Washington State’s disciplinary issues on the ice were at fault for their 7-5 loss against Milwaukee School of Engineering Sunday morning.
The first period began, and it seemed the Cougars still had some waking up to do as the Raiders came out firing. A costly rebound given up by Alexei Kuhl allowed Maddux Kadera to stash one home just over a minute into the game.
The Raiders were a step ahead in every aspect to start, which allowed Milwaukee Captain Chris Barnard to extend the lead on a loose puck around five minutes in. Just like that, the deficit was two for WSU.
It looked like the early wake up was getting to the Cougs until Cole Carlson cut the lead in half on a breakaway at the halfway mark of the period. However, just a minute later, Milwaukee extended their lead again as Alex Schoenfielder snuck it by Kuhl through the short side to make it 3-1.
Cole Carlson takes the puck behind net for WSU hockey against Gonzaga on Oct. 4 2025.
Although Milwaukee had their two-goal lead back, the Cougars had finally woken up. With just under seven minutes left in the first, Kaydence Kelley tucked home a rebound off a Sam Hembree shot from the point. This put Washington State back in it once again as period one came to a close.
“I knew if we could just get the puck to the D and get a shot on net, we just have to go to the net and get a rebound and that’s exactly what happened for the first one,” Kelley said.
The puck dropped for the second period and Kelley wasted no time. His shot from the blue line found its way home against Raider goaltender Ben Klinghoffer, as he knotted it up with his second goal of the contest.
“Kinda just walked in and took a snapshot. It sneaked past the goalie blocker-side,” Kelley said.
The Cougars continued to pounce Milwaukee by showing a strong penalty kill, only to draw a powerplay of their own nearing the halfway point of the second. This man-advantage allowed veteran defenseman Lucas Robinson to find Matthew Taylor on the back door with seconds remaining on the power play, giving the Cougars their first lead of the game. Head Coach Johnny Lupinacci made sure to keep the puck for Taylor, as it was his first career goal in the ACHA.
“It was great. It was a really grinding goal. It really hyped me up for the rest of the game,” Taylor said.
Just a couple minutes later, Carlson fed sophomore Max Lazzaro, who went top shelf over Klinghoffer’s glove to extend WSU’s lead. The Cougars had all the momentum and looked fully in control.
“I think we had a lot of good signs here this week and in this game,” Kelley said.
The Cougars’ momentum was short-lived, as they took two penalties just a minute later and allowed a five-on-three opportunity. The Raiders cashed in on this opportunity not once, but twice. Power play goals from Kadera and Joseph Grobarek deadlocked the game at five a side. The game was tied as time expired in the second period.
“Can’t let up for even a minute, just keep going,” Taylor said.
The third period got underway and both teams came out swinging for the lead. The Cougs created numerous scoring chances but had the door shut on them time after time by Klinghoffer.
With six minutes to go in regulation, it seemed this game was surely going to overtime. However, the Raiders connected on a defensive breakdown as Grobarek registered his second goal of the game to give Milwaukee the lead late.
WSU hockey defenseman Sam Hembree warms up ahead of a game against the University of Idaho
“. We were moving the puck pretty well, had a couple mistakes, but you know that’s every game. Just got to keep going,” Kelley said.
Despite multiple grade-A chances, the Cougars were unable to tie it up before Barnard directed one by Kuhl to put the dagger in, making it 7-5 with just three minutes left.
Coach Lupinacci pulled Kuhl to get an extra attacker with 30 seconds left, but it was no match for the shutdown performance Klinghoffer put together in the third. The Raiders held on for a 7-5 win.
“I think we just started getting a bit lazy, getting complacent,” Taylor said. “We gave up some bad opportunities.”.
The Cougars flew down to California this weekend where they faced off against the University of California Berkeley Bruins in two matchups. WSU lost the first game 6-0 and the second matchup 6-2. They now come back to the Palouse to play against the Western Washington University Vikings in two games on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18.
