USC gets first win in 2+ seasons of play

The deepest bench brought out by USC this year to date produced the first win in 38 games for the Trojans.  Behind the efforts of Joey Wozniak (4 goals, 1 assist) and Brian Winterton (4 goals), it was a great team effort that kept the Trojans ahead of the UCSB B Blue team for most of the game.  USC's last win was on Nov. 15, 2003 against Biola University, winning by a score of 4-3.

USC tallied first, scoring 2:42 into the game on a power play.  Trailing 2-1 going into the final 4 minutes of the first period, USC scored 3 straight goals to go ahead 5-2.  The scoring went back and forth in the 2nd and 3rd periods, with UCSB B Blue cutting the lead to 1 or 2 goals each time, and USC scoring to get a 3 goal lead on 3 separate occasions.  Late in the 3rd period USC was ahead 11-8, UCSB B Blue scrambled to score 2 goals in the final minute of play to come within a single goal.  The game ended 11-10 with USC ahead, for their first victory in 2 seasons.  USC lost their other 2 games of the day, earning respect against the UCSD DII team by a score of 9-5.

Other news from the tournament included UCSD with 2 wins and a tie against UCSB B Gold.  The first game of the day was a stalemate at the conclusion of the first period, with UCSB B Gold outshooting UCSD 9-4.  UCSD scored less than a minute into the 2nd period, but UCSB B Gold answered back 3 minutes later.  The 3rd period saw shots in the double digits from both teams, but the goaltenders were equal to the task, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.  UCSD would win their other 2 games against USC and UCSB B Blue to finish the event 2-0-1.

UCSD?s B squad was equally impressive, going 3-0-1 in the event.  The tie came in the final game of the day against UCSB B Gold, who finished the day 1-1-2.  The game was a goalie clinic, it was tied 1-1 at the conclusion of the first period.  UCSB B Gold scored a powerplay goal 4 minutes into the 2nd period by Brandon Telesmanic.  That was the only scoring in the 2nd period, as newly acquired goaltender Geoff Pulido stopped 6 out of 7 chances in the 2nd period, and Evan Smith, goaltender for UCSB, stopped all 5 shots he faced as well.  In the 3rd period, the only scoring would be the one to knot it up.  Kellen Armour scored, assisted by Ian Espanol, with 8 minutes to go in the game.  The remainder of the 3rd period would be scoreless, and despite several chances in the final 2 minutes for both teams, would end in a 2-2 tie.

Cal Poly Pomona B finished the tournament with 2 wins and 2 losses, defeating both UC Santa Barbara B squads and losing to both UC San Diego teams.  Captain Tara Mead would score in the game against UCSD?s DII squad, but Cal Poly Pomona B would come up short, by a score of 4-2.

In what was originally scheduled to be a game for the home crowd, the UCSB B squads faced off against each other.  The UCSB B Gold team defeated the UCSB B Blue team by a score of  7-2.  The event was moved from UCSB?s on-campus rink to California Roller Hockey Center in Upland, CA due to a memorial service for a fellow UCSB tri-athlete who was killed while riding her bike along the road when a truck may have veered into her path and caused the fatality.  For more information on this tragedy, visit http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/2006/10644.html.