In their first season in the West Coast Hockey Conference, GCU can call themselves Champions, after defeating #1 Seed UCLA in a final second goal. GCU opened the scoring in the second period, and a 2 on 1 rush, but UCLA would come back, scoring twice in the second to lead 2-1 after two. GCU mounted a strong third period, tying the game halfway through the third, and winning it on a last second rush, when a forward got open in the slot and ripped it over the UCLA goalies shoulder to win the game with just 8 seconds on the clock. Congratulations to GCU on their first conference Championship!
How we got here:
#1 UCLA faced #2 GCU in the championship, but not all went according to plan.
Round 1: #7 CSUN easily knocked off the T2 North champion #10 Santa Clara by a score of 16-3. In the other game, #9 CSUF came back in the third, but couldn’t complete the win as #8 UCSB won the shootout in an exciting game.
Round 2: #1 UCLA took down #8 UCSB 6-3 in the first game of the day. In game 2, #2 GCU took down #7 CSUN in a spirited fast paced game. The first upset of the tournament came in game 3, as #6 LBSU came back in a strong third period to take down #3 ASU 5-4, and the final game of round 2 saw #5 NAU take their own strong third period to beat #4 LMU 5-2.
Round 3: #1 UCLA shut out #6 LBSU 3-0, in a fun possession oriented game. In the other semi-final, #2 GCU would start their late game heroics by tying the score with NAU in the third, and then scoring on a back door tip in with only 2 seconds to remain, advancing them to the Championship game where they would pull off a similar late minute heroics.