Braves sniper Uriah Machuga commits to Eastern Washington for 2011/12

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The Eastern Washington University men's hockey program is pleased to announce a commitment from Uriah Machuga (Carona, CA) to join the Eagles for the 2012/13 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season.

Machuga comes to Eastern Washington following four years of junior hockey split between the WHL's Kamloops Blazers, BCHL's Trail Smoke Eaters, and KIJHL's Spokane Braves. He is forgoing his 20-year old season to join longtime teammate Nick Redding with the Eagles.

Machuga set career highs in goals and points with the Braves last season, scoring 31 times and posting 78 points in 51 regular season games. His KIJHL career totals include 62 goals and 148 points in 122 games.

EWU head coach Bill Shaw says of the addition of Machuga "brings us in a top-six forward and a proven goal scorer that we have been lacking."

"Uriah brings a similar game to Ryan Pajimola and having both of them should help our balance as a team next season."

The Eagles are rounding out their roster for the coming year as Shaw says he expects to add one more defensemen and another forward over the next month.

EWU will kick off the 2012/13 season with training camp opening on September 4th at the EWU URC. The team will play their first exhibition games September 21-23 when they host the BCIHL/ACAC Showcase at EWU.