After four consecutive losses, the USC Trojans finally found their stride and reaped the benefits of having back-to-back ten goal games. The Trojans defeated Washington State 10-2 Friday night and 10-1 Saturday night.
Sergei "Serge" Liberovsky was the Trojan in net that could not be beat Saturday night as Washington made a valiant effort to make a comeback from the previous evening.
What caused this team to score 20 goals over the course of two games after losing four?
Regarding the turn of events this past weekend, alternate captain Noah Comisar feels that “[…] only having five or six practices under our belt, we have a lot to develop. This weekend we switched up the lines a bit because the lines for the first four games weren’t creating the chemistry we needed to produce out there.”
After a not so stellar start to the season this shake up clearly had a positive impact on the players. The chemistry that these new lines created was positively reflected on the scoreboard this past weekend.
“I attribute this weekend’s two wins towards a rash of self-confidence we hadn’t had prior and unselfish play all around,” said alternate captain Dante Caravaggio. “People came to the games hungry to win.”
This hunger was refreshing to finally see as the Trojans battled for the puck in an unprecedented way thus far in the season. They played a physical game where they finished their checks and truly made an effort to score and play as a team.
Adam Zacuto personally had an unbelievable weekend as he scored a hat trick (three goals in one game) in both games against Washington State. When asked about what led to his personal success, Zacuto was quick to share his success with his linemates, “I think I benefited personally from the new line combinations we went with this weekend. Both James Huebner and Cory Neuman gave me some great passes and they definitely contributed to my personal success and the points our line put up.”
Zacuto gave it his all on Saturday and even received a 10-minute game misconduct along with two extra minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct when he was involved in a scuffle on the ice. Although he was out of commission for twelve minutes, the passion he played with on Saturday was greatly appreciated by all in the arena.
Looking to the future, Comisar said, “We still have yet to prove ourselves as a team that can compete with the best in our league. I’m hoping that the monkey is off our back.”
Whether it was as easy as switching up the lines, receiving a bit of luck, or just plain old timing the USC Trojans have now proved that they have what it takes to get the puck to the net. There is no going back for this team who faces their cross-town rivals UCLA this Saturday at The Rinks in Anaheim, California at 7:30. Fight on!
No comments:
Post a Comment