Soaring into the showcase
Photo Courtesy: Natalie Ballard
The Vikings’ go back out on the road this weekend, traveling eastward to Cheney WA for the Eagles Nest Showcase , hosted by Eastern Washington University. Western will be featured among five other ACHA-Division II teams, including the PAC-8 rivals Washington State University and the aforementioned Eastern Eagles.
Before the games get underway in Cheney, let’s flashback to the most recent weekend for the Vikings. After an intense and hard-fought set of games with Eastern Washington the weekend prior, Western looked to blow off some steam playing host to the Idaho Vandals. And they did just that.
Kurtis Brumbaugh got the Vikings started early in Friday’s first period, tallying Western’s first two goals of the night. The second and third periods were no different, as Jackson Wojcicki and Henry Ledyard each potted their first goals of the season. Declan Quinn rounded out the scoring as the Vikings went on to win, 6-3.
The floodgates were swung wide open on Saturday. Defenseman Mitchell Brubacher decided it was the time to go on an offensive tirade, not only tallying his first goal as a Viking but a natural hat-trick to boot. Another hat-trick courtesy of Bret Brumbaugh and a few more first goals on the season from Darcy Hay and Cooper Hunter-Smith helped the Vikings roll along to the weekend sweep, 11-3.
Coach Adam Segaar spoke after the game on Saturday, as he felt everyone did their part and contributed to the teams’ successes on the weekend, “This team is finally starting to show up, starting to click, starting to take better shots, starting to find that confidence. That was the full charge this team needed and they handled business.”
After Bret Brumbaugh accounted for four goals during the pair of games, Segaar didn’t shy away from praising the sophomore forward, speaking on what he has meant to the team and what type of player he thinks he can be, “I knew what I was getting (with Brumbaugh). He’s showing it right now that he’s a big leader on this team, I think he’s going to be one of the top players in the PAC-8.” Brumbaugh now leads the team in goals with eight on the year.
The Vikings’ will have three straight days of games this weekend as a part of the Eagles Nest Showcase. Beginning Thursday from University Recreation Center; the Vikings’ clash with the Utah Valley Wolverines at 5:00pm, following with the Wyoming Cowboys on Friday at 3:00pm, then topping off the weekend Saturday at 3:00pm, as another battle ensues with the Idaho Vandals. More information about the weekend can be found on the various Viking Hockey media platforms.
(*Games this weekend do not count towards official PAC-8 standings.)
Watch all the action from the Eagles Nest Showcase this weekend: https://www.youtube.com/@ewueagleshockey9402/streams
For Vikings’ stats and standings: https://www.achahockey.org/stats/player-stats/376/34?division=-1&playertype=skater&position=skaters&rookie=no&sort=name&statstype=standard&page=1&league=1
Cameron Riggers
