MOON OVER UTAH: USC GOALIE CITED HOCKEY PLAYER DROPS HIS PANTS.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE 

Staff Writer

There's "Getting Jiggy with it" and then there's "Getting Cheeky with it."

The former is a good thing. It means you're playing like Anaheim Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien "Jiggy" Giguere.

The latter, well ... that's what USC goalie Mickey Meyer did Saturday morning in a consolation game against BYU at the American Collegiate Hockey Association West Regional tournament in North Logan, Utah.

With about nine minutes left in the game, Meyer dropped his goalie pants, rode his stick like a horse, mooned the crowd and slapped his bare buttocks, police said.

He was ejected and cited for lewdness by a police officer who was at Eccles Ice Center watching the game.

"It's coming off with a weird spin now," teammate Tyler McLinn said. "But the crowd was giving him a standing ovation when he did it.

"It lightened the mood of the game. It was a pretty tense time with the referees. We had like six guys in the penalty box. The game was getting out of hand."

According to North Park police Sgt. John Italasano, lewdness is a Class B misdemeanor which carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and a sentence of 180 days in jail.

"They were losing and frustrated and hockey is a wild game," Italasano said. "I guess he acted before he thought of the consequences. ... They were playing BYU, so yeah, people were offended."

It will be up to city attorney Scott Wyatt whether to press charges.

Hockey is a club sport at USC, sponsored by the USC Recreation Center. The school issued a statement Wednesday afternoon, apologizing for Meyer's antics.

"I'm very upset to hear that a student member of our hockey team participating in a national tournament in North Logan, Utah, behaved in such a reprehensible manner," said Michael L. Jackson, USC's vice president of student affairs. "We are investigating the matter and will take appropriate action against those involed. On behalf of the university, I apologize to the hockey fans attending the game ... and to Brigham Young University."

The incident occured during a timeout, after USC had five players sent to the penalty box.

"My gosh, what a circus this is turning into," USC broadcaster Andrew Samel said moments before Meyer's stunt on an Internet radio broadcast.

That circus got a whole lot wilder a few moments later.

"Mickey Meyer has just mooned the crowd, ladies and gentlemen," Samel said, laughing. "He pulled his hockey pants down and mooned the crowd. The Oregon players (in the stands) are loving it. They're going nuts. That was absolutely hilarious.

"(USC volunteer coach) Mark Wilbur is laughing on the bench. ... Oh, and now Mickey Meyer is getting kicked out of the game. He's getting a huge ovation from the crowd as he's coming off the ice."

After Meyer skated off, he was replaced by -- no joke -- Matt Buttweiler.

Meyer, a junior from Clinton, N.Y., did an interview with Samel later in the broadcast.

Asked why he pulled the stunt, Meyer said: "To be honest with you, I have no idea. I just kind of had my fill of these refs."

Not everyone thought Meyer's stunt was so funny.

"We don't treat this as a funny incident," Eccles Ice Center rink manager Floyd Naegle told the Associated Press. "We're a family-oriented business."

Comments posted to an article that ran in the Logan Herald Journal on Wednesday ranged from outrage to amusement.

Meyer has become something of a cult hero on the popular Internet Web site, www.facebook.com. Wednesday, he joined a group called "Mickey Meyer's Mormon Mooning: Priceless."

The group's description reads:

4 years at USC: $168,000

Plane ticket from NY to California: $1,000

Goalie equipment: $1,500

Mooning terrible referees in front of your teammates and making national headlines for your efforts: PRICELESS.

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday night, 90 people had joined the group.

Wilbur did not return a voicemail left by the Daily News on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, he told the Associated Press: "I sure as hell don't condone it on any level."

USC won the Pac-8 championship Feb. 10, but its season was essentially over after a 3-1 loss to Utah State in the first round of the regional tournament Friday night.

Wilbur also told the AP his team was frustrated by having to play a consolation match early in the morning after a loss the previous night.

"All you're asking is for seniors to do stupid stuff," he said.

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