With 11 combined goals, the Western Washington Vikings used their weekend sweep of the Cougs to move to 7-1 in conference play. After barely holding on to a one-goal lead in game one, Saturday’s matchup had the Vikings in the driver’s seat through all three periods.  

Western broke the ice four minutes in with defenseman Ethan Secord lighting the lamp. The Vikings executed a tic-tac-toe play, drawing sophomore goaltender Alexei Kuhl out of the crease, allowing Secord to cap off the opportunity.

Less than a minute later, forward Jacob James picked up the puck and tucked it past the outstretched pad of Kuhl, giving the Vikings a 2-0 lead with 15 minutes left in the period.

Forward Bret Brumbaugh decided to join the party, camping in front of the net and receiving a pass from the corner, which he buried into the net for the third Viking goal.

The Cougs did not end the first period quietly, as team captain and senior forward Van Rayner hacked and whacked at a puck out in front, slipping it past Western’s goaltender Nolan Morena. In both Friday and Saturday’s matchups, Morena was a brick wall, stopping quality shot after quality shot from the Cougs.

“I got to give my team credit,” Morena said. “They played incredibly these past two games, and all eight games that we’ve played, they have played spectacular[ly].”  

Despite the Cougs’ power play goal to end the first period, Western got right back to work. Forward Kailer Slette snuck a shot past Kuhl, making it 4-1 two minutes into the period.

Tensions were beginning to boil over in the second period, not just between benches, but between players and officials. With some questionable calls going against both sides, the Cougs made an interesting move, subbing out Kuhl in favor of sophomore goaltender Drew Ramsay.  

“[Our head coach] was just looking for a change of pace,” Kuhl said. “He asked the refs ‘if we pull him will you guys stop being so meticulous on us?’…worked for a little bit but couldn’t stick it out in the end.”

The sub did little to ease the scrutiny, as penalties plagued the Cougs all game.

“We start getting into penalty trouble,” head coach Johnny Lupinacci said. “Guys start falling into more penalties. Extracurriculars. We got a couple of unsportsmanlike conduct’s for things that are… not your typical ones. Like hitting a water bottle or whacking a guy’s stick after it was already out.”

With Ramsay in the net, the Western offense cooled off, only scoring one more goal in the second period, making it 5-1 after 40 minutes. However, period three featured Slette getting his second goal of the evening.

Sophomore forward Max Lazzaro managed to get on the score sheet, making it 6-2 and giving the Cougs some hope of clawing back into the matchup. However, Western managed to get the dagger as forward Andrew Fan got a breakaway and tucked the puck over the top right shoulder of Ramsay to make the final score 7-2.

Fan was a name that stood out all weekend, even before he touched the ice. The former Tri-City American played professional hockey in the Western Hockey League before deciding to play for Western starting this season.

“I saw someone who’s been in the system for a while,” Ramsay said. “Definitely a talented guy. As soon as I saw him on that breakaway, I knew it was going to be brutal.”  

Not everyone shared Ramsay’s sentiment.

“I am underwhelmed,” Kuhl said. “It was a good breakaway goal, don’t get me wrong, but other than that me and [Ramsay] stuffed him all weekend.”

Despite the win, Western head coach Adam Segaar gave the Cougs credit for their persistence.

“The Cougars have the potential,” he said. “I was impressed with their ‘keep going’ mentality…that’s hard to build.”

For Segaar, these two wins are just the beginning.

“We’re going to go home and break down film,” he said. “We’re gonna see what we can improve on, see where our goals come from and then we’re just gonna keep digesting it from there.”

With a 7-1 conference record, Segaar gives all the credit to his team’s mindset. 

“Every guy on this team listens, every guy on this team wants to work together,” Segaar said. “The focus is hockey. It’s not partying, it’s not going and doing other things. It’s hockey and building a team.”

As his Cougs drop back-to-back Pac-8 matchups, Lupinacci could not help but recognize the talent that Western has cultivated.

“They move the puck around really well,” he said. “They can capitalize on mistakes, but they can create opportunities.”

Even with their talent, Lupinacci understands their mortality.

 “I think they’re beatable, which is true about anything in the Pac right now,” he said.

As the Cougs get ready to drop the puck with the University of Washington next weekend, they have work to do in practice.

“A lot of tip drills, a lot of screens. I feel bad for our goalies this week in practice, but it [will be] good for them” Lupinacci said. “I call it having heavy sticks. Don’t be so easy to lift your stick. Every D is trying to lift your stick…all of these guys talk about lifting weights all the time…practice holding something down.”

Two conference games in the books, and the Cougs are winless in the Pac-8. However, with the Vikings looking like a top three team in the conference, and the Cougs facing the reigning Pac-8 champions this weekend, WSU has their work cut out for them.

WSU will drop the puck with the Huskies on Oct. 24 and 25 at the Kraken Community Iceplex for their first Apple Cup series of the year.