It didn’t take long for the UCSD men’s ice hockey team to freeze out Fresno State University at its Nov. 17 home game at Ice Town in UTC mall, 10-4.
Senior captain Charlie Blake upends an enroaching Fresno State University player in the Tritons’ 10-4 handling of the Bulldogs on Nov. 17. The win was UCSD’s fourth consecutive victory, and it put the streaking Tritons over the .500 mark for the first time in this season.
After the opening faceoff, it only took the Tritons 39 seconds to get their first goal of the game.
“”We came out hard and put Fresno State on their heels by scoring early and kept it up by scoring again quickly,”” senior co-captain and forward Charlie Blake said.
The second goal came only two minutes later, when sophomore forward Ken Yamashita beat the hapless Bulldog goalie glove-side with a slap shot from near the blue line. The puck banked off the right corner pole and ricocheted in for a 2-0 Triton lead.
The Bulldogs made good on their name, fighting back to tie the game 2-2, but the second goal resulted in some controversy.
“”They shot the puck from behind the net and it got stuck and slipped through a hole at the bottom of the net,”” senior assistant captain and defenseman Jesse Tenenbaum said. “”Everyone around knew it hadn’t gone in, but there was only one ref to look at it and he was on the opposite side and he thought it went in.””
UCSD was called for two penalties in a five-minute span after the debacle, giving Fresno State the opportunity to take the lead. However, the Triton defense tightened up and warded off the Bulldog attack without any damage.
Sophomore forward Alex Azuma came out of the penalty box with vengeance and aided freshman forward Michael Frederick in putting the Tritons up 3-2 at the 14 minute, 22 second mark of the second period. Frederick flipped it by the Bulldog goaltender on the glove-side for the goal.
The teams were quiet the next few minutes, exchanging shots and playing solid defense, until the Tritons found themselves with a golden opportunity as the puck was being slapped around right in front of the Fresno State goal.
The Bulldog goalie smothered the puck, and after some pushing by both teams, officials had to break up a small fight, and senior forward Sasan Sharifi along with a Fresno State player were sent to the penalty box for a two-minute cooldown.
According to Blake, the four-on-four played to the Tritons’ advantage.
“”We have fast players and the four-on-four opens up ice,”” Blake said. “”Fresno State had a short bench and it gave us a good opportunity.””
The Tritons took full advantage of that opportunity, as Frederick stole the puck and raced down the rink with only the goalie to beat. He cut right and beat the Fresno State goalie glove-side for a 4-2 lead.
The Tritons scored once more during the four-on-four on a breakaway by freshman forward Collin Smith. Smith took the pass from sophomore defenseman Jeff Ponton off a Fresno State turnover and flipped it past the Bulldog goal tender on the glove-side to extend UCSD’s lead to three goals.
Considering Fresno State’s earlier comeback from a two-goal deficit, Blake was happy to extend the Tritons’ margin.
“”A two-goal lead is a false sense of comfort and that third goal is nice to have,”” Blake said. “”If a team scores two quick ones, you still have a one-goal lead.””
With 7:39 left in the second period, Frederick was called for hooking, and it only took Fresno State 29 seconds into the power play to cut UCSD’s lead to 5-3.
After serving his time in the penalty box, Frederick redeemed himself on his next shift, cutting through the middle of the Bulldog defense, receiving a pass from behind the net off of freshman center Kenny McCuvvins and putting it between the Fresno State goalie’s legs to make the score 6-3.
“”It was [Frederick’s] first hat trick of the season and it was a big night for him,”” Tenenbaum said.
Frederick scored his fourth goal of the night from the middle of the ice to push the lead to an outrageous 7-3 score with 18:24 to go in the third period.
Fresno State scored its final goal on a power play as the Bulldog beat Triton senior goaltender Rich Edmonds-Carter stick side.
“”We really have a good penalty kill, but sometimes we have some breakdowns with young players and we get caught,”” Tenenbaum said.
UCSD would add three more goals, one each by sophomore forward Chris Bachman, graduate forward Tommy Thompson and Smith to make the final score 10-4 in favor of the Tritons.
The match marked the Tritons’ consecutive win, and it pushed their overall record to 5-4.
Despite the blowout, Blake was not completely satisfied with the results.
“”Overall we played well, but we had some defensive lapses,”” Blake said. “”We need to play more physical and stop the scoring opportunities.””
The Tritons will address those concerns before they take on UC Irvine on Dec. 1 in Irvine, Calif., for the first meeting of the year between the squads.
