and into the goal to make it 6-3. Another sniper shot from the Sniper of Troy. Vaynter put a small amount of fear into USC by sliding a short rebound past Zack Keith with 1:01 remaining. But then Max Szentveri got a chance to do something he'd been waiting to all semester. Finish. He took advantage of Bruin desperation and broke down ice alone. Szentveri iced the game with a goodnight goal just under the crossbar. Game over. Trojans championship hopes stays alive for at least one more game.
Some news and notes from the quarterfinal clash.
- This was the largest margin of victory in any of the Crosstown Cup games as well as the most dominant performance by either team.
- Ryder Fyrwald and Alex Schaffhausen were late additions, practicing Wednesday and doing just enough for Coach Wilbur to give them the stamp of approval. Fyrwald made a big mark on the game, scoring 2 goals and assisting on 2 others. Both scores came in typical Fyrwald fashion, on the rebound and not pretty. But they all look the same on the scoreboard.
- USC was without Nick Helmer and Alex Hite. Both had early classes and will be fresh for the big semifinal at 7:30 PM tonight. Expect Helmer to be a man on a mission. No word yet on those line pairings.
- Clark McClanathan was very nearly ineligible for the game. There was a last second scramble to clear him to play in the contest, and that scramble paid off. McClanathan nearly scored on several occasions and played some very solid hockey on the Gold line with Noah Comisar and Cory Adler.
- USC and UCLA both relied heavily on goals from their first line. All 4 Bruin goals came from the top three forwards. 6 of the 7 Trojan goals came from their talented trio.
- The big key to victory was USC getting tenacious. They were relentless on the forecheck and more physical than usual. It wore a short-staffed Bruin team down, and they slowly fell further and further behind.
- Not helping that was the Bruins' lack of depth. Their third line didn't sniff the ice until after Szentveri's putaway marker.
- That goal has got to feel good for Szentveri. He has had more than his share of chances and simply couldn't put anything home all semester. In fact, Szentveri hadn't scored since the first game of the season! Finally he finishes off a huge rivalry game. There is no more monkey on his back.
- To quote a phrase I've used a lot this year. Keith was solid, but not spectacular. No bad goals, but not a lot of breathtaking saves either. He is undeniably tough though. Vaynter barreled into him on a 2-on-1 rush at full speed. Trojans wanted an intent-to-injure misconduct call, but didn't receive even a minor penalty. Keith took a while to find his bearings, but stayed in the game and finished off the win.
- Ricciardelli was still impressive despite the high amount of goals allowed. Vaynter's 3-point effort fighting a losing cause also sells short his play in this game and this season.
- Funny stat. Only players with the #18 scored in the second period. That's Zack Tenney and Adam Zacuto.
- USC has not beaten Oregon since winning its last Pac-8 Championship in the epic 2007 title game. That one took a last minute equalizer and a similarly last-minute game-ender in OT.
That's all for now. Big game at 7:30 PM PST tonight. Tune in on the official Pac-8 broadcast.
OFFICIAL TROJAN SCORING
1st Period
Lofthus - 9 (Zacuto) PP
Fyrwald - 4 (Lofthus, Caravaggio)
2nd Period
Zacuto - 22 (Fyrwald) PP
Zacuto - 23 (Lofthus, Fyrwald)
3rd Period
Fyrwald - 5 (Lofthus)
Zacuto - 24 (Caravaggio) PP
Szentveri - 2 (Caravaggio)
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