Weekend Preview: Pressure is on for Saints, Eagles in weekend series

There should be no shortage of urgency and desperation this weekend when Selkirk College and Eastern Washington University meet in a home-and-home series that begins Friday night in Castlegar.

For the Saints, it's imperative to collect four points from the weekend after watching first place Trinity Western dispatch with SFU on Thursday. The Spartans now sit six points up on Selkirk albeit with the Kootenay-based squad holding two games in hand.

Meanwhile, Eastern Washington has little time to wait if they're to begin a late season push for a playoff spot. The Eagles currently sit sixth in the league standings and would need to make up an 11-point gap on fourth place Vancouver Island University in order to see postseason action.

The teams have met on three previous occasions this season, with the Saints coming out on the better end on all three nights. Their first meeting was a 7-0 Selkirk victory in Castlegar, followed by a pair of tight games -- 3-2 and 4-2 results respectively -- when the teams have met in Cheney.

The Saints are coming off a weekend sweep at the hands of Trinity Western and will look to captain and leading scorer Dallas Calvin to lead the way as the team looks to get back on track. The 23-year old scored in each of those losses to the Spartans to extend his season-long point streak to 16 games.

Eastern's hopes for offensive production continue to rest on the shoulders of Beau Walker, who has 19 points in 11 games and currently sits as the Eagles' lone point-a-game player. Walker and linemates Brett Mathews and Colton St. John have combined for 44 points while the team's other 10 forwards have 14 points between them.

Friday's game is set for a 7:00 PM start n Castlegar, while the return trip to Cheney is scheduled for a 2:00 PM faceoff. Both games will be available to be streamed live on Hockey TV.