The Washington Oregon rivalry is not just on the football field this weekend, but also on the ice.
The Oregon club hockey team picked up a win Friday night in their home opener at Lane County Ice Rink against rival Washington, defeating the Huskies 9-3.
“It is usually uglier,” forward Conner McBride said about the rivalry. “It was pretty tame, actually.”
The game time was pushed back an hour due to traffic the opposing Washington team dealt with traveling south to Eugene. The Ducks took advantage of the fact that they had extra time to warm up and started the first period with energy and challenging Washington’s goalie Jacob Gilmore with shots early.
“They sat in a car for four to five hours and then jumped out and tried to play hockey,” McBride said. ‘It was defiantly an advantage.”
Oregon got on the board first with a goal from McBride with just about five minutes into play, with help from Trevor McCarty and Alex Sulitzer on the assists. McBride tacked on two more goals, earning the senior a hat trick for the night. Sulitzer finished the night with three assists.
“I love getting hat tricks,” McBride.
McBride and Sulitzer also both pointed out how comfortable they feel playing together this year, due to their experience last year.
“It’s always fun to play with (McBride),” Sulitzer said. “He is a natural goal scorer and I like to consider myself a play maker, so as a pairing it works together.”
Four minutes later, Washington’s Austin Hutchinson was called for hooking, giving Oregon a one man advantage. Trevor Shott tallied an unassisted power play goal to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead. This year marks Shott’s first year on the team and his first time competing in a rivalry game.
“A lot of people said, ‘We really don’t like this team, the game out there will be intense’ and it was,” said Shott.
However, a cross checking penalty later by McCarty gave the Huskies a power play opportunity and Ryan Minkoff of Washington was able to find the back of the net, giving the Huskies their first goal of the game.
Defenseman Will Daniels scored in at 1:16 left in the second period to give the Ducks an 8-2 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
In the second period after McBride’s back-to-back goals, Oregon found an offensive spark from another member of their team. With a nice pass from Shott, Nick Sciabarra was able to use his speed and skills to beat Gilmore and give the Ducks a 6-1 lead with six minutes left in the second. Sciabarra also tallied another late goal in the third.
Coming out of the face off after Sciabarra’s goal, the defensive wasn’t prepared for the Huskies’ quick attack, as Alex Black scored, bringing the score to 6-2. Black also picked up a hat trick, scoring off a penalty shot in the third and in the final minute of the game to give Washington their fourth goal.
Oregon will face Washington again tonight. That game is set for 8:30 p.m. at the Lane County Ice Rink.