Bruins look for redemption vs. USC
Defense main concern for team coming off tough losses last week
BRIDGET O'BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA hockey defenseman Eric Grahling maneuvers the puck.
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Nothing will erase the memory of a tough week easier than a victory over USC.
Two losses to Stanford and another to UC San Diego last week have left the UCLA ice hockey team hungry for redemption.
“Whatever has happened in the last couple of weeks, when we play ’SC, we come out to play tough and to win,” goalie Matt Hsu said. “It’s ’SC.”
The raucous crowd expected at the Disney Ice Arena in Anaheim is certain to add to the intensity of the game. According to Hsu the people “go nuts in the stands,” while captain Eric Grahling said he always enjoys playing USC on the road.
“The crowd gives us good motivation to go out there and take it to their home team,” Grahling said. “We really look forward to that game.”
A key for UCLA is this week’s lighter schedule. After playing six games the past two weeks, the Bruins (2-6, 1-3 Pac-8) have only Friday’s game against the Trojans to worry about.
“It’s a good week for us because there’s only one game, so the schedule has kind of calmed down a bit,” Grahling said.
USC (2-8, 0-2) had its two-year undefeated conference streak snapped by Washington on Saturday by a 4-1 score.
Even though it’s a rivalry game, the Bruins aren’t underestimating the Trojans. UCLA plans to work on strengthening the team’s defensive play in order to keep the number of quality shots down.
“Most of what we’ve gone over in practice has been defensive zone coverage,” assistant coach Mike Siegel said. “That’s been the majority of our problems in our games.”
“We’ve shown we can score goals,” Grahling added. “Now it’s just a matter of eliminating mistakes we’ve been making in the defensive zone that have been costing us games.”
Simple passing drills will also be stressed at practice since the team’s youth and inexperience is partially to blame for inconsistent puck movement. Siegel hopes the emphasis on crisper passes will make his players more confident on the ice.
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