Same story. Different day.

On Friday night, the UCLA Bruin men's club ice hockey team rallied from a 3-1 deficit against their crosstown rivals, USC Trojans, with two goals in the third period before a game-winning goal in overtime completed their comeback.

The momentum from the Bruin comeback seemed to transfer onto the ice on Saturday night as UCLA manhandled the Trojans for the first twenty-four minutes of the game. The first period was marked with extensive Bruin possession and a steady defensive effort to keep the shots clear of goalie Matt Bodhan's net. At the end of the first period, the Bruins led 1-0 and within the first four minutes of the second period the scoreboard read 3-0 in favor of the good guys.

However, for as good as UCLA played to start the game, they played almost as bad in the ensuing sixteen minutes of the second period. After going up by 3 goals on USC, the Bruins fell into the same habits that plagued them during the beginning of Friday's game. The team looked sluggish, losing 50/50 battles which allowed the Trojans to control the tempo of the game.

A seeming insurmountable 3 goal lead evaporated in a blink of an eye as Bodhan's net was rang up 4 times and the scoreboard read 4-3 in favor of the boys in Red. Luckily for the Bruins, they could draw on their experiences from less than 24 hours earlier as they had erased a third period deficit. Attempting to go back to the same well for two straight nights was a dangerous strategy, but one that paid off on Saturday night.

Trailing by one goal entering the last twenty minutes of play, UCLA was able to recapture the focus that put them ahead in the beginning portion of the game and capitalized on the cracks in the USC defense. Once again the Bruins scored three unanswered goals, and showed the Trojans who the best team on the ice was.

When the final buzzer sounded, a total of ten goals had rattled the cage, with UCLA responsible for six. The 6-4 victory by the Bruins gave them a 2-0 lead over the Trojans in the Crosstown Cup. A chance for a clean sweep awaits UCLA when they play USC on January 13 in Anaheim.  

UCLA goal scorers included senior forwards Patrick Acosta and Brandon Hsiao as well as junior defenseman Nicholas Katzaroff.