SJSU Game 2 (7 PM)

[Alex Goldsmith]

USC vs. SJSU.
Puck about to drop.
Post Questions/Comments here.

[Alex Goldsmith]

1-1 after 1 period!

[Alex Goldsmith]

Trojans lose 6-3

[Alex Goldsmith]

USC falls 6-3 in a game that mirrored the previous night's performance. The Trojans had a decent first period, but took a 3-1 lead early in the second period on goals scored 11 seconds apart. But the rest of the second, the third, and eventually the game belonged to the Spartans. They ripped shot after shot on Matt Buttweiler, and were able to score 5 unanswered, including 4 goals in the third, to beat the Trojans. Here are some notes from the game:
- There was some decent chemistry on the top two lines tonight. If the Trojans weren't backed into their own zone all the time, they may have had more success offensively.
- Mitchell Landsinger has fit in well with the first line. He provides grit, wins draws and forechecks hard. That balances out the skill and speed of Joyce and Lofthus quite well. He also set up goals with two on the weekend. I'd expect that to be the top line for USC at Pac-8's
- Matt Buttweiler had his save of the year when he dove out and robbed Sean Scarbrough in the second. Scarbrough is a dangerous scorer and was parked right on the doorstep. It looked like a sure goal when Dickerson's close in shot rebounded right onto Scarbrough's stick. The Spartan pulled the trigger, but Buttweiler dove across and snagged it with his glove. Unbelievable play and fantastic game for Buttweiler. The stats won't bear it out, but he played one of his best games of the year. The third period collapse was not his fault.
- Blame defensive zone turnovers, penalties, and Sean Scarbrough for USC's third period collapse. The turnovers gave SJSU two easy goals, the penalties gave the Spartans two powerplay goals on the night (including the game tying goal from Skyler Yu), and Sean Scarbrough, shut down for two and a half periods, scored two goals including the game winner.
- While the turnovers were undoubtedly USC's fault, the awful officiating was not. Coach Wilbur and Captain Mike Joyce were furious with the officials all night. Joyce took a brutal knee hit.... no call. Lofthus gets completely upended by an SJSU stick while entering the zone.... no call. Stallsmith takes an elbow to the facemask.... no call. Penalties on the night were 8 - 2 in favor with SJSU. This was ridiculous given that the disparity between the two teams as far as penalties committed was certainly not 4 to 1. The icing on the cake was one of the most patently absurd no-calls I've ever seen as a broadcaster. After Scarbrough scored a shorthanded goal to put the Spartans ahead 5-3, SJSU lined up for the faceoff with 5 skaters on the ice (despite the fact that they were still killing a penalty). The officials dropped the puck, play continued for nearly 10 seconds before a referee blew a whistle and stopped play. Despite the blatant infraction of too many men on the ice (a two minute bench minor), no penalty was called. Wilbur and Langille were out of their minds furious.
- Don't get me wrong, SJSU was clearly the better team all game long and deserved the win and the sweep. But the officials took away USC's fighting chance with bad call after bad call. Those who have heard the broadcast know I don't tend to comment on the officiating too much, but this was simply egregious.
- The Trojans are completely healthy for Pac-8's and should be able to put together one hell of a run.
- USC's movie of choice during the day by the way? Taken. It wasn't bad. I think Wilbur, as a father of two girls, especially identified with the movie. I recommend it for anyone looking to turn their brain off for a couple of hours.

Quick reminder, go to www.pac8hockey.com for all of the broadcasts at Pac 8. I'll be doing the games along with several other announcers from the other Pac 8 teams.
That's all, official scorers coming shortly.

[Alex Goldsmith]

USC Official Scorers:
Roth (Nijjar, Ozaki) - PP
Frazier (Koechling)
Lofthus (Landsinger, Joyce)