UCLA ice hockey prepares for anything from Stanford

Thursday, October 10, 1996

CLUB:

After a tie to Cal, match against enigmatic Cardinal vital for
seasonBy Hye Kwon

Daily Bruin Staff

Last season, the UCLA ice hockey team garnered a win against a
hapless Stanford squad, and as it turned out, it was one of the few
bright spots for the Bruins. This week, as UCLA prepares for Friday
night’s showdown against the Cardinal, the element of surprise
occupies the minds of the Bruins who must now get ready to face an
opponent that they know very little about.

"We don’t know much about Stanford at all," center Andrew Lister
said. "We just anticipate an exciting game against them."

The Bruins (0-1-1), who tallied their first point of the season
in the Pac-8 while notching a 3-3 tie against California last week,
should have momentum on their side going into tomorrow’s game.
After finding itself down by the score of 0-3 at the start of the
third period, UCLA came back to score three unanswered goals in the
period.

"We dominated the third period," defenseman Patrick Masson said.
"We were getting breakaways but didn’t convert on some of them. I
think we could have scored a lot more."

In the first period, the Bruins dug themselves into a huge hole
right off the bat when Alan Siegel picked up a five-minute major
penalty for high sticking. Toward the latter part of Siegel’s
penalty, the Bruins picked up an additional two-minute penalty
which allowed the Bears to skate with a two-man advantage.

Fortunately, UCLA effectively administered damage control and as
a result, the Bears managed to score just one goal during that
timespan. However, California scored with just .3 seconds remaining
on the clock in the first period to go up 2-0 at the first
intermission.

"(California) got so lucky on that goal," Masson said. "All of
us couldn’t believe that they scored with that little time
remaining."

After spotting the Bears yet another goal in the second period,
the Bruins began their scoring barrage with a goal by wing Jim
Hannon. It was a classic ugly goal, the result of Hannon and
defenseman Blake Buyan’s relentless effort to stuff the puck
underneath the goalie. It didn’t register high marks on the
artistic scale, but Hannon’s goal jump-started UCLA’s offense,
which went on to tally two more goals in the period.

"In the locker room during the second intermission, we said to
each other that we need to score an ugly goal," Masson said. "We
just needed some kind of spark to get us going and sure enough,
Jim’s goal did that."

The Bruins added their second goal at 3:33 and the equalizer at
10:11. The furious comeback came to an end when the buzzer went
off, much to the dismay of the Bruins.

"I definitely think we should have won," Masson said. "I think
we were a much better team than them. Take away the goal that was
scored with .3 seconds on the clock and the five-minute major
penalty we had, and we basically dominated the game."

Despite the fact that this Friday’s game against Stanford is a
home game for the Bruins, they will play far away from the usual
Culver City venue. The game will start at 11:30 p.m. at Disney Ice
Arena in Anaheim, and as usual, the admission price will be $5.