Jan. 8, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - Goaltender Philippe Lamoureux made 23 saves to earn the shutout and five different players scored goals, with center T.J. Oshie netting the game-winner, as visiting and no. 9/10-ranked North Dakota blanked Alaska Anchorage, 5-0, Saturday night in WCHA action before 3,438 at Sullivan Arena. The victory, which included additional goals for UND from Rastislav Spirko, Erik Fabian, Travis Zajac and Mike Prpich, lifted the Fighting Sioux (14-9-1, 7-7-0 WCHA) into sole possession of fifth place in the league standings while UAA (6-15-1, 4-11-1 WCHA) remains tied for seventh after their 5-3 win over UND this past Friday.

In non-conference play Saturday evening, visiting St. Cloud State posted a 5-5 overtime tie at ECACHL-member and no. 14-ranked Colgate while host Minnesota completed a sweep over College Hockey America-member Niagara with a 7-1 triumph. For the Huskies (9-8-3), right wingers Matt Hartman and Andrew Gordon and left winger John Swanson each had a goal and an assist, with Hartman netting the game-tying score at 18:11 of the third period. For the no. 3-ranked Golden Gophers (13-5-4), who outshot the Purple Eagles, 66-36, left winger Andy Sertich and right winger Danny Irmen each scored twice, with Sertich firing home the winner, and Jeff Frazee made 35 saves before 9,870 at Mariucci Arena. St. Cloud State's 3-2 win and 5-5 tie at Colgate and Minnesota's 5-1 and 7-1 victories over Niagara over the weekend pushed the WCHA's collective non-conference record to 43-30-7 (.581) so far in 2005-06.

In exhibition play on Saturday night, host Minnesota Duluth forged a 6-3 win over the USA Under-18 Team before 4,129 at the DECC, as left winger Michael Gergen had two goals and an assist and center Tim Stapleton had the game-winner and two assists. Colorado College, Denver, Michigan Tech and Wisconsin were all idle over the weekend.

As the race for the MacNaughton Cup and WCHA regular season championship resumes next weekend with a full slate of five head-to-head matchups, no. 1-ranked Wisconsin (11-1-2 WCHA, 24 points) holds a five-point lead over second place Colorado College (9-4-1, 19 pts) and a six-point advantage over third place Denver (8-4-2, 18 pts) and Minnesota (8-4-2, 18 pts). In fifth place is North Dakota (7-7-0, 14 pts), followed by Minnesota Duluth (5-6-3, 12 pts) in sixth, St. Cloud State (4-7-1, 9 pts), Minnesota State (3-8-3, 9 pts) and Alaska Anchorage (4-11-1, 9 pts) all tied for seventh, and Michigan Tech (3-10-1, 7 pts) in 10th. On tap for the upcoming Jan. 13-14 weekend is Wisconsin at Colorado College, North Dakota at Minnesota, St. Cloud State at Denver, Michigan Tech at Minnesota Duluth and Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota State. WCHA-member team will each play 28 conference games to determine the regular season champion, with four games (two home, two away) against five other conference member teams and two games (either home or away) vs four other conference member teams. In 2004-05, Denver and Colorado College tied for the title and were declared co-champions.

Through games of Jan. 8, six WCHA-member teams are sporting winning percentages overall. They are Wisconsin (16-2-2, .850), Colorado College (17-6-1, .729), Minnesota (13-5-4, .682), North Dakota (14-9-1, .604), Denver (11-9-2, .545) and St. Cloud State (9-8-3, .525).

In the most recent (Jan. 2-8) two Division 1 men's college hockey polls - the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Div. 1 College Hockey Poll and the USCHO.com/CSTV Div. 1 College Hockey Poll - the WCHA had four teams ranked among the nation's top 10 clubs, with Wisconsin at no. 1 for the fifth straight week, Minnesota at no. 3, Colorado College at no. 5/6, and North Dakota at no. 9/10.

Two-time defending national champion Denver, meanwhile, is no. 17 in the USCHO.com/CSTV poll while two other league teams, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, also received votes. Last April (2005), eventual champion Denver, runner-up North Dakota, Colorado College and Minnesota made up the first-ever Frozen Four field from one conference, with the Pioneers claiming their second straight national championship and the WCHA marking a record 35th team championship since the league's founding in 1951.

Remaining 2005-06 Conference Schedules, by Team
Alaska Anchorage (16 gp, 9 pts): Jan. 13-14 @ Minnesota State; Jan. 20-21 @ Michigan Tech; Jan. 27-28 vs Denver; Feb. 3-4 @ St. Cloud State; Feb. 17-18 @ Colorado College; Feb. 24-25 vs Minnesota.

