Ice hockey escapes loss to Stanford by a thread
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 15, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 16, 1996
HOCKEY:
Bruins play better game than opponents, but it doesn’t show
until last two minutesBy Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
It might have seemed like the UCLA hockey team was trying to
emulate Rip Van Winkle for a majority of the game against Stanford
on Friday night. But for the second straight week, the Bruins came
from behind in the third period to salvage a 1-1 tie.
"We didn’t know anything about Stanford going into the game, so
we just tried to play heads up hockey," UCLA right wing Woody
Josselyn said. "(The Cardinal) didn’t come out as physical or as
fast as California did last week. Basically, the puck wasn’t
bouncing our way."
The Bruins (0-1-2) entered Friday’s game with tremendous
momentum, after they notched a 3-3 tie against California the
previous week. The word around the Pac-8 had been that Stanford was
by far the weaker team in the Bay Area.
"We didn’t play as well as we did against Cal, and if we did, we
would have murdered them," defenseman Jeff Rieger said. "It was
ridiculous. We were clearly the better team."
Unlike the first two periods of the California game, the Bruins’
might have had a good excuse for their slumber this time. After the
puck was dropped at 11:30 p.m. in the opening face-off at the
Disney Ice Arena in Anaheim, Friday night’s game extended well into
Saturday morning.
"I don’t think the starting time had too much to do with how we
played," Josselyn said. "Once you get out on the ice, it doesn’t
matter what time it is. You just get pumped up and play."
With 9:30 remaining in the second period, the Cardinal took
advantage of the Bruins’ lethargy and scored the game’s first goal.
The goal, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for
UCLA, because it served as a wake-up call for the Bruins.
After mounting several formidable waves of attack throughout the
third period, UCLA finally succeeded in netting the puck with just
2:06 remaining on the clock. After a scramble in front of the
Stanford goal, UCLA’s Dumas Mauguile slipped the puck past the
Cardinal goalie. The assists went to Mike Siegel and Ben
Theule.
"We could have played better," Josselyn said. "Overall, the
feeling was we’re happy we didn’t lose, but we felt like we let an
opportunity pass by. I think we haven’t reached our maximum
potential yet and next round, we’re going to embrace the
opportunity and win."
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
UCLA goalie stops the puck against Stanford.
