Less than 24 hours after a dominating 9-0 victory over the Vandals, Washington State was shocked by Idaho with a 5-2 loss Saturday, splitting the weekend series at the border.

Following a successful weekend in Cheney for the Pac-8 Showcase, the Cougars had shifted up the lines going into Idaho. More rookies began showing in the lineup who had not seen a ton of ice time to this point. Although things seemed to work out Friday for the Cougars, despite the different look, game two was a different story.

Prior to the game, both teams lined up, tracing the center circle. The alternating circle of players shared a moment of silence, along with the rest of the crowd, as an act of remembrance of the tragedy Idaho faced three years ago. An act of sportsmanship and respect began a night of bitter rivalry.

The puck dropped, and the Vandals were quick to strike. Joshua Mongeau received a pass to the slot for Idaho’s first goal of the weekend, striking at just 65 seconds in. Idaho had all the momentum to begin game two, trying to change the narrative of their struggling performance this season.

Although they were struggling, the Cougars did not let the Vandals get away early. With just under 11 minutes left in the first, Nicho Umile scored his first career goal in the ACHA with a backhand snipe by the shoulder of Idaho goaltender Braxton Mahoney.

“I’ve been on the doorstep many times so this time it was so awesome to finally break through, especially coming off a pretty rough injury that ended my last season,” Umile said.

Umile was not in the lineup to start the season, due to an injury. However, once he got in the lineup against Gonzaga, he has not been scratched since.

“We hope to keep seeing big things from him, he’s a talented player,” WSU head coach John Lupinacci said.

As time in a tied first period was dwindling down, Reagan Graves snuck one by WSU goalie Drew Ramsay on the short side, giving the Vandals a late lead heading into intermission.

As the second period began, the Cougars continued to look off. The passes were not connecting, they were breaking down defensively and having trouble breaking the puck out of their zone. The Vandals took the opportunity to capitalize on a Cougar mistake.

Veteran forward Robert Ludwig popped one over a sprawled out Ramsay on a scramble, making it a 3-1 lead over Washington State. At that point, the Vandals were in complete control, and the Cougs were slowly falling apart. As the Cougars took a major penalty for a high hit, Idaho took their two goal lead into the third frame, along with most of the powerplay.

The Cougars began the third period with more disciplinary issues, taking a penalty and finding themselves with a two-player disadvantage. Ramsay made a few significant saves on the penalty kill for the Cougs, but the dam finally broke.

Graves picked up his second of the game on the powerplay, extending the Vandal lead to three. WSU was ripped away from any oxygen on their bench, as the chemistry continued to struggle. The arena was loud for their beloved Vandals.

“We can also take it as a lesson,” Umile said. “It doesn’t really matter who you are playing, you have to treat every game the same and go into it with the right mindset.”

Although WSU looked out of sorts, they took advantage of a powerplay opportunity midway through the third. Cole Carlson shot one from the high point, allowing for a Max Lazzaro deflection, which cut the deficit to two.

While the Cougars had more powerplay opportunities, they were unable to capitalize on any chances with Mahoney shutting the door for the rest of regulation. An empty net from Mongeau sealed the fate of Washington State in the dying seconds as the Vandals took game two 5-2.

“There’s not really any fingers to point, it’s just all the way around. A learning night,” Lupinacci said.

The narrative of the season for WSU has been to play a strong game on Friday, but then let off the gas by game two on Saturday. Although multiple players mentioned this in interviews the night before, they still fell prey to this very story yet again.

“We have a really hard time playing Saturday night games, don’t know why still,” Ramsay said. “We just need to definitely figure out why this keeps happening.”

Including the first game of this series between the two teams, the Vandals had been outscored 121-16 this season. The Vandals’ 1-11 record coming into this game showed an average of ten goals against per game.

“Get a positive out of today. Go into next week with a chip on their shoulder,” Lupinacci said.

Washington State heads to Winthrop Saturday night to play Western in the second annual Collegiate Classic in an outdoor contest. New threads but a familiar opponent in a must win for the Cougs, as they were swept by the Vikings last time around.