Less than 20 seconds into Oregon club hockey’s first annual Spring game, Inde Abresch set the tone. Instead of pulling the puck between a defender’s skates or burying a shot in the top corner, Oregon’s freshman points leader knocked graduate student Hunter Voyles’ stick out of his hands before the two laughed at the blatant penalty that the referee-coaches ignored.

“I’m definitely going to miss the competitive side of hockey, but being able to just go out there with 25 of my best friends and just mess around, like, six months from now, we’re not going to be in the same spot, so I don’t take it for granted,” Voyles said.

The four-on-four game followed by a shootout offered fans an opportunity to see the 2025-26 Ducks one more time, the seniors a joyful farewell to the Rink Exchange and the rest of Oregon’s roster extra time on more open ice. Team White defeated Team Green 5-3 in a game that wasn’t completely devoid of on-ice takeaways, but primarily served its purpose of entertaining fans, players and even the coaches.

“They get to play hockey with their friends and there’s really no stakes, right?” head coach Jack Hyman said. “When you play throughout the season, every game is pressure packed and it’s more intense and you want to win,
and it’s nice to play with your friends and just have a good time.”

Freshman Zach Orwig appeared the most on the non-existent scoresheet, potting two goals for Team White with sound positioning close to the net and emphatic wrist shots. 

Junior Jio Esposito and sophomore Alex Ulyanov each took advantage of the freedom provided by the lack of stakes, scoring highlight-reel goals. Esposito gave Team White a two-goal lead early in the second period by gliding toward the goal in the left circle and finding a small gap over Cafrelli’s right shoulder, while Ulyanov pulled a goal back for Team Green on an imposing one-timer from the right circle late in the period.

“They get to be creative and have fun, and obviously I’m not coaching when I’m on the bench, but, you know, always watching and keeping things in the back of my mind for the future,” Hyman said.

Each goalie earned themselves a highlight in a format that skewed toward the goal scorers, with freshman Finn Wilson choosing to do the splits and make a windmill save with under a minute left on a shot headed squarely for his glove, and Cafarelli sliding helplessly to his right side in the shootout before reaching back with his left toe to keep the puck out of a half-empty net.

While the opportunity to be creative offered a genuine value to the players, their increased involvement in the entertainment product they create every time they take the ice created memories for them and the fans.

“Great turnout, especially for the first spring game,” Voyles said. “Just like the football Spring game, it’s Oregon versus Oregon, so you don’t really expect too much, but we have, like, the best fan base — I think we’ve grown that over the last five years here and it’s something super special to see.”

With under a minute to play, the game’s most competitive moment quickly gave way to its least serious, when senior Jackson Henningsgard was blatantly tripped looking for a shooting lane to tie the game, which the referees jokingly ignored. As Team White sealed the game with an empty net goal, Voyles came onto the ice to heckle his four-year teammate, the only other senior on the roster when nine freshmen joined the team last offseason.

Henningsgard eventually exacted revenge in the shootout, when Voyles dodged Cafarelli’s thrown stick and opened up a backhand shot into an empty net before putting it off the left post, opening a lengthy conversation back at the bench.

“We go back and forth a lot, and we’re really close, everything we say is very fun but we definitely like to give it to each other,” Voyles said.

After the shootout, the handshake line visibly slowed down around Voyles, Henningsgard and fellow seniors Jacob Saenger and Ryan Green, who joined the Ducks midway through the season, as they took in their final moments in an Oregon jersey. The night’s constant push-pull between lighthearted competition and meaningful moments ended in an emphatic pull.

“You’re never going to play with the same group of guys again,” Voyles said. “I don’t care if you’re a freshman this year, seniors who are gone, whatever, you never get to play like with that core group again, so just any chance we can all get to play together is something special.”