Saturday, November 2nd, 2002

Adam Senta forechecks WWU.
Photograph by Leanne Burkle

The Vikings earned another win against the UW team Saturday night on
their own ice at the Bellingham Sportsplex. Again, the Western
Washington team out-hustled the Huskies, despite being out shot 38-26.
The game ended in favor of the Vikings, 3-2, with the Huskies taking their
first double loss weekend in over a year.

For the first time in the season, the Huskies scored the first goal of the
game eight minutes into period one. Jamie O’Brien stepping into the zone
and scored on the lower right side. The first period was positive for the
Huskies until less than a minute left in the period, when the Western
team scored. The Viking out shot the Huskies 11-10.

“We took the ice and our play looked promising. We were playing much
better than the night before. We were moving the puck well, the defense
was stepping up, and the team had several great chances,” said
assistant coach Harris. “I thought we were getting our game back.”

In the second period, the Huskies showed more heart, started checking
hard, skating fast, and looking a bit more like themselves for the first time
all weekend. However, the Viking scored right off the bat, to go up 2-1.
Again, someone let the air out of the Dawgs. Eight minutes later, Husky
Sean O’Brien, scored an unassisted goal with a turn-around slap shot
from the high slot, which clearly surprised the stingy Viking goalie. Despite
out shooting the Vikings 10-8, and the cheering of the large University of
Washington crowd, the Huskies went cold again. Before period two was
over, Western Washington’s Matt Kline put away goal number three for
the Vikings.

“We shut ourselves down,” said head coach Cindy Dayley. “We played as
if we did not care if they won or lost.”

In the third period neither team’s goalie allowed another shot pass. While
the Huskies tried to pick up their attack, they could not put the puck in the
net, even after out shooting the Vikings 18-7. The Huskies continued to
lay some big hits, but the Vikings consistently swooped in to pick up the
puck, and control the play, as the Huskies looked exhausted.

The University of Washington team sustained a second loss, this time by a
one-goal deficit, which moved them to 5-2 overall record in the ACHA.

“I hope we can take away from this weekend what is needed to win,”
Dayley said. “We need get back up on the horse and adjust our game.”

The Huskies will travel to the Bay Area next weekend to play Cal-Berkeley
on Friday, San Jose State on Saturday, and Stanford on Sunday.

Final Stats
Score: UW 2, WWU 3
Shots: UW 38, WWU 26
Penalties: UW 14 minutes, WWU 16 minutes