Colorado College (14 gp, 19 pts): Jan. 13-14 vs Wisconsin; Jan. 20-21 @ Minnesota; Feb. 3-4 vs North Dakota; Feb. 10-11 @ St. Cloud State; Feb. 17-18 vs Alaska Anchorage; Feb. 24-25 @ Minnesota Duluth; March 2 vs Denver; March 3 @ Denver.

Denver (14 gp, 18 pts): Jan. 13-14 vs St. Cloud State; Jan. 20-21 @ Wisconsin; Jan. 27-28 @ Alaska Anchorage; Feb. 10-11 vs Minnesota State; Feb. 17-18 @ Minnesota; Feb. 24-25 vs North Dakota; March 2 @ Colorado College; March 3 vs Colorado College.

Michigan Tech (14 gp, 7 pts): Jan. 13-14 @ Minnesota Duluth; Jan. 20-21 vs Alaska Anchorage; Feb. 3-4 @ Minnesota State; Feb. 10-11 vs Minnesota; Feb. 17-18 vs Wisconsin; Feb. 24-25 @ St. Cloud State; March 3-4 @ North Dakota.

Minnesota (14 gp, 18 pts): Jan. 13-14 vs North Dakota; Jan. 20-21 vs Colorado College; Jan. 27-28 @ Wisconsin; Feb. 10-11 @ Michigan Tech; Feb. 17-18 vs Denver; Feb. 24-25 @ Alaska Anchorage; March 3-4 vs Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota Duluth (14 gp, 13 pts): Jan. 13-14 vs Michigan Tech; Jan. 20-21 @ St. Cloud State; Jan. 27-28 vs Minnesota State; Feb. 3-4 vs Wisconsin; Feb. 17-18 @ North Dakota; Feb. 24-25 vs Colorado College; March 3-4 @ Minnesota.

Minnesota State (14 gp, 9 pts): Jan. 13-14 vs Alaska Anchorage; Jan. 20-21 @ North Dakota; Jan. 27-28 @ Minnesota Duluth; Feb. 3-4 vs Michigan Tech; Feb. 10-11 @ Denver; Feb. 17-18 vs St. Cloud State; Feb. 24-25 vs Wisconsin.

North Dakota (14 gp, 14 pts): Jan. 13-14 @ Minnesota; Jan. 20-21 vs Minnesota State; Jan. 27-28 vs St. Cloud State; Feb. 3-4 @ Colorado College; Feb. 17-18 vs Minnesota Duluth; Feb. 24-25 @ Denver; March 3-4 vs Michigan Tech.

St. Cloud State (12 gp, 9 pts): Jan. 13-14 @ Denver; Jan. 20-21 vs Minnesota Duluth; Jan. 27-28 @ North Dakota; Feb. 3-4 vs Alaska Anchorage; Feb. 10-11 vs Colorado College; Feb. 17-18 @ Minnesota State; Feb. 24-25 vs Michigan Tech; March 3-4 @ Wisconsin.

Wisconsin (14 gp, 24 pts): Jan. 13-14 @ Colorado College; Jan. 20-21 vs Denver; Jan. 27-28 vs Minnesota; Feb. 3-4 @ Minnesota Duluth; Feb. 17-18 @ Michigan Tech; Feb. 24-25 @ Minnesota State; March 3-4 vs St. Cloud State.

WCHA Game Summaries

Tuesday, Jan. 3
Nebraska-Omaha 2 @ Minnesota State 5 (nc)
1st: No scoring. 2nd: G1 UNO - Juha Uotila 1 (Bryan Marshall, Jerad Kaufmann), PPG, 4:20; G2 UNO - Dan Charleston 7 (Bill Bagron), 7:54. 3rd: G3 MSU - Kevin Huck 1 (Joel Hanson, Rob Rankin), PPG, 2:16; G4 MSU - Ryan Carter 9 (Travis Morin), 7:05; G5 MSU - Huck 2 (Jeff Marler, Hanson), GWG, 7:30; G6 MSU - David Backes 10 (Morin, Carter), 8:19; G7 MSU - Kurtis Kisio 3 (Backes, Carter), PPG, 12:32. Score by Periods: UNO 0-2-0 = 2; MSU 0-0-5 = 5. Pen: UNO 6-12; MSU 4-8. PP: UNO 1-3; MSU 2-5. Saves: Jerad Kaufmann (UNO), 10-5-15 = 30 (60:00); Dan Tormey (MSU), 13-13-8 = 34 (60:00). Att: 2,587. Time: 2:10.

