Saturday, January 11th, 2003

Matt Harrow has a stand-out performance Saturday night.
Photograph by Leanne Burkle

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE – What began as the dreaded repeat of Friday’s
game soon gave rise to an UW team that no crowd had ever seen. The
expended Huskies played with a newfound pride, defeating the Eastern
Washington University (EWU) Eagles 6-4.

The Huskies entered Olympicview Arena once again down by half of their
roster prepared to throw all their available talent at the Eagles.

Period one found EWU facing a determined UW team. The Eagles
remained scoreless for seven minutes before member Josh Curry was
able to earn the EWU’s first goal, assisted by Kyle Sargent. Three
minutes later, Curry again put one past the Huskies, again assisted by
Sargent.

“We never gave up, even with nine guys on the bench and down two
goals,” said Brett Lawrence. “That shows the character of this team.”

The Huskies changed goaltenders as freshman Matt Harrow stepped in
to pick up the reins, succeeding in holding the Eagles at bay for the
remainder of the period.

“Although we were down we played like there was no tomorrow and left
it all out there,” said Harrow. “The other half of the team really helped
too from the stands. It’s encouraging to hear your teammates yelling
and getting exited about the game.”

The Huskies came out in the second to show the Eagles that they could
still be an intimidating presence on the ice. Four minutes into the period,
UW member Shaun Lawrence opened the Husky scoring tally, assisted by
Brett Lawrence and Sean O’Brien. Two minutes had passed when Brett
Lawrence scored goal number two assisted by Shaun Lawrence, finding
the Huskies tied with the Eagles for the first time.

“The team had a choice after Friday's game to give up or to come back
full force,” said head coach Cindy Dayley. “They decided to come back
strong and start popping in all the close calls from the night before. We
improved our score percentage from 3% to 18%.”

EWU’s Sargent increased his team’s lead once more, assisted by Curry
with 7:46 left in the period. However, Husky tender Harrow displayed
his prowess in the net, blocking all other Eagle attempts.

The third period became the crowning glory for the UW team. Brett
Lawrence quickly put in a power play slapshot goal for the Huskies,
tying the game once more. One minute after the power play goal, T.J.
Anderson added his own slapshot goal assisted by Brett Lawrence and
Sean O’Brien. Anderson’s goal gave the UW team its first lead over the
EWU skaters.

“I have never been more proud of these boys,” said assistant coach
Zoë Harris. “They played the game shift by shift and did not give in to
exhaustion until the game was over.”

The Eagles didn’t let the lead remain long. EWU’s Sargent again came
alive for the Eagles, sending in a high slot goal to even it up with the
Huskies. That was the last the crowd would see of the Eagles.

With 11:28 remaining in the game, Brett Lawrence maneuvered through
the Eagle defense to pass to Jamie O’Brien. Jamie O’Brien neatly put the
puck into the upper-right corner of the net, giving the Huskies a 5-4 lead
and what would become the game-winning goal.

“This game proves we have it in us to overcome adversity, we just need
to bring it every night,” said Brett Lawrence.

In the following minutes, EWU pulled its goalie with slightly over one
minute remaining in attempt to give its offense and extra biting edge to
tie the game. The Huskies were not ready to surrender.

“We played all three periods consistently, perfected our systems, and
constantly looked to shut down Eastern's systems on every shift,”
Dayley said. “Every player put it all on the line and we came out with
one of the most exciting wins of the season, and a great lesson; we
now know we can over come hardships to win.”

The victory was secured with 12 seconds left on the clock. Shaun
Lawrence slid goal number six in to an empty Eagle net. The 6-4 defeat
of the Eagles was a great accomplishment for the UW team.

“Unless we lose more guys, from here we can only improve,” said Husky
Quintin Schiller. “Once our injuries heal we'll come together as a team
and be the strongest we've been this season.”

The Huskies improved to 11-6-1 overall, preparing them to travel to Utah
on January 17th to take on Utah State, followed by the University of
Utah on the 18th.

“I think the whole team learned what we are capable of now,” said
Harris. “I think we finally found the love and passion for the game...
something that had been missing in all of us until now.”

Box Score
Final Score: UW 6, EWU 4

Period 1 –
Scoring: 1, EWU, Curry (Sargent), 13:38; 2, EWU, Curry (Sargent), 9:58.

Penalties: Schiller, UW (boarding), 13:16; Savage, UW (Unsportsmanlike
conduct by goaltender), 9:58; Curry, EWU (roughing) 5:07; Fulks, EWU
(holding), 4:30; Buczak, EWU (Unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:42; Schiller,
UW (Unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:42.

Period 2 –
Scoring: 3, UW, S. Lawrence (B. Lawrence, S. O’Brien), 16:01; 4, UW, B.
Lawrence (S. Lawrence), 13:43; 5, EWU, Sargent (Curry), 7:46.

Penalties: Combs, EWU (hooking), 12:53; Montague, EWU (slashing)
6:16; Bockser, EWU (roughing), :48.

Period 3 –
Scoring: 6, UW, B. Lawrence (16:48), 7, UW, Anderson (B. Lawrence, S.
O’Brien), 15:31; 8, EWU, Sargent, 14:36; 9, UW, Jamie O’Brien (B.
Lawrence), 12:28; 10, UW, S. Lawrence, :12.

Penalties: Combs, EWU (high-sticking), 17:32; Fulks, EWU (roughing)
11:37; Gallagher, EWU (roughing), 5:26; Sasseen, UW (roughing), 3:20;
Gallagher, EWU (roughing), 3:20; Curry, EWU (high-sticking), 3:20; Curry,
EWU (misconduct), :12; Power, EWU (misconduct), :00; Moore, EWU
(misconduct), :00; Gallagher, EWU (misconduct), :00; Gallagher, EWU
(game), :00; Gallagher, EWU (game), :00; Coach, EWU (game), :00.

Shots on Net
UW – 7, 10, 13 – 30
EWU – 15, 15, 11 – 41

Goaltender Saves
UW – Scott Southard: 6, x, x – 6
Matt Harrow: 7, 14, 10 – 31
EWU – Doug Schneider: 7, 8, 9 – 24

Power Play Results
UW – 1 for 9
EWU – 0 for 2