Hockey team moves to nationals

The EWU Eagles earned a spot in the American College Hockey Association  (ACHA) Division 2 National Tournament after beating Texas A&M, 4-1, Friday and thrashing San Diego University, 10-5, Saturday at the West Regional Tournament.

The regional tournament took place in Greely, Colo., at the Greely Ice Haus. Other Division 2 teams present were University of Northern Colorado, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Utah State University and Denver University.

EWU and San Jose State will join fellow Division 2 West top-seeded teams University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State in the national tournament. The first games for nationals take place against Simon Frasier College March 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m., at the university rec center.

Officials will also broadcast the game live on the Internet; fans can access the Web site through a link on www.ewuhockey.com.

“Last year, we came to regionals expecting to [be] handed a national bid and ended up losing,” said right wing Thomas Heaney. “This year, we knew nothing would be handed to us, and we would have to work every step of the way to get back to the national tournament.”

The Eagles kicked off the tournament with a convincing win against Texas A&M, outscoring the Aggies 4-1. Ryan Pajimola netted two goals while Steven Phillips and Kris Boyce each got their name in the goal column. Goaltender Brent Seidel had an impressive save percentage for the game, blocking all but one of A&M’s shots.

“I thought we played really well in the first game. We fell back on our heels a little bit in the third period but kept on and got a win,” Head Coach Gary Braun said.

Regionals action continued the next day when EWU faced San Diego University. Phillips scored four goals, and Captain Mike Truex achieved a hat-trick. 

“We didn’t start this one very well. The second period especially wasn’t very good. We took some bad penalties,” said Braun. “We came back in the third and, overall, it wasn’t really bad. I think we’re going to have to certainly play better in the upcoming weeks.”

The scoring line of Pajimold, Truex and Aaron Boyce was one of the more productive forward lineups of the entire tournament. The three forwards were involved in nine of the 14 points scored during the weekend.

“It’s really good to see those guys get those points,” Braun said. “They had their struggles a little bit earlier in the season, but it’s great to see them come back and start putting the puck into the net.”

“While it was great to win both our games this weekend, simply making nationals is not enough for us,” said Heaney. “Our goal has always been to win it all.”