March 5, 2013
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Red Baron® WCHA
A 6-1, 215-pound junior from Park Ridge, Ill., Mersch scored three goals, including his 20th of the season, and six points to lead Wisconsin to a 4-3 and 6-2 road sweep over No. 13/15 Nebraska Omaha. He scored his 18th goal and added an assist in UW's 4-3 victory last Friday (March 1), led the club with four shots and was +1. Then Saturday (March 2), Mersch recorded the first four-point game of his career with two goals and two assists to lead the Badgers to a season-high six goals and earn No. 1 Star of the Game honors. He scored the game-winning goal at 12:00 of the second period, scored his 20th goal just :41 seconds into the third, had two assists, four shots on goal and was +1. Mersch, one of five skaters in the nation with 20 goals, leads the Badgers with 32 points in 34 games. A draftee of Los Angeles (NHL), Mersch has a five-game point-scoring streak (4g, 5a) and has scored nearly 23.5% of the Badgers' goals this season, the second-highest percentage for any player in the nation. Also nominated: Zach Budish, F, UM; Matt Leitner, F, MSU; Mitch MacMillan, F, UND. |
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Red Baron® WCHA
A 6-0, 186-pound freshman from South St. Paul, Minn., Wilcox has emerged as one of the WCHA's premier goalies in his rookie campaign, and his performance over the weekend was no different. Wilcox allowed just two goals on 67 Denver shots over the March 1-2 weekend, with one coming on the power-play and one into an empty-net, and had four shutout periods. He had 31 saves to lead the Gophers to a 5-1 victory last Saturday night, with the lone score against him coming with the man-advantage. In a 2-0 setback last Friday evening, he turned aside 34 shots, including 15 in the third period, and was the No. 3 star. A draftee of Tampa Bay (NHL), Wilcox has made 30 or more saves in each of his last three starts including a career-high 35 on February 23 vs Minnesota Duluth. He is first overall in winning percentage among WCHA goalies with a 21-6-5 record (.734), second in goals-against average (1.82), and fifth in save percentage (.924) Also nominated: Jake Areshenko, D, BSU; Joe Gleason, D, UND. |
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Red Baron® WCHA
Ward, a 5-10, 194-pound freshman center from Las Vegas, Nevada, led the attack in the Beavers' WCHA series at No. 6 North Dakota on March 1-2. He had a hand in three of BSU's four goals on the weekend, helping the Beavers earn a point in the road series. Ward recorded the first multi-point night of his collegiate career to open the series Friday, netting his sixth goal of the season to give BSU a 1-0 lead early in the second period. He also assisted on a third period goal in the 4-2 loss. In the series finale last Saturday, Ward added an assist, his sixth of the season on Danny Mattson's goal to put BSU up 2-1 midway through the second of a 2-2 (ot) tie – its first draw at UND since Jan. 28, 2005. He finished the weekend with a +1 plus/minus rating. Ward, who leads all BSU rookies and is fifth on the team with 12 points (6g, 6a) also was a +1 on the plus/minus. Petan, a 5-8, 155-pound right winger from Delta, B.C., scored three points and was +2 in Tech's series split at league-leading St. Cloud State last weekend. All three points came in the Huskies' 5-1 win over SCSU last Saturday (March 2). The freshman had an assist on each of the team's first two goals – both coming in the first four minutes of the game. He then iced the win with a goal in the third period. Petan was +3 on Saturday with three shots on goal and also had three shots on net and went 4-1 on faceoffs in a 5-3 loss Friday. Petan, with 14-17=31 in 32 games this year, is tied for the league point lead among rookies. Also nominated: Adam Wilcox, G, UM; Tony Cameranesi, F, UMD; Jordan Schmaltz, D, UND. |
University of Wisconsin right winger Michael Mersch, who led all league players with six scoring points as the visiting Badgers swept conference-rival Nebraska Omaha last weekend, been named Red Baron® WCHA Men's Offensive Player of the Week for March 5.
University of Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox, who surrendered just one even-strength tally while stopping 65 shots on goal in a two-game conference series with visiting Denver last weekend, is the Red Baron® WCHA Men's Defensive Player of the Week for March 5.
A pair of forwards who make strong contributions to their respective teams last weekend, Bemidji State University's Cory Ward and Michigan Technological University's Alex Petan, have been named Red Baron® WCHA Men's co-Rookies of the Week for March 5.