The UCLA men’s ice hockey team traveled to Northern
California this weekend with one goal in mind: sweep Stanford to
double their win total of one from last season.
And after an 0-6 start to the season, the Bruins did just that,
beating Stanford 6-2 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday.
The season thus far hasn’t been easy for UCLA. Out of its
six losses, four of them have been by just one goal.
In their second game of the season against Cal State Northridge,
the Bruins overcame a three goal deficit in the third period to tie
the game. But the Matadors scored just before the buzzer sounded to
win the game.
After losing to California 10-1 back on Oct. 17, the Bruins
carried a two goal lead the very next night late into the third
period. However, Cal responded with three unanswered goals to win
the game 3-2.
“Currently we have 10 new first year players on the team,
which is more than half the team,” junior forward and team
vice president Eric Allen said. “Therefore, a slow start
might have been expected.”
But the Bruins can put all the inconsistencies behind them. With
a pair of wins against Stanford, the club team can now focus their
attention to building upon the positives.
The first bit of good news is that after this road trip, the
Bruins already have twice as many wins as they had all last season.
Although their solitary victory last year also came against
Stanford, UCLA wasn’t sure what type of team they’d be
playing this time around.
“They (Stanford) have great individual talent, but we
didn’t really know anything about them,” said sophomore
defenseman Carlos Cazares, president and captain of the team.
When asked how the turbulent start to the season impacted their
play against Stanford, Cazares said the Bruins “responded
well to adversity.”
The future is looking bright for the team. Freshman winger Scott
Freschet tallied five goals and two assists against Stanford,
including a hat trick in the second game. The first line forward
increased his team-leading point total to 13.
“It was probably the best our team’s played
together,” Freschet said. “I think it’s our
turning point as a team.”
Freshman goaltender Adam Kubalski started both games against
Stanford, his second and third starts of the season. He has posted
a solid 2.66 goals against average this season, and has nothing but
confidence in his teammates, who killed off all of Stanford’s
power plays in both games.
“The team was very well organized defensively and played
with a lot more intensity,” Kubalski said. “The defense
made it an easy game to play.”
UCLA had to compete without its coach, Daryl Evans, who remained
in Southern California to do color commentary on the radio for the
Los Angeles Kings. In his place, former UCLA All-Pac-8 defenseman
James Campbell helped coach UCLA to victory.
The Bruins were also without senior forward Rob Morel, who was
sidelined with a knee injury. Morel has two goals and four assists
this season.
Junior forward John Heathco, who has scored three goals this
season, did not attend the road trip.
This weekend, UCLA will host Washington, Friday at 8 p.m. and
Saturday at 8:15 p.m. at Healthsouth Training Center in El Segundo.
Washington is ranked No. 12 in the ACHA West.
The Bruins hope the wins against Stanford will be a
foreshadowing of things to come.
“As our coach Daryl Evans has preached, it’s about
how you finish, and not how you start that really matters,”
Allen said.