Underdog Trojans capture Pac-8 title in final seconds
Posted February 21, 2010 at 5:43 pm in Featured, Sports
For more than 59 minutes, USC never led the Pac-8 Hockey Conference Championship Game.
As it turned out, the Trojans needed only 20 seconds to make their move.
With time winding down in the third period and the score tied at 4-4, junior forward Alex Lofthus streaked down the left wing and threw the puck toward the net. Junior forward Ryder Fyrwald tipped it past Washington goaltender Danny Dougan giving USC a 5-4 victory and the conference crown.
The title was USC’s eighth in the league’s 15-year existence.
“You know, for us, the real problem was the first period,” coach Mark Wilbur said after the game. “We couldn’t get it out of gear. But every single game the guys responded.”
Fyrwald, playing for the first time after a three semester break, recorded a hat trick on the game winner. He finished the tournament with six goals, earning him MVP honors.
“It was surreal,” Fyrwald said of the final few seconds of the game. “It was just such excitement.”
The Trojans have become accustomed to raising banners at the Anaheim Ice rink, but this title might have been the most improbable of all. USC was counted out every step of the way.
Washington led 3-1 after the first period and seemed to have all the momentum in its favor.
The Trojans notched a late second-period goal on freshman forward Nick Helmer’s power-play shot but still trailed 3-2 heading to the third period. Despite the deficit, the Trojans never felt out of the game.
“We have the most heart of any team in this league,” sophomore forward James Anderson said. “We wanted it more than anybody else.”
Fyrwald tied the game about eight minutes into the third period with his second goal of the night. His wrist shot from the right circle deflected off a Washington defenseman and past Dougan.
But the Huskies continued to push. Lofthus took a penalty with about seven minutes to play and Washington freshman Corey James scored on a scramble in front of the net, giving the Huskies a 4-3 lead.
Yet the Trojans maintained their composure, something Wilbur credited to his squad’s desire to add to the program’s storied history.
“I told them, ‘We have banners hanging in this arena, but they’re not yours, they’re somebody else’s,’” he said. “I go, ‘Go get your own damn banner.’”
Helmer tied the game at 4-4 late in the third on a beautiful backhand goal, sweeping past a Washington defender and roofing the puck past Dougan. The game seemed destined for overtime until Fyrwald scored his third goal of the game with 12.6 seconds left.
“When you take somebody whose got great athletic ability and you put that creative juice to it, he’s really difficult to stop,” Wilbur said of Fyrwald.
USC played from behind the entire tournament and faced tall odds in the process. The Trojans trailed UCLA 2-0 before coming back for a 7-4 victory.
They trailed Oregon, who they hadn’t beaten since 2007, 2-1 in the first period before scoring late in the third to win, 4-3.
Even before the tournament, USC wasn’t expected to lift the trophy. The Trojans entered as the No. 5 seed, having finished the regular season 9-19. In the tournament’s previous 14 years no team seeded lower than No. 2 had ever won.
The Trojans also ended that stretch on a four-game losing streak, dropping the Crosstown Cup to UCLA for the third time in 16 years. But Wilbur said the week off gave his team time to get over the loss to UCLA and prepare for the tournament.
He challenged his team before the tournament began, telling it: “You guys have three games left in your season. How bad do you want it? Is it worth it?”
The Trojans responded to their coach’s questions with a resounding answer.
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This article is tagged: alex lofthus, hockey, pac-8, ryder fyrwald
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Thanks for the article – football and basketball are the only Trojan sports that get bigger crowds – Fight on!