The Cougars were unable to get over the hump against the Huskies Saturday in a 4-1 scrimmage loss at the Toyota Center in Tri-Cities.

The unregulated game took place on the home ice of the Tri-City Americans just before they took the ice against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The scrimmage consisted of a constant running clock of three 18-minute periods. Following the disastrous 10-0 loss to UW the night before, the Cougars had little success against the Huskies.

The puck dropped and WSU looked much faster to start, but it was short-lived. Just two minutes in, Peter Konopka fed Logan Maloney for an easy one-timer that beat WSU goaltender Alexei Kuhl to put the Huskies ahead early.

After stunting the momentum of the Cougs with an early goal, the Huskies kept their foot on the gas. Freshman forward Derek Yang snuck one under the pad of Kuhl coming up the right side to extend the Dawgs’ lead just minutes later.

The first period continued to be dominated by the purple and gold, as they struck again just over halfway into the frame. Cameron Irwin drove to the net, and the puck found its way past Kuhl off a couple of players in front, to make it 3-0. The Cougars seemingly still had no answer for their cross-state nemesis.

“UW has quality athletics. They have a solid hockey team,” WSU head coach John Lupinacci said.

Although the Cougars still struggled offensively, they were finally able to break through in the final minutes of period one. A shot from Samuli Sihvonen on the powerplay was deflected in by David Bushkin in front, putting WSU on the board for the first time of the weekend heading into the second.

“They showed [a] much better game. They played north and south hockey, stuck to the basics and that works. Take away space, play physical and put pucks on net. Happy with how they played,” Lupinacci said.

The second period began and the Huskies continued to outplay the Cougars in every aspect of the 200-foot game. Although the Huskies dominated the scoring chances department, they were unable to net one in the second. The Cougars were also unsuccessful, sending the game to the third period still down by two.

Despite holding UW off the score sheet for over 25 minutes of the game, the Cougars finally broke just a few minutes into period three. Dominic Wolfe from behind the net found Maloney out front to stash home the Huskies’ fourth goal of the game.

The running time on the arena clock finally hit triple zeros, leaving the Cougars with another defeat at the hands of the University of Washington by a score of 4-1. The heated rivalry that is the Apple Puck had a familiar ending as it was just another chapter in the same story for WSU.

“Just believe. It’s mental. Staying in shape, playing good hockey, playing as a team. We don’t want to revert to individual efforts. When you start doing that you’re not playing as a team and you’re not playing your best hockey,” Lupinacci said.

WSU holds a 12-13 record going into their busy weekend starting with a contest against Utah Valley at 7 p.m. Thursday in Cheney, Wash.