The Clash of the Titans...and the Skatin' Utes

On Friday Oct. 15 the Cal State Fullerton Titans took on the University of Utah Skatin' Utes. There was no comparison as to which team was better, the Titans owned the first two periods with amazing offense and just as impressive defense.



Although Utah held their own and came back to lose only by two points, (Final 6-4) they obviously had the stress of midterms in mind and weren't playing to full potential. However they did play extremely dirty, which only hurt themselves (literally) in the end. One player was escorted off the ice to be treated for a head injury after falling from trying to check one of the Titans.


During the first period the first goal was scored by Jake Daniels, number 23 of the Titans. The second goal was scored due to an amazing assist from Dalton Braniff to Sean Saligumba.

CSUF Titan Ice Hockey is yet ANOTHER great example of Riverside County hockey players going somewhere with the sport. There is Elan Dunaev, whose brother owns Ice Town; Dalton Braniff and Andrew Hodge, Eric's best friends (: and Anthony Webb, who all grew up playing at Ice Town...just to name a few.

The Titans also play a number of big schools from acrossed the country, which is pretty impressive for a state where hockey is one of the least popular sports. Some of which are, Long Beach State, which seems to be their biggest rival; Northern Arizona University, a school I considered going to; The University of Utah, Western Washington, Maryland, and Texas.

With the excitement of knowing athletes on a great college team, the screaming fans, the intensity of the game and not to mention that Eric was lining it...the game against the Skatin' Utes was an awesome experience.

Bakersfield Condors @ Valencia Flyers

On Friday Oct. 8th I was given the opportunity to watch my first junior game. The Bakersfield Condors traveled to Valencia to play the Flyers, only to be disappointed with the results.

For the first time I watched a game that wasn't at NHL status that spectators actually paid to see. The stands were almost full and the cafe above the rink was full as well, needless to say, the flyers have a great following for junior ice hockey.

Of course, the higher the level of play the more to expect from the game. The first whistle was blown at 19:20 in the first period and the clock was stopped just as frequently throughout the game.

The excellent defense from the Condors was no match for the even better offense brought by the Flyers. At the end of the game the score was 6-2 Valencia with 36 shots on goal to Bakersfield's 28.

Again, we have another example of kids playing at Ice Town going places with hockey. The starting goalie for the Flyers was Taylor Nelson, another kid who grew up playing in Riverside, CA.

But with a normal game with higher level of skill, the highlight of the game for me was seeing my first REAL hockey fight...and by real I mean, gloves and buckets off and fists flying.

The kid from Bakersfield, a lot bigger and older than the kid from Valencia, wailed on him, it was very intense (: