Matt Harrow turned away 35 shots on the night.

If it weren’t for one screen shot early in the first period, Matt Harrow
would have had his third shutout of the season. Matt can’t stop them all,
but he is almost living proof that it can happen.

Behind the solid play of the sophomore goaltender from Kennewick, the
Husky hockey team capitalized on an early goal in the first period. The
momentum generated was enough for Harrow and the rest of the Huskies
to cruise to a 3-1 victory at OlympicView Arena last Friday night.

Despite playing a man down virtually the entire game, the Huskies were
able to continue to score in the face of adversity and keep pressure on
Cougar goalie Joel Frederick with constant odd-man rushes.

The Dawgs got on the board first in the first two minutes of the second
period, with a textbook goal from forward Brad Hajner. Husky forward
Jared Pisinger recorded the assist with a perfect pass onto the blade of
Hajner down the right wing, all he had to do is redirect it past frightfully
out of position Frederick to put the Huskies on top quickly in the first.

The Huskies would continue to test the Cougar goaltender for the rest of
the night.

40 seconds later, Adam Senta kept the WSU defense honest by ripping a
shot off the leg of Frederick, and two minutes after that kept them on
their toes with a bullet from the left circle.

Then the penalty parade would begin.

It simply started with Husky defender Jason Ruel demolishing the
Washington State captain Kevin Cole at the blue line as he attempted to
bring the puck into the Huskies zone with his head down. A two-minute
roughing penalty would ensue, and from this point on the Dawgs would
litter the penalty boxes with their gloves and sticks with frustration.

However, just because the Huskies were missing a skater on the ice,
didn’t mean that they were missing opportunities to put points on the
board. Husky captain Brett Lawrence collected a pass on an odd man rush
from Sean O’Brien and pumped it into goalie Joel Frederick, which resulted
in another shorthanded goal for the Huskies.

The Cougars would get on the board in the first period with nine minutes
left from a great individual effort by Cougar Kevin Cole. After receiving a
pass from left wing Andy Hauer, Cole took it across the top of the circle
keeping the puck away from Husky defenders. Cole waited for the right
moment when Harrow was screened from the puck and wasted no time
rifling one from the top of the left circle, which beat Harrow’s left glove
side.

That goal by Cole closed the gap to 2-1, but that is as close as the
Cougars would get.

A breakaway goal by Jamie O’Brien with 17:20 left in the second period
put the WSU hockey team away for good and really would not threaten
Harrow and the rest of the Huskies for the rest of the game.

The only other scoring chances the Cougs would get the rest of the night
was a redirect attempt with three minutes left in the second, but it was
successfully turned away by Harrow. The end of the third saw the goalie
for Washington State being pulled to add yet another extra man, but the
Dawgs were able to keep the Cougars at bay.

“They stayed with it. They kept their cool and worked for the bigger
picture,” said head coach Cindy Dayley, speaking of her players. She
stressed the disciplined play that the Huskies showed on the ice that led
to the victory.

“Our eleven new guys are finally coming together,” added assistant coach
Zoë Harris, impressed with the effort that the Dawgs put forth. Even faced
with the lopsided penalties in favor of the Cougs, the Dawgs persevered
and pulled out the victory.