Hockey: Hockey squad secures first wins of season
By Raffi Martinian
Nov. 2, 2003 9:00 p.m.
It was just a matter of time before UCLA finally got into the
win column.
The UCLA men’s hockey team (2-6) registered its first two
wins of the season, sweeping both games Friday and Saturday against
Stanford in Palo Alto, 6-2 and 6-4, respectively, behind a strong
effort from myriad young players.
The biggest storyline of the weekend was freshman Scott
Fresher’s homecoming; he scored five goals and registered two
assists. Fresher is from Santa Rosa, and his parents and
grandparents were in the stands as he led all the skaters in
scoring. Senior Stu Szuch led all defensemen with two goals and an
assist.
“This team has a lot of first-year players, and it’s
a process of getting to know more about each other to the point
where the lines rely on each other and play better,”
assistant coach Pat Masson said.
“We were being blown out to begin the season, but we had
four really close games coming into (Palo Alto),” he
added.
In Friday’s game, the Bruins scored four goals in the
first period to propel them to the win. Junior Jay Herwitz and
freshman Paul Medina scored in the period, along with Fresher and
Szuch. Medina added his second goal in the third period, and
Fresher added an empty netter. Both Cardinal goals came during the
second period.
Fresher scored twice in the opening period of Saturday
night’s game, and Ryan Speelman added a third goal in the
same period. The game marked the second consecutive night that the
Cardinal were shut out in the first period and faced a three goal
or more deficit. Stanford would again make the most of the second
period, scoring three times to draw even.
Fresher’s goal in the third broke the tie and gave him the
hat trick. Freshman Ryan Samec added another goal assisted by
Fresher and defenseman Szuch added the final tally for the Bruins
unassisted. Junior forward Eric Allen added an assist in the
contest.
UCLA Goalie Adam Kubalski played both nights, facing 32 shots in
game one and 38 in Saturday’s contest. Against Cal a week
ago, the Bruins used all three goalies in net.
“This early in the season it is important to see what each
player can do. The coaching staff is learning too,” Masson
said.
The team’s philosophy is to improve with each game.
“As long as we make the playoffs, we feel we can be
successful later in the year. The purpose of the beginning of the
year is to build for the future and take something from each game,
fix one problem at a time,” Masson said.
The Bruins hope to continue their winning streak against
Washington next Friday at home in the Healthsouth Arena in El
Segundo.
