Double ice troubles burst Tab bubble
Laura Halonen and Ian DeArdo
OXFORD'S ICE-HOCKEY stars secured double Varsity success at the end of Hilary term. The women lived up to their billing as favourites and took the trophy for the fourth time in a row, while the men proved faster than a huge Cambridge side, and won 4-2 in their Centennial encounter. Unfortunately Oxford were unable to complete the treble when the men's Bs lost their game 5-10.
Only five minutes into the women's game Oxford took control with Judith Waller one-timing a beautiful pass by Daun DeFrance. The Oxford first line netted their second goal ten minutes later when DeFrance tipped in a shot by Lan Yip. In the second period, except for the occasional attack by Cambridge first line, Oxford was firmly in control. Oxford endured two 2-minute penalties with some brilliant saves by net-minder Andrea Cummins and the puck found its way into the Tab net three times. Two of these were scored by Colleen May and assisted by Laura Halonen and the third was again scored by Waller and assisted by Yip.
The first minute of the last period proved 'blue' indeed for Oxford, when the Tabs netted twice in only 8 seconds. After this brief moment of panic Oxford were back in control, scoring three more goals. DeFrance scored after some brilliant short-handed play with Yip, then Judith Kelly grabbed a great solo goal, and to finally crush all Tab hopes, Waller completed her hat trick.
The Ultraworld trophy stayed in Oxford with a final score of 8-2 and captain DeFrance collected a personal award as player of the match. In a physical men's match both teams were somewhat nervous. Cambridge had several early powerplay chances, including a 5-3 powerplay after ex-Dark Blue captain Marc DeRosnay received a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct at the beginning of the second period. Oxford killed the two-man powerplay but Cambridge scored with the single man advantage to take a 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later Oxford tied the score with an excellent goal by man of the match Jon Finer. The match entered the final period finely balanced, but Cambridge seemed to tire as the match progressed.
The third period opened with a second goal by Finer followed by two goals in two minutes by Dan Farewell to give Oxford a three-goal cushion. Cambridge's John Branch added his second goal in the last minutes of the game.
Ex-Dark Blues Hugh Morrison and Herbie Little, members of the Spengler Cup-winning Oxford sides of 1931 and 1932, presented the Patton Cup to Oxford after the match. The Oxford player of the game award went to Ian DeArdo.
27th Apr 2000