Midseason Report: Eagles hope momentum carries over into playoff push

It seemed for much of the last two months that Eastern Washington University just couldn't buy a break. On the nights where their defense and goaltending held strong they could buy a much-needed goal, and on evenings when the offence was firing they had trouble keeping the puck out of their own net.

Fortunately for the Eagles their bad luck came to an end before the conclusion of their 2017 schedule, with the team picking up three of a possible four points in a two-game home series against the University of Victoria to close out the semester. Those results put to an end an eight-game losing streak to open the season.

That run of poor results masked some positive efforts for Eastern, particularly on home ice. During a three-game stretch in October, the team lost a trio of one-goal games; 3-2 to Selkirk College and 6-5 to Vancouver Island University in Cheney and 5-4 to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.

The Eagles had a few lopsided losses as well, but one common thread in the close games they played was the presence of fourth-year forward and all-time leading scorer Beau Walker, who made sure to hit the scoresheet in all seven games he played. His semester was highlighted by a hat trick and four points in EWU's 5-3 win over the Vikes on November 24th, and he racked up five multi-point nights overall.

Additional good news for the Eastern offence included the re-emergence of forward Brett Mathews. The Bonner, Montana product had combined for 37 points in his first two BCIHL seasons before picking up just six in an injury-shortened third year. He discovered renewed chemistry with Walker and scored three times and totaled 11 points in 10 fall semester games.

The third member of the Eagles' top line has been third-year forward Colton St. John, who is perhaps the league's most surprising breakout player. After a productive 10-point season as a BCIHL rookie in 2015/16, St. John was held scoreless in 16 games as a sophomore. But he's made the most of his opportunity so far this season, chalking up four goals and 11 points in 10 games.

The problem for the EWU offence is what happens after you account for the production of Walker, Mathews and St. John. The trio's 39 points represent 57% of the team's overall offence, and no other Eagles forward has accounted for more than three points.

In goal, fourth-year starter Austin Brihn has put forward his fair share of excellent performances. He already has 52 and 54-save efforts to his name and his .896 save-percentage is tremendous for a netminder who has faced an average of 44 shots per game. Meanwhile, rookie backup Tanner Loucks has twice been named a game star in three starts.

The Eagles face an uphill battle to qualify for the BCIHL playoffs for the first time since 2011, but they proved last season to be a far more capable team over the second half of the season. This time around they'll need to take advantage of four January home games before a road-heavy finish to the season.

They do face fifth place Victoria and fourth place Vancouver Island three times each and will need to collect points in most or all of those contests in order to close a nine-point gap on the league's final postseason berth.

Eastern begins the 2018 portion of their schedule when they host Trinity Western University for a pair of games on january 5th and 6th.

MIDSEASON AT A GLANCE - EWU

Record: 1-8-0-1 (6th place)
Goals For: 25 (6th)
Goals Against: 49 (4th)
Power Play: 11.59% (6th)
Penalty Kill: 76.47% (6th)

Goals Leader: Beau Walker (9)
Assists Leader: Beau Walker/Brett Mathews (8)
Points Leader: Beau Walker (17)
PIM Leader: Taylor Bargar (43)