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Feb. 2, 2008

MADISON, Wisc. - What looked like a runaway race for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season championship just three weeks ago has now become a far more interesting scenario. Pre-season WCHA coaches' favorite North Dakota, on the strength of eight consecutive conference victories, including an overtime win at Minnesota on Friday (Feb. 1) evening, has now vaulted into sole possession of second place and within just three points of league-leading Colorado College.

The No. 3-ranked Fighting Sioux (17-8-1, 14-7-0 WCHA) used a spectacular goal from freshman center Evan Trupp on a behind-the-net, backward pass from right winger Ryan Martens at 2:23 of overtime, and 21 saves from goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux to upend the two-time defending MacNaughton Cup-champion and No. 15/18-ranked Golden Gophers (12-12-5, 6-10-3 WCHA) 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 10,222 at Mariucci Arena. North Dakota outshot UM, 34-22, but trailed 1-0 early when the Gophers' Evan Kaufmann notched a shorthanded goal just 3:16 into the first period. UND then tied the game on a blast from defenseman Joe Finley at 7:49 of the first. Also for Minnesota, Alex Kangas had 32 saves. Together, the two teams were 0-of-10 on the power-play, with UND 0-of-6 and UM going 0-of-4.

At the Kohl Center in Madison on Friday evening, a crowd of 15,022 saw host and No. 11-ranked Wisconsin (12-10-5, 8-8-3 WCHA) run its unbeaten streak to eight games with a 3-1 triumph over No. 12-ranked Minnesota Duluth (10-9-6, 6-8-5 WCHA) and take over sole possession of fourth place. The Badgers, behind a game-winning goal and two assists from forward Blake Geoffrion, two assists from forward Kyle Turris and 29 saves from Shane Connelly, overcome a 1-0 second period deficit to defeat the Bulldogs and move to 4-0-2 over their last six games. For UMD, Travis Gawryletz had the game's first goal on a power-play at 5:41 of the second while Alex Stalock had 30 saves.

At Alltel Center in Mankato on Friday, a crowd of 4,102 saw host Minnesota State (12-10-4, 6-9-4 WCHA) win for the third straight time with a 5-1 decision over No. 4/5-ranked Denver (18-7-0, 12-5-0 WCHA) as Json Wiley netted the game-winner at 9:21 of the second period, Andrew Sackrison contributed a goal and two assists, and Mike Zacharias stopped 22 of 24 shots on goal. For the Pioneers, Rhett Rakhshani had the lone goal in the second period.

And before 4,880 at Sullivan Arena, host Alaska Anchorage (7-12-6, 3-12-4 WCHA) came up with a big 4-0 shutout victory over Michigan Tech (10-12-3, 6-9-2 WCHA) to snap a seven-game winless streak and move within four points of both MTU and idle St. Cloud State. For UAA, Chris Tarkir's first period goal at 4:46 held up as the game-winner and Jon Olthuis (18 saves) earned the shutout while also scoring goals for the Seawolves were Josh Lunden, Merit Waldrop and Shane Lovdahl.

Outside the WCHA on Feb. 1, No. 6-ranked Colorado College (19-7-1) skated past visiting Clarkson, 5-2, before a Colorado Springs World Arena crowd of 6,652. For the Tigers, Jimmy Kilpatrick netted the game-winner at 17:16 of the second period, Scott McCulloch added two goals and defenseman Jack Hillen chipped in with a pair of assists. CC's victory pushes the WCHA's collective non-conference mark to a sparkling 46-17-10 (.699) so far this season.

Heading into Saturday night's games, Colorado College is in first place with 31 points (20 gp), North Dakota (21 gp) is second with 28 points, Denver (17 gp) is third with 24, Wisconsin (19 gp) is fourth with 19 points, Minnesota Duluth (19 gp) is fifth with 17, Minnesota State (19 gp) is sixth with 16, Minnesota (19 gp) is seventh with 15 points, Michigan Tech (17 gp) and St. Cloud State (18 p) are tied for eighth with 14, and Alaska Anchorage (19 gp) is 10th with 10. Just five points currently separate six teams in the standings.

Looking ahead to next weekend (Feb. 8-9), there will be four WCHA series contested as Wisconsin heads to Michigan Tech for Winter Carnival weekend, Colorado College hosts St. Cloud State, Denver entertains Minnesota, and Alaska Anchorage travels to Minnesota State.

This Week in the WCHA

Results of Friday, February 1: Minnesota Duluth 1 at Wisconsin 3
North Dakota 2 at Minnesota 1 ot
Denver 1 at Minnesota State 5
Michigan Tech 0 at Alaska Anchorage 4
Clarkson 2 at Colorado College 5 (nc).

Games for Saturday, February 2: Minnesota Duluth at Wisconsin, 7:07 pm CT
North Dakota at Minnesota, 7:07 pm CT
Denver at Minnesota State, 7:07 pm CT
Michigan Tech at Alaska Anchorage, 7:07 pm AT
Clarkson at Colorado College, 7:07 pm MT (nc).

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