Friday, Jan. 6
North Dakota 3 @ Alaska Anchorage 5
1st: G1 UAA - Shea Hamilton 3 (Eric Walsky, Spence Gilchrist), PPG, 1:22; G2 UAA - Peter Cartwright 2 (Chad Anderson, Billy Smith), 8:32. 2nd: G3 UAA - Chris Tarkir 4 (Brent McMann, Anderson), 6:07. 3rd: G4 UAA - Ales Parez 4 (Charlie Kronschnabel, Tarkir), GWG, 0:44; G5 UND - Travis Zajac 6 (Lee Marvin, Drew Stafford), PPG, 10:57; G6 UAA - Jay Beagle 3 (Nathan Lawson), SHG/ENG, 17:52; G7 UND - Ryan Duncan 7 (Andrew Kozek, Joe Finley), 18:16; G8 UND - Stafford 15 (Taylor Chorney, Brian Lee), EA, 19:31. Score by Periods: UND 0-0-3 = 3; UAA 2-1-2 = 5. Pen: UND 4-19; UAA 5-10. PP: UND 1-5; UAA 1-3. Saves: Philippe Lamoureux (UND), 6-9-6 = 21 (57:31); Nathan Lawson (UAA), 13-20-15 = 48 (60:00). Att: 3,095. Time: 2:14.

St. Cloud State 3 @ Colgate 2 (nc)
1st: G1 SCSU - Nate Raduns 3 (Marty Mjelleli, Konrad Reeder), 13:31. 2nd: G2 CU - Nick St. Pierre 2 (Tyler Burton, Jon Smyth), PPG, 6:26; G3 SCSU - Andrew Gordon 8 (Justin Fletcher, Brock Hooton), PPG, 15:54; G4 CU - Marc Fulton 6 (Burton), 16:33. 3rd: G5 SCSU - Michael Olson 2 (Aaron Brocklehurst, John Swanson), GWG, 5:49. Score by Periods: SCSU 1-1-1 = 3; CU 0-2-0 = 2. Pen: SCSU 7-14; CU 8-16. PP: SCSU 1-8; CU 1-7. Saves: Bobby Goepfert (SCSU), 15-7-8 = 30 (59:39); Justin Kowalkoski (CU), 4-17-17 = 38 (59:19). Att: 1,397. Time: 2:11.

Niagara 2 @ Minnesota 5 (nc)
1st: G1 UM - Blake Wheeler 5 (Phil Kessel, Chris Harrington), 3:42; G2 UM - Ryan Stoa 3 (Harrington), SHG, 14:23; G3 UM - Mike Vannelli 2 (Stoa), GWG, 18:18. 2nd: G4 NU - Ted Cook 11 (Mike Novosad), 2:25; G4 UM - Justin Bostrom 6 (Harrington, Alex Goligoski), 4:02; G5 UM - Goligoski 3 (Danny Irmen, Ryan Potulny), 6:28. 3rd: G6 NU - Pat Oliveto 2 (Dan Sullivan, Matt Caruana), PPG, 5:51. Score by Periods: NU 0-1-1 = 2; UM 3-2-0 = 5. Pen: NU 3-6; UM 8-27. PP: NU 1-7; UM 0-3. Saves: Jeff Van Nynatten (NU), 15-16-17 = 48 (60:00); Kellen Briggs (UM), 8-9-5 = 22 (60:00). Att: 9,838. Time: 2:05.

Saturday, Jan. 7
North Dakota 5 @ Alaska Anchorage 0
1st: G1 UND - T.J. Oshie 12 (Jonathan Toews, Chris Porter), GWG, 16:12. 2nd: G2 UND - Rastislav Spirko 7 (Drew Stafford, Travis Zajac), 7:08; G3 UND - Erik Fabian 2 (Mike Prpich), 15:54; G4 UND - Zajac 7 (Stafford), 16:29. 3rd: G5 UND - Prpich 4 (Fabian), 15:29. Score by Periods: UND 1-3-1 = 5; UAA 0-0-0 = 0. Pen: UND 2-4; UAA 4-19. PP: UND 0-3; UAA 0-2. Saves: Philippe Lamoureux (UND), 10-7-6 = 23 (60:00); Nathan Lawson (UAA), 14-6-x = 20 (36:29); John DeCaro (UAA), x-0-14 = 14 (23:31). Att: 3,438. Time: 2:11.

St. Cloud State 5 @ Colgate 5 ot (nc)
1st: G1 SCSU - John Swanson 3 (Matt Hartman, Michael Olson), 6:04; G2 CU - Tom Riley 1 (Zac Tataryn, Liam Huculak), 13:19; G3 CU - John Smyth 7 (Eric Main), 16:49. 2nd: G4 CU - Marc Fulton 7 (Smyth, Kyle Wilson), PPG, 4:14; G5 SCSU - Dan Kronick 2 (Gary Houseman, Aaron Brocklehurst), PPG, 15:53; G6 SCSU - Andrew Gordon 9 (Billy Hengen, Konrad Reeder), PPG, 18:10. 3rd: G7 CU - Wilson 14 (Fulton, Smyth), 1:30; G8 SCSU - Justin Fletcher 3 (Reeder, Gordon), PPG, 9:09; G9 CU - Wilson 15 (Nick St. Pierre), PPG, 12:58; G10 SCSU - Hartman 4 (Swanson, Casey Borer), 18:11. OT: No scoring. Score by Periods: SCSU 1-2-2-0 = 5; CU 2-1-2-0 = 5. Pen: SCSU 8-16; CU 9-29. PP: SCSU 3-9; CU 2-8. Saves: Bobby Goepfert (SCSU), 8-11-7-2 = 28 (65:00); Mark Dekanich (CU), 10-14-10-5 = 39 (65:00). Att: 1,780. Time: 2:24.

