West and East Clash in Cheney
Photo Credit: Natalie Ballard
By Rhiannon Chapman
The Western Washington University Vikings are crossing over to the east side of the state this weekend for a pair of games against the Eastern Washington University Eagles.
The Vikings faced the Eagles twice last year, falling 4-1 Eagles in the first game before coming back the following evening for a 3-2 win in the second game. The final two goals of the last game between the two came from Teddy Prior, a recent graduate of WWU. They came late in the third period and served as a hail-mary of sorts, rescuing the Viks from a total weekend loss.
While many of the Vik’s returning players have seen the Eagles firsthand, it remains to be seen who will fill the offensive gap left in their roster – but there are many possibilities within their recent commits.
This past weekend saw the Vik’s starting lineups speckled with rookies, including Mykah Carter, a 20-year-old defenseman formerly from the Northwest Stars of the NAPHL. Carter scored the second goal of game two against the Huskies.
Harrison Webster, a 20-year-old forward formerly of the Long Beach Shredders in the USPHL, put up the first goal of the Vik’s season opener against the University of Washington Huskies.
Both of those games ended in a loss, first 7-2 and then 6-2, but while the Viking goal-scoring may have left much to be desired, the newcomers held their own against a routinely tough matchup. Last year, the Huskies were nearly undefeated and were the first-seeded team in the PAC-8 Playoffs.
Two games into the season, the Eagles, meanwhile, have seen a win and a loss against the University of Idaho’s Vandals, with their win coming at a staggering 14-1.
Coming off a losing season, the Eagles responded with a strong offense and roster full of power players. Peyton Lund, a 19-year-old forward, boasted nine points across their two games, scoring three goals and earning six assists. Dominick Didzerekis played in both games against the Vandals and scored two goals in each.
Another notable commit was Keegan Clark, a defensemen previously hailing from the Bellingham Blazers.
It’s clear that both sides of this matchup are coming back bigger and stronger this season. While only time will tell who comes out on top this weekend, it’s safe to say that it’ll be an exciting two days of play as East battles West
