Eagles Complete Four-Game Sweep Against Montana Tech and Gonzaga The Eastern Washington University Eagles Club Hockey team completed a four-game swee…
Eagles Complete Four-Game Sweep Against Montana Tech and Gonzaga
The Eastern Washington University Eagles Club Hockey team completed a four-game sweep at home over the weekend, earning two victories against Montana Tech and two against Gonzaga at the University Recreation Center. The Eagles opened the stretch with a 6-1 win over Montana Tech on Thursday before defeating Gonzaga 12-5 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday. Eastern closed out the weekend with another 6-3 victory over Montana Tech on Sunday.
Thursday, Oct. 22 | EWU 6, Montana Tech 1
The Eagles opened the four-game stretch with a convincing 6-1 victory over Montana Tech at the University Recreation Center.
After a scoreless first period, Caleb Shcherbina put Eastern on the board at 3:54 in the second period with a power-play goal, assisted by Jared Jelinek . Evan Fassbender extended the lead to 2-0 at 16:18, with another assist from Jelinek. Montana Tech responded with a goal late in the period to cut the deficit to 2-1 heading into the third.
Eastern took control in the final period, scoring four unanswered goals. Karsen Kendall opened the scoring just 21 seconds into the period on the power play, followed by Liam McGowan at 2:43 and Robby Arver at 4:24, both on power-play opportunities. Jacob Nickisch added the final goal at 14:48 to secure the 6-1 win.
The Eagles outshot Montana Tech 42-19, while Damian VanDanacker made 18 saves on 19 shots.
Friday, Oct. 23 | EWU 12, Gonzaga 5
Eastern continued its strong play Friday night, defeating Gonzaga 12-5 in a high-scoring matchup at the URC.
The Eagles came out firing, scoring seven goals in the opening period. Fassbender opened the scoring just 15 seconds into the game before Isaac Stecher added another at 3:34. After Gonzaga responded with a power-play goal, Fassbender scored twice more to complete a first-period hat trick. Kendall added two goals, while J. Nickisch also found the back of the net as Eastern took a commanding 7-1 lead into the first intermission.
Eastern added two more goals in the second period, with Stecher scoring at 6:26 and Shcherbina adding another at 11:06. Gonzaga scored once in the period, bringing the score to 9-2 heading into the final frame.
Gonzaga attempted to fight back with three third-period goals, but Eastern answered with three of its own. Fassbender scored his fourth goal of the game at 7:18 on an empty-net power play, followed by Shcherbina at 11:07 on another empty-net opportunity. Zach Baumann capped off the scoring at 15:59 to secure the 12-5 victory.
Fassbender led the Eagles with four goals, while Shcherbina and Kendall each recorded two goals. Eastern outshot Gonzaga 44-26, with Riley Anderson making 21 saves.
Saturday, Oct. 24 | EWU 6, Gonzaga 3
The Eagles completed the weekend sweep of Gonzaga on Saturday with a 6-3 victory.
Eastern opened the scoring late in the first period when Fassbender found the back of the net at 18:08 with an assist from Jelinek .
The Eagles extended their lead in the second period as Baumann scored at 5:41, followed by McGowan at 10:58. Gonzaga responded with a goal shortly after, but Eastern carried a 3-1 advantage into the final period.
Fassbender scored his second goal of the night at 10:18 in the third period to give Eastern a 4-1 lead. Gonzaga answered with a power-play goal, but Fassbender responded just 22 seconds later to complete his hat trick and restore the three-goal advantage. Gonzaga added another goal at 16:18, but Baumann sealed the 6-3 win with an empty-net goal at 18:49.
Fassbender finished with three goals, while Baumann added two. Eastern outshot Gonzaga 39-34, and Sam Brasch recorded 31 saves on 34 shots.
Sunday, Oct. 25 | EWU 6, Montana Tech 3
Eastern closed out the four-game sweep Sunday with a 6-3 victory over Montana Tech.
The Eagles got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the opening four minutes. Fassbender opened the scoring just 11 seconds into the game with an assist from Shcherbina , before Baumann added another at 3:39 with an assist from Fassbender . Montana Tech was unable to score in the opening period, giving Eastern a 2-0 advantage.
Montana Tech cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 16:14 in the second period. However, Kendall responded for Eastern at 17:59 with a power-play goal assisted by Jelinek and Shcherbina , sending the Eagles into the third period with a 3-1 lead.
The teams traded goals early in the final period, with Montana Tech scoring at 3:35 before Fassbender answered at 4:09 on the power play. Montana Tech added another power-play goal at 6:50, but Fassbender scored again at 7:57 to extend Eastern's lead. Baumann added the final goal at 11:28, assisted by Shcherbina , to secure the 6-3 victory.
Fassbender led the Eagles with three goals, while Baumann added two. Eastern outshot Montana Tech 41-31, and Nicholas Kaufman made 28 saves on 31 shots.
The Eagles finished the four-game stretch with a perfect 4-0 record, outscoring their opponents 30-12. Evan Fassbender led the offensive charge, recording t…