Since my last Hockey updatethe Ducks have played 5 weekend series, I have been able to watch 3 of the 5 series but sadly due to a multitude of reasons I was only able to fully chart 1 of the 6 games. 4 of the remaining 5 I was able to take strong notes on. Here is what is going on, on the ice
Grand Canyon Series
Oregon’s 2nd weekend series of the year saw them welcome the Grand Canyon Antelopes to town. Grand Canyon is a fellow Division 1 team in the strong ACHA D1 WCHL conference as of time of writing the Lopes are
2nd last in that conference. The Ducks and Antelopes split the weekend series each picking up a win in regulation. Sadly I couldn’t chart or even take notes on the Saturday game due to wi-fi issues at the rink exchange that made the livestream constantly cut in and out. For the Friday Game here are the stats:
Shots for: 45% Oregon
Total High Danger Chances: 54% Oregon
High Danger Chances 5 on 5: 50% Oregon
Power-play: 17% (1/6)
Penalty Kill: 100% (2/2)
The first period was all GCU, especially early. Just as the Ducks started to push back the Duck defensemen were caught sleeping a bit and an Antelope was able to get behind them for a breakaway to make it 1-0. Near the end of the period the Antelopes got lucky (they had probably earned some luck) when a puck battle in the corner resulted in the puck going a mile in the air. No one knew were it was but it happened to bounce off Serbin and fall into the net. GCU finished the period strong and Oregon was probably fortunate to only be down 2.
The 2nd period a new Ducks team came out of the locker room. The first 3 minutes of the 2nd the Ducks had 5 high danger chances to the Antelopes 0 and shots were 8-2. The Ducks were quickly rewarded for their strong start to the period when freshmen Korey Cardneas Aston was able to tip a point shot home for the Ducks first goal of the game.
Almost immediately after Cardenas Aston kept up his strong play off the rush with fellow freshmen Lewis Majkozak to tie the game
And then Korey Cardenas Aston kept up his strong play in his statement game with a pinpoint shot from a bad angle to give the Ducks the lead
As if it couldn’t get any better Cardenas Aston would score his 3rd goal of the game for the hat-trick from another sharp angle.
With a 2 goal lead starting the 3rd period the Ducks tried to keep the game as low event as possible. The Antelopes would get one goal to cut into the lead but aside from that almost nothing else happened the entire 3rd (4 total high danger chances between the two teams) which allowed the Ducks to hang on for the win.
Colorado Road Series
The Ducks next series they went on the road to Colorado for the return trip of a home and home series the teams played when they opened their season in Eugene. The Ducks were able to pick up two road wins in a couple of high scoring games in large part thanks to a lethal power-play that went 5/8 on the weekend. Had the Ducks scored 3 powerplay goals in 8 opportunities that is an efficient clip, 5 power-play goals is other wordily
The Camera angle in Boulder was too low for me to properly chart the game but I was able to watch all 120 minutes of action. Game 1 Colorado was definitely the better team 5 on 5 as the Ducks battled their travel legs but the Ducks were able to come away with a 5-4 victory thanks to George Serbin and their power-play as the Ducks went 4/5.
Saturday the Ducks were much better 5 on 5 as only 1 of their 6 goals came on the man advantage but the Ducks controlled regular play much better.
The Ducks were once again lead by their freshmen as the trio of Korey Cardenas Aston, Lewis Majkozak, and Donovan Bradford combined to score 10 of Oregon’s 11 goals on the weekend. The future is very bright.
Oklahoma State Home Series
The next series Oregon welcomed Oklahoma State to town. Oklahoma State is the story of ACHA hockey right now, as a Division 2 team they are receiving a ton of investment and the club is looking to make the leap to becoming varsity in the near future. Despite being a Division 2 team I can confidently say the Cowboys are one of the best teams at the ACHA level and they displayed that at Oregon.
The first game the Cowboys won by a an eye-popping 13-0 margin. The game went into garbage time 15 minutes into the game when Oklahoma State got their 4th goal of the game. The second game wasn’t nearly as lop-sided as the Cowboys only won 4-0 with the 4th goal coming late in the 2nd period.
The biggest difference between the two games being Duck goaltending. Oregon never had a chance in either of these games but in Game 2 Oregon’s goalie, Finn Wilson, played quite well to keep the score more respectable as the combined charting stats from both games before garbage time (about 50 total minutes of play) were as follows:
Shots for: 25% Oregon
Total High Danger Chances: 13% Oregon
High Danger Chances 5 on 5: 16% Oregon
Power-play: 0% (0/1)
Penalty Kill: 0% (0/1)
Up Next
The Ducks also played series against Boise State and San Diego State which I have yet to finish watching and charting but will include in the next update.
This weekend Oregon is on the road at Colorado State for a weekend double header.
