Saturday, October 27th, 2002

Shayne Sasseen scores on a breakaway.
Photograph by Leanne Burkle

The Washington Huskies and the Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears were ready
to hit the ice once more at Olympicview Arena. Despite a 6-4 loss to the
Huskies Friday night, the Golden Bears were not ready to give up another
loss Saturday night. Both teams played to their strengths and showed
little weakness, but the Huskies put another winning notch on their Pac-8
record after a 3-2 defeat of the Cal-Berkeley team.

Though the teams were both scoreless at the end of period one, it did not
mean the game did not have its moments. Both teams were refreshed
and ready to play, showing their speed, intensity and physical play on the
ice. The Huskies were called on three penalties to Cal-Berkeley’s one, but
managed to keep their defense strong against the Golden Bear’s offense.
The UW team also out-shot the Golden Bears 11-7, but were unable to
pop a goal.

“I think both teams improved their game and played with more intensity
tonight,” said Husky assistant coach Zoe Harris. “I believe we played
more consistently than the night before, improved our positioning and
supportive play.”

The Berkeley team opened up period two ready to go, scoring first for the
second night in a row. Golden Bear Sean Haq put one in the net with an
assist from Dylan Taylor. The Cal-Berkeley team also succeeded in killing
two UW power plays although the Huskies still out-shot their opponents
15-8. The UW hustle did not go unnoticed as Jamie O’Brien and Brian
Smith assisted Shawn Lawrence in his game-tying goal with two minutes
left in the period.

Period three proved to be the crowd-pleaser as the Huskies once more
proved their strength as a third period team.
Cal goalie Kevin Gordon continued to be rock solid in net using his size
and strong glove to challenge the UW team as he stopped 13 of the
Huskies 15 shots.

Brett Lawrence opened the lead for the UW team as he steps out from
behind the net and rotates to shoot passed the goalie, assisted by TJ
Anderson and Shayne Sasseen.

“Being behind is not the best place to be, but this team has the heart and
desire to come from behind and win the game,” said head coach Cindy
Dayley. “My goal it to take control of the game from the start and keep it.
Up to this point in the season, we have not been able to do that.”

Four minutes after Brett’s goal, the Huskies were down a man, playing
four-on-five with the Golden Bears. As the Huskies work hard to kill the
power play, Shayne Sasseen fore-checks the Golden Bears, strips the
puck away and jumps on a breakaway on the Cal goalie. Shorthanded,
Sasseen took his time to beat the goalie right side, top shelve, moving
the Huskies into the lead, 3-1.

“Cal continued with their tight, aggressive style and never considered
themselves beat,” said Harris. “They are impressive with their positioning,
their go-get-'em attitudes and their goaltender is very strong. Sasseen
showed great patience and accuracy when he beat the goalie, who had
been stingy all night.”

“Not gaining the lead until the third period is nothing new for this team,”
said Husky center Brett Lawrence. “We are a third period team,
unfortunately, that will hurt us when we play stronger teams. So one
thing we need to work on is playing with the same intensity all three
periods.”

The Golden Bears answered with an intensity of their own as they pulled
their goalie with 1:13 remaining in the game, while the Huskies were
penalized, to gain a six-on-three advantage. Three seconds later, Cal-
Berkeley’s Jason Katzen snaps one into the net to move the Berkeley
team up by one. The UW team still being penalized, accomplishes keeping
their opponents away from the net as they win the game by one goal, 3-
2.

The Husky Hockey team now sits at 4-0 in the Pac-8, 5-0 in the ACHA.
They will face their north state rivals, Western Washington University on
Friday at Olympicview Arena at 9:45 PM and again on Saturday in
Bellingham at 5:45 at the Sportsplex next to Civic Field.

Shots on Net
First Period: UW 11, Cal 7
Second Period: UW 15, Cal 8
Third Period: UW 13, Cal 4
Totals: UW 39, Cal 19

Penalties
First Period: UW 6 min., Cal 2 min.
Second Period: UW 0 min., Cal 4 min.
Third Period: UW 12 min., Cal 10 min.
Totals: UW 18 min., Cal 16 min.