From The Daily Emerald
By Henry Light
The Oregon club hockey team opens its fourth season in Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association on Oct. 3 and 4, hosting Simon Fraser University for a weekend series. This is the first of two home series against Canadian opponents before the Ducks begin ACHA play, with the Red Leafs travelling from Vancouver, British Columbia, followed by the Logan Lake Miners from Logan Lake, British Columbia, on Oct. 17 and 18.
The club is student-run and self-funded, through dues from members as well as the ticket and merchandise sales that come with being the highest-level hockey team at the university and using its athletics branding. The team was founded in 1989 and played in the ACHA D2 PAC-8 Conference from 1995 to 2022, before moving to ACHA D1 with hopes to one day join the NCAA. In its fourth season of a transitional period with no certain end, the team is looking to improve at its current level with a young roster.
This will be the Ducks’ third season under head coach Jack Hyman, who began his coaching career at ACHA D2 Loyola Marymount University, where he also played. Hyman’s 2024-25 team achieved the program’s highest point total since the move to Division 1 with a 9-14-2 record, good for 21 points.
Among the 11 returning players are senior Jackson Henningsgard, who tied for the team lead in points last season with 16, and sophomore Carson Streich, who finished second among defensemen with 13. While Henningsgard is the team’s only senior, graduate student Hunter Voyles will return for his fifth season in an Oregon jersey, making the defenseman the last Duck to play in the previous D2 era.
Last season’s starting goaltender, George Serbin, will return for his sophomore season after posting a 3.64 goals against average and a .896 save percentage. He will be joined by two freshmen competing for time in the crease, Thomas Cafarelli and Finn Wilson.
Both freshmen are coming off excellent seasons in common ACHA feeder leagues at the third tier of American junior hockey. Cafarelli posted a 1.41 GAA and a .950 save percentage in the USPHL Premier, and Wilson achieved a 1.70 GAA and .924 save percentage in the NA3HL.
The Ducks will ice a young team this year, featuring nine freshmen and six sophomores. Hyman found playing time for the sophomores last season in anticipation of the younger team. Players like forwards Noah Easterson and Dylan Chapman, who totaled 11 and eight points respectively while playing in every game, and defenseman Axel Wyatt, who played in 23 out of 24 games, will need to make the most of their experience for Oregon to compete with older teams.
Following the tune-ups against Canadian opponents, Oregon will round out October on the road for its first two ACHA series. The Ducks will open with games against Colorado State on Oct. 24 and 25, after splitting a series in Fort Collins last year. Oregon then travels to Rochester, Michigan to play Oakland University on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
The Ducks’ next series brings former PAC-8 rival Washington, which remains at the D2 level, to Eugene. The rivalry series was played in 2023/24 for the first time since Oregon’s move, but that was the annual Bend Classic in Bend, Oregon, so this will be the Huskies’ first trip to The Rink Exchange since the PAC-8 era.
After participating in the ACHA Chicago Classic tournament in Romeoville, Illinois, the Ducks will play both of their December series on the road. On Dec. 5 and 6, they will play Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, and on Dec. 13 and 14, they will face the reigning national champion University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The Ducks were wildly overmatched in their last trip to City National Arena last season, losing 6-0 and 16-0 to a UNLV team that later won an exhibition game against the reigning NCAA D1 national champions, the University of Denver.
The Ducks return to The Rink Exchange for their first home ACHA D1 series against San Diego State University on Jan. 9 and 10. They then travel to Bend on Jan. 16 and 17 to host the University of Alabama, which dropped three games of a four-game home-and-home to the Ducks last season.
After finishing January with a three-game weekend in North Carolina against North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina, Oregon plays two rematches from earlier in the season in February. First, the Ducks host Oakland on Feb. 13 and 14, then they close out the season in San Diego on Feb. 20 and 21.
The Oregon hockey program has improved its point total in every D1 season it has played, and while Voyles represents the end of a successful PAC-8 era in which the Ducks won six league titles, Hyman and his young roster will look to push the program further into its new era in 2025/26.
(Originally published at https://dailyemerald.com/171292/club-sports/oregon-club-hockey-looks-to-improve-once-again-amid-squad-turnover/)
