Senior Chris Houlihan preparing to move the puck up ice against the UNLV Rebels. Photo by Brian Evans for the Daily Titan.

By Gilbert Gutierrez III
Daily Titan Staff Writer

The Cal State Fullerton hockey club faces off against the University of Southern California Trojans at the Anaheim Ice Arena tonight at 7:25 p.m.

The team looks to redeem itself after coming off a couple of losses to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas over its opening weekend, which included a 7-2 loss last Friday, and an 11-7 loss on Saturday.

Senior defender and co-captain Cyrus Raagas, said that the team is in good spirits and that they really came together as a team.

“The first game I was a little flustered, but in the second game I was able to put some big hits on our opponents early,” added Raagas.

One of the players that made a huge impact against UNLV was junior forward Kallan Smith, a new addition to the team who made some very smart plays on the ice, Raagas said.

In the second match, sophomore forward Elan Dunaev stepped up and scored three goals for the “hat trick” and senior forward/center Chris Houlihan won 19 of 23 face-offs, said assistant coach Steve Jobbit.

“Both of our goalies, Brandon Heethuis and Alex Miller, did very well in front of the net to fend off the Rebels’ attempts to score,” Jobbit said.

“UNLV is one of the best teams in the division that the Titans were up against and they competed really well,” said Brian Evans, a former player who works closely with the team.

Freshman forward Jacob Daniel lifted the team’s spirits in the second match when he took the puck on a break-away to score while the team was skating one man down.

“The guys will have to dig deep and put it all together for 60 minutes as a team and they will be a force to reckon with,” Jobbit said. “This weekend we had played with intensity, if they keep that up they will be competitive on the ice.”

Raagas enjoyed the physical nature of the match and competing.

“It felt good to take some big hits, and now that the first game jitters are gone we feel even more confident holding the puck and putting it in the net,” Raagas said.

Raagas also said that the team feels pretty confident going into the games against USC and has high expectations to win.

The team bonded in Las Vegas and looks forward to facing off with the Trojans this week.

“We lack size, but we can win with our speed and agility,” said Raagas.

On Friday, the Titans meet the Trojans again at the KHS Ice Arena in Anaheim, at 9:40 p.m. for their first regular season home game.