WWU ice hockey team wins national championship in overtime

Western Washington University’s ice hockey team won the National Association of Intercollegiate Hockey championship game against Le Moyne College of Syracuse, N.Y., in overtime last Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y.

Le Moyne and Western started the season ranked first and second in the league, respectively. Each team retained these rankings entering the championship game.

Western goalie Tyler Zetting (Palmdale, Calif.), who was named the National Tournament MVP, made crucial saves throughout the final game, despite giving up a late tying goal.

“I think that this award is a reflection of how well our whole team did,” Zetting said. “The goalie needs to do well in a big game like that, but so does everyone else.”

Western’s Nik Toor (Regina, Saskatchewan) assisted Derek Binder’s (Kitchener, Ontario) winning goal with eight minutes left in overtime to lead the Vikings to a 2-1 victory. Toor’s shot bounced off the goalie’s skate to Binder, and Binder flipped it over the goalie’s leg into the goal.

“We all worked extremely hard all year, and to actually succeed is something special, and I’ll never forget it,” Binder said.

Western head coach John Dougan said he couldn’t be more proud of the way the team played.

“When we finally got the winning goal, it was jubilation,” Dougan said.

The team had a very good season leading up to the national championship.

“We have a great group of kids with a good balance of rookies and veterans,” Dougan said. “Our team leadership, which I believe is as good or better than every team we played, was one of the major keys.”

Western lost the first game in the tournament 4-3 in overtime. Dougan said this allowed the team to play the elimination games hungry and focused.

The Viking team consisted of Tristan van der Heyden (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kyle Keller (Irvindale, Calif.), Luke Wagner (Bellingham), Greg Parsons (Doylestown, Pa.), JT Burris (Bellevue), Matt Parsons (Philadelphia, Pa.), Kyle Neal (Birmingham, Ala.), Brett Tobin (Rathdrum, Idaho), Zach Midgarden (Clearlake, N.D.), Jordan Villars (Edmonton, Alberta), Todd Coates (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), Brendan Laik (Kent), Hans Eggebroten (San Francisco, Calif.), Binder (Kitchener, Ontario), Aaron Hack (Minneapolis, Minn.), Toor (Regina, Saskatchewan), Kenny Emery (Provo, Utah), Johan Hellmér (Gothenburg, Sweden), Lee Walbeck (Bellingham), Duncan Hack (Minneapolis, Minn.), Carson Eiswald (Bellingham), Zetting (Palmdale, Calif.), Cam Bulger (Seattle), and Evan Turpin (Puyallup).

For more information contact John Dougan at 360-920-7118 or jed25@comcast.net.