The 95th Annual Varsity Ice Hockey Match showcased that even the ordinary can be exceptional. There were big names: the British University Ice Hockey Association’s (BUIHA) leading scorers, Cambridge’s assistant captains Christopher Finch and Julien Gagnon, the Light Blues’ league-leading star goaltender Romain Tourenne, and a mighty defensive crew led by former McGill Redman Spencer Brennan. 

True to form, the stars rose to the occasion: the scorers scored, the goalie was invincible, the defence utterly demolished the Oxford attack, and the heavy hitters including Simon Rodier and Jahn Ahmitahge smashed the Dark Blues to the ice at every opportunity. 

What is equally significant, however, is that the ordinary heroes whose names are not remarkable on any kind of stats sheet did their jobs with meticulous precision, taking some of the pressure off the others and frustrating every Oxford attempt to get themselves in the game. It is thanks to both groups of the same unit – the stars and the ordinary heroes – that Cambridge dominated from start to finish and recorded the first shutout for Cambridge in a Varsity Match in more than 75 years.

On the line for both teams was the famed Patton Cup, symbol of ice hockey Varsity supremacy since 1927. Oxford had threatened to not bring the Cup, but the men in Light Blue were told it was indeed present when the puck was dropped and it was with this in sight that they rallied to arms.

This was an historic match for an additional reason. The Ceremonial Puck Drop was performed by Cambridge Professor Bill Harris, who, when he has not been either serving as the Head of Neuroscience at the university, coaching the Women’s Blues ice hockey team, or playing collision hockey himself for the Eskimos, has spearheaded the effort to bring an ice rink to Cambridge. This may very well have been the last Varsity Match ever in Peterborough. This is incredibly significant for Varsity matches in the future, given that Oxford already has a rink in their city which gives their team a tremendous advantage for training.

At home, the Cambridge faithful piled onto the fan buses – so many, in fact, that they exhausted the coach company’s fleet – and flocked into the Peterborough seats for perhaps the last time to cheer on the men in Light Blue. 

It took just a minute for Cambridge's Christopher Finch to open the scoring by stealing the puck behind the Oxford net and tucking in a wraparound. This ignited the Light Blues’ goal song: three consecutive fog horns blaring followed by the opening riff of 'Seven-Nation Army', an anthem that would mark triumph for the Cambridge crew and would echo with nightmarish reverberations for the Dark Blues as the night went on.

Just over a minute later, Finch’s forces struck again following a perfect pass from assistant captain Julien Gagnon.  A few Cambridge players had not even stepped on the ice yet, and already their team was up 2 – 0.

More offence from Cambridge followed, and mid-way through the period, Finch completed a natural hat-trick (three consecutive goals by the same player) after walking out from the corner and knifing a backhand into the top corner.  Teammate Spencific Brennan commented that it was quite possibly the nicest backhand he had ever seen.

The rest of Cambridge's ordinary heroes kept the opponents in check and at bay and with only 30 seconds left in the first frame, Czech star Vaclav Beranek raced past a Dark Blue defender and floated a pass to Dr Marty Smoragiewicz, who fired home the fourth goal for Cambridge. 

Cambridge went to the dressing room after the first period ahead 4 – 0, as a ferociously vocal crowd bellowed their appreciation after a thrilling 20 minutes!

As expected, Oxford came out fired up in the second, but the Cambridge goaltender had an answer for every attack. 

A Dark Blue penalty put Cambridge on the power play and newcomer Sven Martin Sedlak blasted home a low slap-shot from a pass from Dr Marty to increase the home team’s lead to five.

The Light Blues had no intention of letting up. A beautiful tic-tac-toe play from defensive monster Johnzilla Armitage to Gagnon, sliding a pass through the slot to Simon Rodier allowed Rodier to finish without making no mistake.

The ecstatic Cambridge fans watched their team leave the ice after two periods leading 6 – 0.

Despite a sizeable lead, the Light Blues were keen to preserve the clean sheet. Just before the third period commenced, Cambridge called on the Peterborough Phantoms’ fans and their mighty bass drums to summon the troops to battle for one last frame. And summon they did!

Cambridge began the final period with the ever-reliable Shutdown Line. Kumaran Kum Nathan, Michal Barabas, Steve Schiffer, and Cosmin Davidescu had frustrated and stunted Oxford’s attack all night and the team was counting on these key players to maintain their defensive stronghold for a little longer.

Sometimes in sports, a team gets in sync to such an extent that nothing can dislodge their momentum. Another explosive burst of skating by Cambridge led to another Oxford penalty.  Immediately from the face-off, Finch potted his fourth goal of the game to advance the Light Blue lead to seven.

The next Cambridge strike came from a phenomenal cross-ice pass from Finch to Gagnon, who smashed the puck behind the Oxford keeper with authority.

Two minutes later, as he has done several times this year, Dr Marty coiled back his stick and released a ferocious slapshop, nearly knocking the opposing goalie into the net, just as the puck trickled in.

The supporters were on their feet as Cambridge upped their advantage to 9 - 0. 

Fog horns and drums followed, and Oxford called for a timeout under the pressure. 

Cambridge was simply too strong to allow any last-winded Oxford attack and only 16 seconds later, Vaclav Beranek scored the tenth Light Blue goal of the game. 

Some key penalty saves by Romanche Tourenne in the closing minutes preserved Cambridge's clean sheet for a while longer.

Then with just a minute left in the game and with Oxford on a power play, the Dark Blue frustration reached boiling point and their assistant captain committed an incredibly heinous offence. After a failed attempt to check speedy Cambridge winger Beranek, sending the attacker falling to the ice, the Oxford player delayed for several seconds and then two-handed Beranek across the face with his stick, nearly breaking his nose. The Oxford player received a five-minute penalty, a game misconduct, and almost certain disciplinary action by the league following the match.

The mighty Light Blues ensured there would be no more scoring on this night.

Star performances were delivered by Player of the Match for Cambridge, goaltender Romain Tourenne, Overall Player of the Varsity Match Christopher Finch with four goals and an assist, and Team-voted Player of the Game Julien Gagnon for racking up four points against his former team. Dr Marty also had four points and Simon Rodier had a goal and two assists.  What is more, all the other ordinary heroes in Light Blue did their jobs meticulously and that is why Cambridge was in total control for the entirety of this 130th Anniversary Varsity Match.

The highlight of the whole season for the Light Blues was the moment when, having reclaimed the Patton Cup, the players turned to share the victory with the fans; perhaps the last Varsity ever in Peterborough, the first clean sheet for Cambridge in more than 75 years, and tied for the second largest margin of victory for Cambridge ice hockey in its 130-year history. 

Final score, Cambridge Light Blues 10, Oxford Dark Blues 0.

The Cambridge Blues would like to thank the Women’s Blues, whose tireless work was the only reason the event could happen, coaches Bill Harris, Dr Danny Burns, Graham Carver, Mark de Rond, manager Roberts Blukis, DJ Dan Green, Dave, our professional photographer, Ali for his photos, Tafara for designing the programme, Kum for arranging the tickets, Vaclav for coordinating the volunteers, “the drums of Peterborough”, Michal for handling logistics, Steve for bringing all the beer, Anton Wright and Christina Schweitzer for video coverage, Kieran O’Meara and Mitch, our fearless mascot Guy Peter, and the 500 fans who cheered the Light Blues on to this historic victory.