February 9, 2020
South Lake Tahoe, CA
“2004, 2008, 2009, 2019 and 2020. The Oregon ducks! Champions of the PAC-8 again!” shouted announcer Isaac Rosenthal, as green and yellow spilled onto the ice of the South Lake Tahoe Ice Center in celebration of their 3-0 victory over Boise State. The second straight year the ducks were able to post a shutout in the PAC-8 championship game. Propelled by an opening marker from team captain Warren Berg just 5:08 into the first period, the Ducks were able to play stout defensive hockey until Connor Rendell was able to put the game on ice with two goals late in the third to secure the championship for the Ducks.
The Ducks came into the PAC-8 championships as heavy favorites, only losing one conference game all season to the very same Boise State Broncos back in November. However, the Ducks learned quickly there was a large target on their back. They were able to pull out a tight victory after San Jose State dominated much of game one at the 2020 PAC-8 Championships. Oregon was able to outscore their problems with a hat trick from Jack Garaghty and 5 points from Trevor Shott en route to a 9-5 victory, while being outshot 40-24. Game two was no easier for the Ducks as a deep Arizona State Sundevil team took the Ducks 64 minutes into Overtime before an Austin Charnholm snipe off the wall sent the Ducks to their second title game in as many years.
Heading into the championship game on day three, no PAC-8 team had tested the Ducks under Coach Orr’s tenure like the Boise State Broncos had. Boise had posted a 3-2 record against the Ducks in 2018-19 and were the only PAC-8 loss the Ducks suffered in 2019-20. “We played a real solid defensive game.” Recalls Coach Orr. “We got pucks deep and used our speed, Grayson [Parkes] was great in the pipes and we were able to play the game we were looking for all tournament. It was a well-deserved victory for the guys.”