After kicking off the PAC-8 Showcase with a 3-1 win over San Jose State, WSU watched seven goals slip past them against the USC Trojans on Nov. 8.
The Cougs broke the ice with sixth-year student Luke Juergenson feeding senior Samuli Sihovnen out in front who buried it past Walton Chancey, the goal tender for USC. Sihovnen and Juergenson connecting just five minutes into the matchup highlighted their chemistry which was on display all night.
“Oh it’s beautiful. It looks like they are finding each other,” head coach John Lupinacci said. “That line just needs to finish. Every shift they’re getting a chance, they’re on the doorstep… we got to break that habit. It’s finish, finish, finish!”
WSU Forward Samuli Sihvonen lines up for a shot against University of Southern California, Nov. 8th.
For Sihovnen, the addition of Juergenson has been a much needed change.
“He’s stepped in in the last few weeks to help out the team. We just started to try this lineup and it seems to be working,” Sihovnen said.
The Trojans took that goal as a wake up call. Forward Gavin Simon parked himself behind the net of sophomore goaltender Drew Ramsay and proceeded to wrap it around and in with only five minutes left in the period.
Heading into the locker room tied up, Lupinacci gave USC their flowers.
“They know better than to get into a hole,” he said. “They came back strong and it’s good to see the boys keep grinding.”
Period two had the Trojans winning in every aspect of the game. They started it off with forward Yumin Chun getting fed a pass out in front and fired it past Ramsay.
Four minutes later Simon picked up his second tuck of the night, firing a shot that ticked off Cougar bodies and in. To cap off the second frame, defenseman Cole Kochorek got a pass from Simon and found the back of the net on the power play.
For team captain Cole Carlson, the 4-1 Trojan lead was in large part because of the man advantage.
“They got some luck on their power play,” Carlson said. “We just got to stay out of the box. We can’t keep giving them that advantage.”
The third frame was more of the same, with the Trojans tallying three unanswered goals. Chun got his second goal of the night after taking the puck in himself and beating Ramsay on the blocker side. Defenseman Aidan Foley tucked goal No. 6 after receiving a pass from Simon and forcing it past the pad of Ramsay.
The Trojans put an exclamation point on the evening with Chun completing his hat trick. Sophomore Max Lazzaro lost his handle in the offensive zone and handed it to Chun, who skated it back for an all too easy breakaway goal on Ramsay.
WSU Forward Samuli Sihvonen chases towards the puck against University of Southern California, Nov. 8th.
After the blowout loss in game two of the PAC-8 Showcase, Lupinacci is focused on the future.
“The best thing we could do is just erase today and just get the job done,” Lupinacci said. “There’s still two games to be played. If we dwell on this or let this settle in, then it bleeds over into the next game… Today was absolutely atrocious… we stepped back and did worse.”
With still two games left in the showcase, Lupinacci is banking on his long bench carrying them through.
“Well, we got depth… we’ve got half a dozen scratches ready to go,” Lupinacci said. “Honestly, they’re all good enough to be out there… We’ve got plenty of legs and we’re in great shape… We’ll check injuries and that’s why we have depth, so we can plug and play people in.”
The Cougs will drop the puck against SJSU on Nov. 9 and USC Nov. 10 in Cheney, Wa as they conclude the PAC-8 Showcase.
