USC vs UCLA heats up

There will be more raw emotion on the ice than usual when the Trojans and Bruins meet on Friday for the Crosstown Cup hockey tournament at Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. Today's Daily Bruin covers a controversy over an injury to UCLA's top goalie that some say say was maliciously inflicted by a USC skater. When the teams met recently in Eugene, Oregon, the USC player slammed into and injured the UCLA goalie during an overtime shootout. The Trojans went on to win the shootout and the Pac-8 conference championship. The skater, Matt Lewis, is apologetic—"I didn't do it on purpose...I just kind of fell on top of him"—but goalie Adam Kubalski (pictured with crutches) says the hit seemed intentional. The coaches have verbally sparred as well, with the Bruin saying Lewis was at fault and the Trojan blaming the goaltender. The USC coach calls the incident "sad and tragic." The Daily Bruin website has video of the play from two angles.

Photo: Jennifer Huang/Daily Bruin