BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA hockey
defenseman Eric Grahling maneuvers the puck.
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Nothing will erase the memory of a tough week easier than a
victory over USC.
Two losses to Stanford and another to UC San Diego last week
have left the UCLA ice hockey team hungry for redemption.
“Whatever has happened in the last couple of weeks, when
we play ‘SC, we come out to play tough and to win,”
goalie Matt Hsu said. “It’s ‘SC.”
The raucous crowd expected at the Disney Ice Arena in Anaheim is
certain to add to the intensity of the game. According to Hsu the
people “go nuts in the stands,” while captain Eric
Grahling said he always enjoys playing USC on the road.
“The crowd gives us good motivation to go out there and
take it to their home team,” Grahling said. “We really
look forward to that game.”
A key for UCLA is this week’s lighter schedule. After
playing six games the past two weeks, the Bruins (2-6, 1-3 Pac-8)
have only Friday’s game against the Trojans to worry
about.
“It’s a good week for us because there’s only
one game, so the schedule has kind of calmed down a bit,”
Grahling said.
USC (2-8, 0-2) had its two-year undefeated conference streak
snapped by Washington on Saturday by a 4-1 score.
Even though it’s a rivalry game, the Bruins aren’t
underestimating the Trojans. UCLA plans to work on strengthening
the team’s defensive play in order to keep the number of
quality shots down.
“Most of what we’ve gone over in practice has been
defensive zone coverage,” assistant coach Mike Siegel said.
“That’s been the majority of our problems in our
games.”
“We’ve shown we can score goals,” Grahling
added. “Now it’s just a matter of eliminating mistakes
we’ve been making in the defensive zone that have been
costing us games.”
Simple passing drills will also be stressed at practice since
the team’s youth and inexperience is partially to blame for
inconsistent puck movement. Siegel hopes the emphasis on crisper
passes will make his players more confident on the ice.