The team may have been sporting a new cast, but they looked like the same old Blues from last season’s unprecedented national championship-winning season when they posted yet another dominant performance this past Saturday against the Light Blues of Cambridge. The Men’s Blues of ice hockey trounced their rivals from “the other place” 10-5, extending the team’s undefeated league record to an impressive nine straight games (going back to last season).

“The team as a whole did well in the defensive zone, besides a few lapses that led to goals,” commented Blues Assistant Captain William Bruce, also last year’s league-leading scorer. “We also did a good job keeping pressure on [Cambridge] in their zone.”

The Blues certainly did put on the pressure on offense, exhibiting a ruthless forecheck, drawing eight penalties on Cambridge and scoring ten goals, six of which were on the power play.

Oxford set the tone early on in the first period, with last year’s second highest league-leading scorer, Landis Stankievech, netting the Blues’ inaugural goal of the season on the power play goal just four minutes in. Stankievech scored again on the power play six minutes later to give Oxford a 2-0 lead, and would eventually complete the hat trick midway through the third period. Not more than two minutes after Stankievech’s second goal, rookie Parker Carney buried his first career goal as a Blue and Oxford’s first even-strength goal of the season. Carney also completed a hat trick, tacking on his third goal on Oxford’s tenth of the match, scored nine minutes into the third. Oxford’s first line of Bruce, Stankievech and Carney tallied all but one of their team’s goals, accumulating 22 points between them (Bruce 1G, 6A; Stankievech 3G, 4A; Carney 3G, 2A).

Cambridge got on the board late in the first with a goal from John Jenkin to cut Oxford’s lead to 3-1. The Light Blues looked as if they might make a comeback when they scored two quick goals at the start of the second period to make the score 4-3; however the Cambridge surge would be short-lived. Oxford came out to start the second period rather flat-footed, but Cambridge’s second goal in seven seconds lit a fire under the Blues’ first line. Off the ensuing face-off, Bruce gained control of the puck and proceeded to cut through the entire Cambridge squad on the ice and score a spectacular breakaway goal, drawing the goaltender across the goal mouth while roofing the puck on the near side of the net on his backhand. Stankievech followed this up with another goal 24 seconds later, and the Blues cruised to victory thereafter.

While the offense looked solid, Oxford’s team defense left something to be desired. “The rookie D-men, while looking a little unorthodox, managed to get the job done,” said Stankievech, but all the captains followed up similar statements to this one with assurances that team defense was the top priority going into the squad’s training schedule this week and leading up to the Blues’ first home match of the season this coming Saturday. ”We just have to keep getting better as a unit,” commented Bruce. “What matters is that we got a huge win tonight,” added last year’s captain and current player Julian de Hoog. “Tonight we sent a message to the rest of the league that we’re still the team to beat.”

The Men’s Ice Hockey Team steps out next on November 14th at 23:00 against the Warwick Panthers, determined to keep their winning-streak alive and to notch another key league victory.