Saturday, December 7th, 2002

Brett Lawrence (top), Sean O'Brien and Shayne Sasseen
each tally a hat-trick.
Photograph by Leanne Burkle

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE – No one could anticipate the intensity that took
place on the ice at Olympicview Arena Saturday night. The University of
Washington Huskies followed a 7-0 shutout from Friday to dominate the
UCLA Bruins 12-1.

“Have you ever heard of everyone on one line getting a hat trick?” asked
UW member Sean O’Brien. “I haven’t.”

But that is exactly what the Huskies did. The starting line for the UW team
dominated the game, scoring 10 of the 12 goals accumulated the Huskies.
The Bruins were no intimidation on the ice as Washington took advantage
of UCLA’s inability to pull a game together.

“They were just completely overpowered by our top line,” said Jamie
O’Brien. “We capitalized on that.”

The UW team got started four minutes into the game Sean O’Brien shot a
one-timer into the upper left, assisted by Brett Lawrence. Four minutes
later, the Bruins committed their first penalty, which the Huskies took full
opportunity to convert the power play. At 10:13, Shayne Sassen knocked
the puck into the lower left corner, assisted by linemates Brett Lawrence
and Sean O’Brien. With 4:40 left in period one, Sean O’Brien scored his
second goal of the night, assisted by T.J. Anderson. The UW team left the
ice with fans screaming and leading 3-0.

If the first period was exciting, it was no match for the second. Thirty
seconds in, Steve Savage broke across the middle to pass the puck to
Jamie O’Brien who tipped it in the net for the Huskies’ fourth goal. At
14:53, the UW team was offered a penalty shot, taken up by Shayne
Sasseen. Sasseen faked left to snap the puck into the right low side and
raise the fan’s spirits. The goal was Sasseen’s second for the night, but
not his last. Two minutes later, Brett Lawrence and Sean O’Brien assisted
Sasseen in earning the team’s first hat trick. And it would not be the last.

Defenseman T.J. Anderson moved up with a potent shot from the point
assisted by Brett Lawrence at 8:22.
“It was good to see our offense finally come alive,” said goalie Scott
Southard. “Sassy’s penalty shot, TJ's rocket from the point - the puck
finally started to bounce our way.”

The UW defense worked hard to shut down all attacks by the Bruins.
UCLA had been restricted to only seven shots in the first period, and were
nearing only five attempts in the second. But luck soon swung in their
favor at 5:47 when Bruin Carlos Cazares flipped the puck over the UW
goalie. It was the only shot that got past out of 20 UCLA attempts. The
Huskies remained strong and answered the goal when Brett Lawrence
scored his first goal of the evening at 5:05, assisted by Sean O’Brien,
moving the Huskies to a dominating 8-0 lead.

By period three, the UW team had completely come together and was
making plays happen. Brett Lawrence led the onslaught two minutes in on
a power play goal, assisted by linemates Sasseen and Sean O’Brien. At
10:42, Brett earned his first hat trick and the UW team had their second
trick in one game.

“The ‘Black Line’ [named after their practice jersey color] came together
like nobody's business,” said Husky Quintin Schiller. “They finally found
what works for them.”

The line was not yet finished for the night, as they still had one more hat-
trick hiding in their ranks. Forty seconds after Brett’s goal, Sean O’Brien
added his third goal for the evening, again assisted by Brett and Sasseen.
Husky fans were roaring. Three hat-ticks by three different players in one
night, which all happen to be on the same line.

“It’s not like we scored 50 goals,” said Sean O’Brien. “Our line got 10 of
the 12. And what makes it even more amazing is that no one all year has
gotten a hat trick until tonight.”

The UW team was a dominate force on the ice, but credit still needs to be
given to Bruin goalie’s Matt Miller and Frank Niu, who stopped 38 of the
Huskies’ shots. The rest of the UCLA crew showed a lot of class, as both
teams skated a clean, fast-paced game of college hockey.

“They had a pretty good goalie,” said Jamie O’Brien. “He had an excellent
glove hand but couldn’t stop the amount of pressure we were constantly
putting on him.”

But the University of Washington wanted one more goal. At 2:48,
Sasseen went down low to add the Huskies’ 12th goal – just for good
measure.

"I feel that all the lines are starting to click on many levels,” said assistant
coach Zoe Harris. “We are reaching our goals by excelling in the areas we
have set out to improve on. I am really proud of the players' efforts."

The 12-1 win was the highest scoring game for the University of
Washington in the 2002-2003 season, and moved them to a 9-0 PAC-8
record, 10-5-1 overall.

“Winning two league games is a great way to end the quarter and
hopefully we can carry this momentum through the break and into the
second half,” said Southard.

The second half of the UW hockey season will commence on Friday,
January 10th at 9:45 at Olympicview Terrace. The Huskies will face
Eastern Washington University, who previously defeated the Huskies 6-2.

Box Score
Final Score: UW 12, UCLA 1

Period 1 – Scoring: 1, UW, S. O’Brien (B. Lawrence), 16:21. 2, UW,
Sasseen (B. Lawrence, S. O’Brien), 10:13. 3, UW, S. O’Brien (Anderson),
4:40. Penalties: Serban, UCLA (tripping), 11:56; Troyke, UW (tripping),
6:40.

Period 2 – Scoring: 4, UW, J. O’Brien (Savage), 19:30. 5, UW, Sasseen,
14:53. 6, UW, Sasseen (B. Lawrence, S. O’Brien), 12:36. 7, UW, Anderson
(B. Lawrence), 8:22. 8, UCLA, Cazares (Connolly, Allen), 5:47. 9, UW, B.
Lawrence (S. O’Brien), 5:05. Penalties: Beveridge, UW (tripping), 10:50;
Cazares, UCLA (boarding), 1:31.

Period 3 – Scoring: 10, UW, B. Lawrence (Sasseen, S. O’Brien), 17:57. 11,
UW, B. Lawrence (Sasseen, Smith), 10:42. 12, UW, S. O’Brien (B.
Lawrence, Sasseen), 10:00. 13, UW, Sasseen (B. Lawrence, S. O’Brien),
2:48. Penalties: Williams, UCLA (hooking), 18:22; Shigetani, UW (high-
sticking), 5:25; Serban, UCLA (roughing), 1:48.

Shots on net
UW – 20, 17, 13 – 50
UCLA – 7, 6, 7 – 20

Goaltender Saves
UW – Scott Southard: 7, 5, 7 – 19
UCLA – Matt Miller: 17, 0, x – 20
– Frank Niu: x, 1, 3 – 4

Power Play results
UW – 2 for 4
UCLA – 0 for 3