Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Chad Rau had two goals in CC's MacNaughton Cup-clinching win over DU on March 7 |
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Colorado College Captures 2008 WCHA Championship, MacNaughton Cup with Win at Denver Friday
March 8, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
MADISON, Wisc. - The No. 5-ranked Colorado College Tigers, behind a pair of third period goals from senior center Chad Rau just :12 seconds apart and 28 saves from rookie goaltender Richard Bachman, upended host and No. 7-ranked Denver, 5-2, on Friday (March 7) night before a sellout crowd of 6,141 to capture the 2007-08 Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup. The victory also gives CC possession of the Gold Pan Trophy for the second straight year, awarded to the winner of the CC vs DU series each season.
The Tigers (25-9-1, 20-6-1 WCHA), who never trailed in the game and also had a goal and an assist from left winger Scott Thauwald, the eventual game-winner from right winger Jimmy Kilpatrick at 16:51 of the second period, and a pair of assists from right winger Eric Walsky, thus mark their third conference title in the past six seasons under head coach Scott Owens and sixth since 1993. CC won a record three straight WCHA championships under former coach Don Lucia, now at Minnesota, in 1994, 1995 and 1996, and have captured the MacNaughton Cup under Owens' tutelage in 2002-03, 2004-05 (co-champs with Denver) and now in 2007-08. For DU in the game Friday, left winger Kyle Ostrow scored in the second and center Jesse Martin in the third while Peter Mannino had 30 stops in goal.
Elsewhere around the WCHA on Friday night, No. 9/10-ranked Minnesota State (18-13-4, 12-11-4 WCHA) became the fourth team to clinch home ice for the first round of the WCHA Playoffs with a 5-2 home-ice triumph over Michigan Tech (12-18-5, 8-15-4 WCHA), No. 1-ranked and host North Dakota (23-8-3, 18-7-2 WCHA) and No. 11-ranked St. Cloud State (17-14-4, 12-12-3 WCHA) played to a 1-1 overtime tie, and No. 14-ranked and host Minnesota (15-13-9, 9-11-7 WCHA) defeated No. 18-ranked Minnesota Duluth (12-15-6, 8-14-5 WCHA), 4-1.
As a result, the fifth WCHA playoff home-ice berth will be determined on the last night of the regular season, with St. Cloud State controlling it's own destiny. A win or tie by the Huskies at North Dakota would assure them of a home playoff berth as they would move past idle Wisconsin. Should Minnesota State and St. Cloud State end up tied for fourth place, Minnesota State would receive the higher playoff seed due to a 2-0 advantage head-to-head. Should there be a three-way tie for fifth between Wisconsin, St. Cloud State and Minnesota, Wisconsin would receive the highest seed due to a +1 in head-to-head competition vs the other two, St. Cloud State would be the next highest seed, and Minnesota would receive the lowest seed of the group. In a tie between Wisconsin and St. Cloud State, Wisconsin would receive the higher seed due to a 3-1-0 series advantage. In a tie between Wisconsin and Minnesota, Wisconsin would receive the higher seed based on more league wins (11 to 10). In a tie between Minnesota Duluth and Michigan Tech, the Bulldogs would receive the higher seed due to a 2-1-1 series advantage. Note: See tie-breaking scenarios outlined on page 3.
At Alltel Center in Mankato on Friday night, host Minnesota State had a four-goal second period, with right winger Mick Berge scoring two goals - including the game-winner at 12:44 - to power past Michigan Tech, 4-1, before 4,201. Also for the Mavericks, left winger Jon Kalinski (2a), defenseman Kurt Davis (2a), and center Trevor Bruess (1g,1a) each contributed two scoring points while Mike Zacharias had 31 stops between the pipes. For the Huskies, right winger Malcolm Gwilliam and defenseman Mark Malekoff scored goals while Michael-Lee Teslak (23) and Rob Nolan (13) combined for 36 saves.
At Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks on Friday, a sellout crowd of 11,644 saw the host Fighting Sioux extend their nation's best unbeaten streak to 16 games (14-0-2) in a 1-1 overtime draw with St. Cloud State. The visiting Huskies, on a second period power-play goal from left winger John Swanson, held a 1-0 advantage until UND right winger Rylan Kaip notched the game-tying tally at 1:55 of the third. In goal, Jase Weslosky had 29 stops for SCSU while Jean-Philippe Lamoureux had 17 for the Sioux. There were only three minor penalties in the game, two to UND and one to SCSU.
And before 9,903 at Mariucci Arena on Friday evening, host Minnesota extended its unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2) with a 4-1 triumph over Minnesota Duluth, as center Blake Wheeler led the way with two goals and an assist. The Golden Gophers, who received a game-winning power-play goal from left winger Ben Gordon at 12:11 of the first, also had 25 stops from freshman goaltender Alex Kangas. For the Bulldogs, left winger Michael Gergen scored a second period power-play goal.
Looking ahead to next week, the first round of WCHA Playoffs will be contested Friday, March 14 thru Sunday, March 16 (if necessary). The five, best-of-3 first round playoff series will feature No. 1 seed Colorado College hosting No. 10 seed Alaska Anchorage at Colorado Springs World Arena, No. 2 seed North Dakota hosting the No. 9 seed (either Michigan Tech or Minnesota Duluth) at Ralph Engelstad Arena, No. 3 seed Denver hosting the No. 8 seed (either Minnesota Duluth or Michigan Tech) at Magness Arena, the No. 4 seed (Minnesota State or St. Cloud State) hosting the No. 7 seed (Minnesota), and the No. 5 seed (Wisconsin or St. Cloud State) hosting the No. 6 seed (Wisconsin or St. Cloud State).
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