Niagara 1 @ Minnesota 7 (nc)
1st: G1 UM - Danny Irmen 6 (Phil Kessel, Alex Goligoski), PPG, 16:00; G2 UM - Andy Sertich 5 (Tom Pohl, Kris Chucko), GWG, 16:49; G3 UM - Mike Howe 11 (Chucko, Gino Guyer), PPG, 18:53. 2nd: G4 UM - Goligoski 4 (Kessel, Chris Harrington), PPG, 2:49; G5 NU - Ted Cook 12 (Justin Cross, Randy Harris), PPG, 10:41; G6 UM - Ben Gordon 5 (Howe, Harrington), 15:14. 3rd: G7 UM - Irmen 7 (Ryan Potulny, Ryan Stoa), 13:12; G8 UM - Sertich 6 (Justin Bostrom, Pohl), 14:08. Score by Periods: NU 0-1-0 = 1; UM 3-2-2 = 7. Pen: NU 8-27; UM 7-25. PP: NU 1-5; UM 3-5. Saves: Jeff Van Nynatten (NU), 8-22-29 = 59 (59:52); Jeff Frazee (UM), 10-16-9 = 35 (59:58). Att: 9,870. Time: 2:10.

USA Under-18 Team 3 @ Minnesota Duluth 6 (exh.)
1st: G1 UMD - Justin Williams (Michael Gergen, Tim Stapleton), 4:34; G2 U18 - Bill Sweatt (unassisted), 9:01; G3 UMD - MacGregor Sharp (Nick Kemp, Matt Greer), 11:55; G4 UMD - Gergen (Adam Davis), DP, 15:43. 2nd: G5 UMD - Stapleton (Mason Raymond, Matt McKnight), PPG/GWG, 3:18; G6 U18 - Nigel Williams (unassisted), 6:15; G7 UMD - Gergen (Williams, Stapleton), 7:44; G8 UMD - Kemp (Sharp, Greer), 9:55. 3rd: G9 U18 - Michael Carman (Chris Summers, Patrick Kane), PPG, 19:00. Score by Periods: U18 1-1-1 = 3; UMD 3-3-0 = 6. Pen: U18 4-8; UMD 6-12. PP: U18 1-6; UMD 1-4. Saves: Joe Palmer (U18), 17-10-8 = 35 (60:00); Isaac Reichmuth (UMD), 5-5-x = 10 (40:00); Dan Carlson (UMD), x-x-8 = 8 (20:00). Att: 4,120. Time: 2:00.

2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five Tickets Continue on Sale
Season ticket packages for the 2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, set for March 16-18 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn., continue on sale now to the public. Five-game reserved seat championship packages are available through Ticketmaster at 651 989-5151, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or at Xcel Energy Center Box Office.

On November 1, 2005, Xcel Energy Center and the WCHA announced a contract extension that will keep the Red Baron WCHA Final Five championship tournament at Xcel Energy Center from 2007 through 2011. In addition, Red Baron® Pizza, currently in the third year of a title sponsorship agreement with the WCHA, has renewed it's title sponsorship for the Final Five for five more years.

This year's tournament is titled the 2006 Red Baron WCHA Final Five. The schedule is: Thur., March 16: Quarterfinal, 7:30 pm CT; Fri., March 17: Semi-Finals, 2:30 pm & 7:30 pm CT; and Sat., March 18: Third Place Game, 2:30 pm & Broadmoor Trophy Championship Game, 7:30 pm CT.

Final Five Ticket Information
Dec. 1: Season ticket packages available to public through Ticketmaster (seat locations confirmed after Feb. 13). Dec.12: Season ticket packages available through Ticketmaster to the public with location information. Group Sales begin for series and single game tickets.
March 6: Single game tickets go on sale to the general public.
How to Buy Final Five Tickets: Packages: In person at Xcel Energy Center Box Office, by phone thru Ticketmaster at 651 989-5151, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Single Game (if available): March 6, 2006, in person at Xcel Energy Center Box Office or any Ticketmaster outlet, by phone thru Ticketmaster at 651 989-5151, or online at ticketmaster.com.

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