From The Daily Emerald
By Henry Light
The Oregon club hockey team ended 2025 with a disastrous road series against the fourth-ranked University of Nevada, Las Vegas, but the Ducks enter the new year well-positioned to achieve their best record at the ACHA Division I level.
Oregon currently sits 8-9 with 11 games remaining on its schedule. The Ducks came into the series against UNLV on their most sustained run of success against Division I opponents this season, going 2-1 at the ACHA Chicago Classic tournament and splitting an away series against Waldorf University. Losing 9-1 and 10-1 to the defending national champions placed the Ducks in the lower end of the division, but they will face opponents in that tier the rest of the way.
The Chicago Classic began with a change of pace for the Ducks from an easy home sweep of Division II Washington the week before to a matchup with No. 14 Purdue University Northwest. The Pride took care of business, coasting to a 5-0 win and dropping Oregon to 2-3 against Division I opponents. Oregon’s next two games against 8-11 Illinois State University and 5-10 Roosevelt University presented an opportunity to separate itself from the basement of Division I.
The Ducks took a step in the right direction with a 5-4 overtime win over Illinois State. Leading scorer Noah Easterson quickly answered Redbirds goals twice off assists from freshman Bobby Anselmo, and Oregon eventually built a 4-2 lead early in the third period. Late-game issues that have plagued the Ducks this season came back, as Illinois State quickly cut the lead to one goal then tied the game with 1:36 remaining, sending it to overtime.
Redbirds defenseman Declan Mcdermott put the Ducks on a power play with a holding penalty eight seconds into overtime, and 11 seconds later Oregon was celebrating its best Division I win so far and an Easterson hat trick.
Oregon finished the tournament with a 2-1 win over Roosevelt University, mostly thanks to sophomore goalie George Serbin. The Ducks were outshot 39-26 by the Lakers and once again had to stave off a comeback bid after Roosevelt cut the lead to one goal with 5:21 to play. Serbin’s heroics and a goal and an assist from freshman scoring leader Inde Abresch, who sits third on the team with 12 points, were enough to come away with the win.
The Ducks moved into December with an away series against 10-8-1 Waldorf. Freshman goalie Thomas Cafarelli stole the opener for Oregon, stopping all 49 shots he faced while the Ducks found enough depth scoring for a 3-0 win. Anselmo opened the scoring with his first ACHA goal, followed by freshman defenseman Austin Kluksdahl scoring his first and sophomore Alex Ulyanov adding an insurance goal.
Waldorf built another heavy shots on goal advantage in the second game, outshooting the Ducks 43-22 aided by six power play opportunities. This time it was enough for a 6-1 Warriors win off the back of four powerplay goals. Oregon went home with its first win over an above-.500 Division I team, but with a clear need to protect its goalies better.
Oregon’s roadtrip to Las Vegas would not be an ideal opportunity to make that adjustment, as the Rebels entered the series 13-5 and undefeated against unranked opponents. The 9-1 and 10-1 losses did little to help the Ducks improve this season, but they did introduce the nine freshmen on Oregon’s roster to championship-level ACHA hockey.
The freshman class’ ability to settle into the ACHA level will be key to Oregon finishing strong, and several of them were moving in the right direction before the UNLV series. Abresch has cemented himself as one of the Ducks’ best scorers, while Jackson Ebbott has provided depth scoring with eight points in 13 games and Anselmo recorded four points in four games starting against Illinois State.
Defensemen Colin Gabriel and Austin Kluksdahl have emerged as key pieces for the future of the Ducks’ blue line, with Gabriel leading Oregon defensemen in points with six and Kluksdahl tied for second with five. Cafarelli leads Oregon’s goalies in save percentage, posting a .923, and has competed with the sophomore, Serbin, for the starting job.
Oregon’s remaining schedule offers a prime opportunity to improve its win total for the fourth straight season since its move up from Division II. The only above-.500 team remaining is 13-5-1 North Carolina State University, which Oregon will face once on the road on Jan. 23, before a series at the University of North Carolina that weekend. The Ducks open the new year at home against 2-11-1 San Diego State University on Jan. 9 and 10.
(Originally published at https://dailyemerald.com/177165/sports/despite-las-vegas-sweep-oregon-club-hockey-is-well-positioned-for-a-late-season-run/)
