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University of Washington Huskies vs. Western Washington University Vikings
Game 1 - Friday October 30th, 9 pm
Game 2 - Saturday October 31st, 8 pm
Location - Olympicview Arena, Mountlake Terrace
Live audio webcast - http://mixlr.com/washington-huskies-hockey/
Back-to-Back Non-Conference Home Weekends
The Huskies return home to Olympicview Arena after going 1-2 last weekend on their Spokane road trip. Washington took a 5-2 defeat to Gonzaga in non-conference play before resuming Pacific-8 Conference play with a 7-4 loss to Washington State. The Huskies paid the Cougars back with a 12-6 win on Saturday improving their season record to 4-4-1 overall, 4-1-1 in the Pac-8. This will be the first of four consecutive non-conference games that the Huskies will be playing (Western Washington - this weekend; Brigham Young - next weekend) that will make or break on whether they can crack the Top 10 in the ACHA Division II West Regional rankings to close out the month of October. Washington will only play two more conference games before the New Year arrives in two weeks at California.
Point Roberts Freshman Being on ‘Point'
Nobody expected freshman forward Tavin Jackson to rack up the goals as fast as he has been doing it. Through nine games, the Point Roberts, Washington native leads the Pac-8 in both goals (10) and points (18), just one point ahead of defenseman Troy Gasser (17). Friday night's loss to WSU was the only game where he went scoreless, but has amassed five multi-point games this season including his incredible four-goal / six-point performance in last Saturday's win. Jackson, however, is doing his best to stay away from the penalty box as he also leads the team in minutes served (25).
Husky Defenseman Seeking First Career Goals
Sophomore defensemen Simon Machálek and Josh McGrew have been exhibiting their defensive presences with hard hitting, and battling the pucks along the boards, even setting up some scoring opportunities. It will take one small mishap by WWU to allow either Machálek (16 career points) and / or McGrew (seven career points) to get open in the attack zone and beat out Vikings goaltender Liam Elio for each player's first ever Husky goal. Both players carry into the weekend with four points each this season.
Miles Getting Back to .500
Freshman goaltender Jeff Miles (San Diego, California) wants to improve his 3-4-1 overall record through eight games but he is unbeaten on home ice so far with a 3-0-1 mark. He will have 500+ minutes in the crease through Friday and will carry his 5.59 goals-against average into this weekend. If the team plays strong in their own zone and keep the pucks away from the goal line, the corners, and from the back of the net, his GAA could drop below 5.00 and more importantly, get over the .500 mark on his record.
Vikings Capsule
WWU swept the Eastern Washington University Eagles to begin their season on home ice back on October 9th & 10th (5-3, 5-4, respectively) then split their series on the road with Gonzaga University the following weekend. WWU's record remains at 3-1 overall with last weekend's road series at Portland State University cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances", according to PSU. Vikings left winger Derek Binder leads the team in scoring with five points (two goals, three assists) in two games. The Vikings' next set of home games at the Bellingham Sportsplex will not be until December 4th & 5th...against the Huskies.