Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Tyler Shelast had the final two goals in MTU's Upset Win at UND on March 15 |
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CC, DU, SCSU Capture First Round WCHA Playoff Series Victories, Earn Berths in 2008 Red BaronTM WCHA Final Five; UND-MTU, MSU-UM in Game Threes Sunday Night
March 16, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
MADISON, Wisc. - Three of the top five seeds in the first round of the 2007-08 Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs - No. 1 Colorado College, No. 3 Denver and No. 5 St. Cloud State - have prevailed in their best-of-three series and advanced to the 2008 Red BaronTM WCHA Final Five, but two others - No. 2 North Dakota and No. 4 Minnesota State - have been pushed to a decisive third game as a result of action on Saturday (March 15) night.
The WCHA regular season and MacNaugton Cup-champion CC Tigers went to overtime before winning over No. 10 seed and visiting Alaska Anchorage, 3-2, the host Denver Pioneers won by a 1-0 count over No. 8 seed Minnesota Duluth, and the SCSU Huskies upended No. 6 seed and visiting Wisconsin, 4-3, in overtime. On Sunday evening, the host Fighting Sioux will face-off against No. 9 seed Michigan Tech at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks at 7:07 pm CT while the host Mavericks will do battle with No. 7 seed Minnesota at Alltel Center in Mankato at 7:07 pm CT. The winners of those two series will complete the field for the 2008 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, set for Thursday, March 20, Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The five first round winners will also be re-seeded according to their regular season finish.
At the Colorado Springs World Arena on Saturday evening, a crowd of 6,149 saw No. 3-ranked Colorado College (28-9-1) rally from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in the second period to overcome the UAA Seawolves (7-21-8), as right winger Mike Testwuide netted both the game-tying goal at 5:54 of the third and the game-winner at 2:58 of overtime in a 3-2 victory that gave the Tigers a playoff series sweep. Alaska Anchorage, with a first period tally from defenseman Kane Lafranchise at 6:05 and a second period score from left winger Josh Lunden, led the Tigers 2-1 entering the third. In goal, Richard Bachman had 18 stops for CC while Jon Olthuis had 27 for UAA. Neither team could score with the man-advantage as CC was 0-of-4 and UAA was 0-of-2.
At Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks on March 15, visiting Michigan Tech (14-19-5) rallied from a two-goal third period deficit to No. 2-ranked North Dakota (24-9-4) in dramatic fashion, scoring three unanswered goals to prevail 3-2 in overtime before a sellout crowd of 11,638 and force game three. After UND received goals from left winger Brad Miller in the first period and right winger Matt Frattin in the second for a 2-0 advantage, the Huskies gained a third period power-play goal goal from right winger Jimmy Kerr at 1:19 to make it 2-1. Then, facing a shorthanded situation for the final 1:56 of regulation, Tech pulled goalie Michael-Lee Teslak for an extra attacker and managed to tie the game at 2-2 on right winger Tyler Shelast's man-down goal at 19:54. In overtime, Shelast then scored the winner on a power-play at the 1:59 mark. In goal, Teslak had 24 saves for MTU while Jean-Philippe Lamoureux had 23 for UND.
At Magness Arena on Saturday, host and No. 8-ranked Denver (24-13-1) completed a two-game series sweep over No. 18-ranked Minnesota Duluth (13-17-6) to advance to the Final Five as goaltender Peter Mannino stopped all 25 shots on goal and right winger Anthony Maiani scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 triumph before 4,820. The Pioneers, who were outshot by the Bulldogs, 25-15, were 0-of-6 on the power-play while UMD, which had 14 saves from goaltender Alex Stalock, was 0-of-5.
At Alltel Center in Mankato on Saturday evening, visiting and No. 15-ranked Minnesota (16-15-9) received an overtime game-winner from center Mike Carman and 27 saves from netminder Alex Kangas en route to a 2-1 victory over No. 10/11-ranked Minnesota State (19-15-4) that sent their first round playoff series to a third game. The Golden Gophers, who owned a 37-28 advantage in shots on goal, saw right winger Justin Bostrom's first period goal at 6:07 hold up until the Mavericks tied the game at 11:09 of the third on a power-play goal by center Andrew Sackrison. Assisting on Carman's overtime winner was defenseman Derek Peltier. In goal for MSU, Mike Zacharias had 35 saves.
And before 4,270 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud on Saturday night, the host and No. 9/10-ranked SCSU Huskies (19-14-5) completed a two-game series sweep over No. 13/14-ranked Wisconsin (15-16-7) with a 4-3 overtime win, despite being outshot, 49-21. The Huskies, who received 46 saves from goaltender Jase Weslosky, trailed 3-2 in the second period before left winger John Swanson netted a tying goal with a third period power-play at 14:58 to force an extra session. There, right winger Ryan Lasch, with an assist from defenseman Garrett Raboin, sent the Huskies on to the Final Five with his 25th of the season at 3:57 of overtime. For the Badgers, left winger Blake Geoffrion had a goal and an assist, center Kyle Turris and two assists, and center Aaron Bendrickson and defenseman Davis Drewiske each had goals.
This Week in the WCHA • WCHA Playoffs • First Round • Best-of-3
Results of Friday, March 14: #10 Alaska Anchorage 1 @ #1 Colorado College 4; #9 Michigan Tech 0 @ #2 North Dakota 4; #8 Minnesota Duluth 3 @ #3 Denver 6; #7 Minnesota 0 @ #4 Minnesota State 1 (2 ot); #6 Wisconsin 0 @ #5 St. Cloud State 3.
Results of Saturday, March 15: #10 Alaska Anchorage 2 @ #1 Colorado College 3 ot (CC wins series 2-0); #9 Michigan Tech 3 @ #2 North Dakota 2 ot (series tied 1-1); #8 Minnesota Duluth 0 @ #3 Denver 1 (DU wins series 2-0); #7 Minnesota 2 @ #4 Minnesota State 1 ot (series tied 1-1); #6 Wisconsin 3 @ #5 St. Cloud State 4 ot (SCSU wins series 2-0).
Games for Sunday, March 16: #9 Michigan Tech @ #2 North Dakota, 7:07 pm CT; #7 Minnesota @ #4 Minnesota State, 7:07 pm CT.
2008 Red BaronTM WCHA Final Five Tickets Still Available and On Sale Now
Five-game ticket packages for the upcoming 2008 Red BaronTM WCHA Final Five, set for March 20-22 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., are still available and continue on sale. In addition, single game tickets are also now available.
Ticket package prices range from $60 - $145 and can be purchased at the Xcel Energy Center Box Office, Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at (651) 989-5151 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. To charge by phone using Ticketmaster TDD/TTY, call: 800-359-2525. Group tickets (12+) are available by calling 651-312-3486.
Schedule: Quarterfinal - Thursday, March 20, 7:07 pm CT; Semi-finals - Friday, March 21, 2:07 pm & 7:07 pm CT; Third Place Game - Saturday, March 22, 2:07 pm CT; Broadmoor Trophy Championship, Saturday, March 22, 7:07 pm CT.
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