Western Collegiate Hockey Association

HEADLINES

Golden Gophers Sweep the DECC Against No. 1 UMD

MSU's Buganski, UND's Kirkham, UM's Lamoureux Named WCHA Players of the Week

Full Slate of Four WCHA Series Set for Oct. 17-18 Feature UMD at SCSU, UW at BSU, OSU at UM, MSU at UND

UMD, UM, UW Sweep First Round Playoff Series; SCSU Ousts OSU to Advance to 2008 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF

Saturday Semi-finals to Feature Regular Season Champion Bulldogs vs No. 4 Seeded Huskies, No. 2 Golden Gophers vs No. 3 Badgers; FSN North to Televise Title Game Delayed; WCHA.CSTV.com and WCHA.TV to Stream all FINAL FACE-OFF Games Live

March 3, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

MADISON, Wis. - The top four seeds all held serve in the first round of the 2007-08 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs, setting up a battle of the top four teams in the standings to determine who will gain the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament and win the championship of the newly-named WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF.

No. 1 Minnesota Duluth, No. 2 Minnesota, and No. 3 Wisconsin all swept their best-of-3 series over the weekend while St. Cloud State jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on to beat Ohio State, 5-3, Sunday behind two goals by Caitlin Hogan in the deciding game of their series at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

Minnesota Duluth, the regular season champion with a 28-4-1 record, will face St. Cloud (18-14-5) at 1:07 pm CT in the first semifinal of the 2008 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF, set for March 8-9 at the Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center (DECC). UMD won all four of its regular season meetings against SCSU and has won 21 of its last 22 games.

Wisconsin (26-7-3), the two-time national champion, will try to win its third straight WCHA playoff championship. The Badgers face Minnesota (27-5-4) in the other semifinal Saturday at 4:07 pm CT. The Badgers went 2-1-1 against Minnesota during the regular season. In the regular season final series, UW beat and tied Minnesota at Ridder Arena. Both teams are playing well - the Gophers are 21-1-3 since Nov. 18 while the Badgers are 16-1-1 since Dec. 8.

Saturday's winners will play for the championship Sunday in the title game at 1:07 pm CT.

Tickets for the WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF are available at the UMD Ticket Office at (218) 726-8595.

All games will be streamed live via the league's official web site at WCHA.CSTV.com and WCHA.TV, with veteran announcer Jack Swanson doing play-by-play and former Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson handling color. WISC-TV (Channel 3) in Madison will also carry the games on its website, www.Channel3000.com. The championship game will be carried on tape delay by FSN North and FSN Wisconsin March 22 at 5 p.m.

This Week in the WCHA • 2008 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF • DECC, Duluth, MN Games for Saturday, March 8: #4 St. Cloud State vs #1 Minnesota Duluth, 1:07 pm CT; #3 Wisconsin vs #2 Minnesota, 4:07 pm CT. Games for Sunday, March 9: Championship Game, 1:07 pm CT.

Last Week in the WCHA • WCHA Playoffs • First Round • Best-of-3 Results of Friday, February 29: #5 Ohio State 2 at #4 St. Cloud State 4; #6 Minnesota State 2 at #3 Wisconsin 4; #7 North Dakota 1 at #2 Minnesota 3; #8 Bemidji State 0 at #1 Minnesota Duluth 6.

Results of Saturday, March 1: #5 Ohio State 3 at #4 St. Cloud State 0 (series tied 1-1); #7 North Dakota 0 at #2 Minnesota 9 (UM wins 2-0); #6 Minnesota State 0 at #3 Wisconsin 5 (UW wins 2-0); #8 Bemidji State 1 at #1 Minnesota Duluth 5 (UMD wins 2-0).

Results of Sunday, March 2: #5 Ohio State 3 at #4 St. Cloud State 5.