Cougars battle Eagles in JV hockey

By Kyle Franko

Brawls, ejections and rowdy crowds made for a tightly contested doubleheader on Jan. 27 and 28 at the URC between Eastern Eagle JV hockey and the visiting Washington State Cougars.

Erik Sherman’s goal late in the second period lifted Eastern into a 2-2 tie with WSU on Jan. 27. It proved to be the final score of the game and the Eagles’ first tie of the regular season.

On Jan. 28, WSU built a two-goal lead heading into the third period. A furious EWU rally with two goals in the first three minutes of play evened the score to a familiar 2-2 tie. With just 43 seconds left in the final period, a critical mistake by Eastern left the net wide open. The Cougars capitalized and escaped Cheney with a 3-2 victory.

“Little mistakes can cost you a game,” said head coach Greg Sherman. “I can tell you that much.”

After the weekend’s games, EWU JV hockey’s regular-season record is 4-4-1.

The opening game of the doubleheader was a defensive battle. The Cougars scored twice in the first period, but Eagle goalie BJ Leach would not allow another goal in the final 40 minutes.

“He played probably one of the better games this season,” said team captain Matt Randall. “He was just standing on his head. I don’t think we would have stuck in this game without Leach down there in the net.”

In the third period Eastern’s Sloan Tennant nearly broke the tie on a two-on-one fast break, but once the shot deflected harmlessly off WSU goalie Paul Garneau’s padding, the Eagles could not generate another quality opportunity.

“I thought [we] played pretty good,” Sherman said, “but a few mistakes with the puck in the beginning of the game cost us those first couple goals. We missed some scoring opportunities.”

Leach was given the game puck for his performance Friday night.

“Games like this [are] what you play hockey for,” Leach said. One mistake, one mess-up, one screw-up and all of a sudden, it’s a 3-2 game one way or the other.”

Friday’s atmosphere only served as a precursor for the second game of the weekend on Sat., Jan. 28. On military appreciation night the 850-seat ice rink was nearly full after both team’s fans arrived in force, including a bus full of noisy WSU fans.

Within the first three minutes, it was clear how high emotions were running. WSU defenseman, Andrew Efronson was ejected for fighting, but the Cougars still managed to build a two-goal lead.

The first two periods were controlled by WSU. However, in the third period, Eastern stepped on the ice with a renewed energy and higher level of play after Sherman reminded them what they were fighting for during intermission.

“In the locker room, we talked about the military,” Sherman said. “We can play hockey and go to school and go to work and have jobs and family because of what the military does every day for this country. So I just told them, ‘Go out there and dedicate the game to them.’ And they bought into it.”

Amid loud chants of “Lets go Eagles” and “Go Cougs” from the stands, Eastern’s Vince Slawter buried the Eagles’ first goal off of a rebound, assisted by Jeff Umemoto.

78 seconds later, EWU’s Jake Schroeder and WSU’s Harry Gay were both ejected for fighting, which only electrified the crowd further.

The blistering third period action continued when defenseman Matt Randall slapped in an Umemoto-assisted power-play goal from the blue line at the 16:58 mark.

In the first three minutes of the final frame, Eastern had seized momentum and tied the game.

The Eagles had opportunities to score again with back-to-back five on three situations because of WSU penalties, but Eastern could not produce the go-ahead goal.

The deciding moment came with 43 seconds left in the game. Leach left an open net as he went for a loose puck in the corner. His clearing attempt was picked off by a WSU player who hammered away the deciding goal.

“He’s pacing the halls,” Sherman said. “He knows what he did. Nobody has to tell him.”

As the two teams proceeded through the customary handshake line, fans continued to yell and chant.

EWU JV hockey plays Feb. 3 and 4, hosting the Central Washington University Wildcats. The puck drops at 2 p.m.