After two non-conference matchups against Utah Valley and the University of Montana, the Cougs closed out their weekend facing off with the Western Washington Vikings on Sunday Jan 18 in Cheney. Western came out on top with the 6-3 win over the Cougs despite getting out-shot 45-37. 

Immediately off the opening draw, the Cougs kept pace with the Vikings and peppered rookie goaltender Toki Young. The freshman was playing in his first Pac-8 game of his career and was thrown in the deep end against the Cougs. 

Western and WSU felt each other out for the first 15 minutes of play, before sophomore Ethan Secord sniped a wrist shot from the blue line to give the Vikings the lead. Western headed to the locker rooms with a 1-0 lead even though WSU was edging them out for shots 15-12 and staying neck and neck with them in almost every aspect.

Kicking off the second frame, freshman defenseman Keegan Lucas went knee-to-knee with a Vikings player and was helped off the ice after play was stopped. Lucas was not the only injury of the night, as later on senior Samuli Sihovnen was hit from behind. 

“He took a big hit from behind in the shoulder. Again, no call,” head coach John Lupinacci said. “I wanted to rest him because we got a lot of big important games coming up.” 

Despite being down a captain, the Cougs tied up the game after freshman defenseman Lex Ballard mimicked Secord and scored off a shot from the blue line. That goal was Ballard’s second goal in two games and his fourth goal of the year. 

“Once you get one your confidence goes up,” Ballard said. “Once you have high confidence it’s easy to keep the puck rolling. You just have the confidence to just shoot it.” 

With the freshman leading the team in defenseman points, Ballard’s teammates have begun to take notice. 

“I’ve been really impressed by [Ballard] being such a young guy,” six-year student Luke Juergensen said. “He’s really taking his own position on this team and really been playing as a major force on this team.”

Ten minutes later, the Vikings snatched back the lead after former pro-hockey player Andrew Fan snuck a wrist shot past sophomore goaltender Alexei Kuhl. A one goal lead was not enough as senior Bret Brumbaugh capitalized on the power play to give Western the 3-1 lead after two periods.

With 20 minutes left to play in Cheney, the Cougs came out swinging in the third. Juergensen connected with team captain Cole Carlson who netted an early power play goal only four minutes into the frame. 

Not even two minutes later, senior Brandon Smith fed a pass to freshman Hank Hamlet who stuffed it past Young to tie the game. Smith’s impact on the bottom lines has not gone unnoticed in recent contests. 

“The depth. I mean, Smith, just two nights in a row just digging and setting people up for beautiful goals,” Lupinacci said. 

For Hamlet, that goal was his first since opening day of this year, ending a multi-month slump for the freshman forward.  

“It felt good to tie it up,” Hamlet said. “[It] definitely feels good to get that monkey off my back, you know, move on from kind of a slump.” 

The festivities were short lived, as immediately off the next face off Aaron James drew Kuhl out of the crease and allowed Fan to net his second goal of the game on a yawning cage. Following that tally, the matchup spiraled out of control.  

“They came right off that face off and got one going,” Lupinacci said. “Then, you know, the game just got completely out of control. We were losing guys left and right. Refs had no control of that game.”

Soon after, Brumbaugh gave a pass to Secord who stuffed his second goal of the evening. Then, just two minutes later, James picked up a rebound from Fan and made it 6-3 with 10 minutes left.

Down by three and less than half a period left, the Cougs began getting physical with the Vikings. With eight minutes left, Secord and Tyler Chapman shoved Juergensen to the ice after the whistle, requiring the officials to break them up.

Both Chapman and Juergensen were ejected due to the skirmish, resulting in Juergensen slamming the doors behind him on his exit.      

“Just felt like their team was taking some liberties at ours, so [I] wasn’t really happy with that,” Juergensen said. “Push came to shove and refs had to take control of the game and ended up kicking a couple of us out. So, not the way that I want to represent myself or the team.”  

Those were not the only ejections of the night, as senior Sam Hembree for the Cougs and James for the Vikings went to the showers early as well late in the period. 

“The refs were a little brutal,” Hamlet said. “They kind of let the game get out of control and then were trying to control it by throwing guys out, but that was a little unnecessary.” 

Even Ballard got in on the chippiness, at one point getting into a skirmish in front of the net which ended with him exchanging words with the Western bench. 

“They were just barking and, you know, I just smile and wave to the fans,” Ballard said postgame. 

As the clock hit zero, the Cougs were handed the 6-3 loss and reaffirmed of their sentiments towards Western.

“It tells us that we hate Western. All of them,” Ballard said. “We don’t like any of the guys on that team, and it tells us that these next games are must win games. We have to win… First one to five goals wins every ACHA game. So, if we can’t bury five, we’re not going to win anything.” 

Despite the conference loss, the Cougs have another weekend series to refocus on. Next weekend they drop the puck with the UCSD Tridents in San Diego.  

“Well, we’re definitely not going to underestimate San Diego,” Hamlet said. “We’re going to go out there and play our best hockey and just work them down and just f****** bury them.” 

The Cougs will play next on Jan. 23 and 24 against the Tridents in San Diego before they head to the Pac-8 playoffs in February.