Top Five Seeds All Win on Opening Night of WCHA Playoffs; CC, UND, DU, MSU, SCSU One Win Away from Berth in 2008 Red Baron WCHA Final Five
John Swanson had the game-winner for SCSU over Wisconsin on March 14 |
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Complete Release in PDF Format 
March 15, 2008
MADISON, Wisc. - The top five seeds for the first round of WCHA Playoffs held service on the opening night of the post-season Friday (March 14), with No. 1 seed Colorado College, No. 2 North Dakota, No. 3 Denver, No. 4 Minnesota State and No. 5 seed St. Cloud State all defending their home ice advantage with victories in game one of their best-of-3 series. And as a result, all five of those teams are now within one win of earning the highly-coveted trip to next week's 2008 Red Baron WCHA Final Five, set for March 20-22 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn.
The five home teams also yielded a combined four goals in the five games, as Colorado College downed No. 10 seed Alaska Anchorage, 4-1, North Dakota blanked No. 9 Michigan Tech, 4-0, Denver defeated No. 8 Minnesota Duluth, 6-3, Minnesota State shutout No. 7 Minnesota, 1-0 in double overtime, and St. Cloud State blanked No. 6 Wisconsin, 3-0.
At Colorado Springs World Arena, the host and No. 3-ranked Tigers (27-9-1) broke open a 1-1 second period deadlock with the Seawolves (7-20-8) by scoring three unanswered goals, including the eventual game-winner from center Tyler Johnson at 18:06 of the second period, and had 27 saves from Richard Bachman in goal in their 4-1 triumph before 5,896. After Tigers' right winger Mike Testwuide scored just 0:37 into the first period, UAA, which outshot CC on the night, 28-20, pulled into a 1-1 tie on a power-play goal by center Brad McCabe at 2:15 of the second. Also for the Tigers, defenseman Jack Hillen had two assists, including one on Johnson's winner. Game two of the playoff series will face-off at 7:07 pm MT on Saturday.
At Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, a crowd of 11,572 saw the host and No. 2-ranked Fighting Sioux (24-8-4) extend their nation's best unbeaten streak to a school-record 18 games (15-0-3) with a 4-0 victory over Michigan Tech (13-19-5), as right winger Ryan Duncan, center T.J. Oshie and defenseman Chay Genoway each produced two points and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux stopped all 14 shots on goal. Duncan scored the game-winner on a power-play at 5:25 of the first and then assisted on Oshie's goal at 8:21 of the second that put the Sioux up 2-0. For MTU, Michael-Lee Teslak had 27 saves. Game two of the series will get underway at 7:07 pm CT Saturday.
At Magness Arena in Denver on Friday, the No. 8-ranked DU Pioneers (23-13-1) doubled up on No. 18-ranked Minnesota Duluth (13-16-6) before 4,693, as center Tyler Bozak scored a pair of goals, including the eventual winner on a power-play at 13:39 of period two, right winger Dustin Jackson had two goals and one assist, and defenseman J.P. Testwuide had two helpers. The Bulldogs closed to within one at 2-1 in the second on a goal from left winger Andrew Carroll before the Pioneers received back-to-back tallies from left winger Matt Glasser at 9:29 and Bozak's deciding goal. Between the pipes, Peter Mannino had 24 stops for the win while Alex Stalock had 22 for UMD.
At Alltel Center in Mankato, a crowd of 4,228 saw No. 10/11-ranked Minnesota State (19-14-4) upend No. 15-ranked Minnesota (15-15-9), 1-0 in double overtime, as center Trevor Bruess notched the winner on a shorthander at 17:36 of the second overtime. After being whistled for a too many men on the ice penalty at 16:40 of the second overtime, MSU left winger Jon Kalinski slipped a perfect feed to Bruess in a 2-on-1 shorthanded breakaway. A goaltending duel between the Mavericks' Mike Zacharias (34 saves) and the Golden Gophers' Alex Kangas (45 saves) saw both teams unable to score with the man-advantage, as MSU was 0-of-2 and UM was 0-5. Game two faces-off at 7:07 pm Saturday.
And before 4,005 at the National Hockey Center on Friday evening, host and No. 9/10-ranked St. Cloud State (18-14-5) scored once in each period, with left winger John Swanson netting the game-winner on a power-play at 19:29 of the first, and Jase Weslosky stopped all 24 shots on goal, enroute to a 3-0 playoff win over No. 13/14-ranked Wisconsin (15-15-7). SCSU outshot the Badgers, 31-24, and also received goals from right winger Ryan Lasch in the second and left winger Andreas Nodl on a power-play in the third. For UW, Shane Connelly had 28 saves. Saturday night's rematch is set for a 7:07 pm CT face-off.
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.
Games for Saturday, March 15: #10 Alaska Anchorage @ #1 Colorado College, 7:07 pm MT
#9 Michigan Tech @ #2 North Dakota, 7:07 pm CT
#8 Minnesota Duluth @ #3 Denver, 7:07 pm MT
#7 Minnesota @ #4 Minnesota State, 7:07 pm CT
#6 Wisconsin @ #5 St. Cloud State, 7:07 pm CT.
Games for Sunday, March 16 (if necessary): #10 Alaska Anchorage @ #1 Colorado College, 7:07 pm MT
#9 Michigan Tech @ #2 North Dakota, 7:07 pm CT
#8 Minnesota Duluth @ #3 Denver, 7:07 pm MT
#7 Minnesota @ #4 Minnesota State, 7:07 pm CT
#6 Wisconsin @ #5 St. Cloud State, 7:07 pm CT.
2008 Red Baron WCHA Final Five Tickets Still Available and On Sale Now
Five-game ticket packages for the upcoming 2008 Red Baron 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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