From Oregon Ducks Hockey
The Oregon Ducks Mens D1 Hockey team has arrived! A packed house and almost 1000 more on livestream witnessed a thriller Friday night as the Ducks (with only 3 practices under their belt since tryouts) battled a seasoned 20th ranked Arizona State team to the bitter end, eventually losing 7-6. Austin Madge was spectacular in the net all evening for the Ducks as the Oregon skaters battled tooth and nail showing the country they served notice as a team out to earn respect and compete at the highest level. “We only had 3 practices after tryouts last week to prepare together” says Senior Captain Austin Pultz. “We feel real good about our performance and are confident as we come together, good things are ahead for this team”.
It was a see-saw battle from the opening puck drop to the last buzzer in front of a packed house at the Rink Exchange in Eugene. Isaiah Strategos started the scoring for the Ducks in the 1st, followed by 2 more in the 2nd by Ethan Jamernik and Henry Andres. The battle was see-saw into the 3rd period when Dayton Clarke found the back of the net with 4:21 left. ASU capitalized on an empty netter, just to have the Ducks bounce right back 30 seconds later with a 2nd goal by Clarke to bring it back to a 1 goal game. ASU again took advantage of a 2nd empty netter, just to have Strategos come right back and drop in his 2nd of the evening to bring it back to a one goal game.
In his debut, Head Coach Kyler Moore was “overall happy with our performance. We certainly have some things to work on, but given the fact that this team was just rostered 3 days ago, I feel good about the talent we have, the effort we displayed and expect good things to come “.
(Originally published at https://www.oregonduckshockey.com/)
