WCHA FINAL 5 -- UAA 4, CC 1
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March 18, 2004
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The first game of the 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five had a great matchup: On one side was Colorado College, a school with a long history of playoff hockey behind it; on the other was senitmental favorite Alaska Anchorage, a school which last week won its first two playoff games in the program's WCHA history, and who tonight made its first Final Five appearance.
On this Thursday, chalk one up for sentimentality.
Bolstered by a 44-save effort from senior goalie Chris King, Alaska Anchorage (14-21-3 overall) held off Colorado College 4-1 in front of 12,713 fans at the Xcel Energy Center to advance to the semifinals of the Final Five.
UAA will meet top-seeded North Dakota at 2 p.m. Friday at the "X." Colorado College is now 20-16-3 and will await word on a possible NCAA berth.
The Seawolves had the first real chance to score and appeared to take a 1-0 lead on a backhand by sophomore Justin Johnson at 1:53 of the first period. The play was reviewed and it was ruled a player was in the crease, and the score was disallowed.
Period one ended 0-0 with CC holding a 10-4 advantage in shots.
It took almost 30 minutes for a goal to be scored, and they came fast and furious midway through the second period.
CC took a 1-0 lead on a great re-direction by Trevor Frischmon at 9:21. Brett Sterling sent a pass into the slot from the right side, and Frischmon got just enough of it to direct it past King. As it would turn out, it would be the lone blemish on a stellar effort by the senior goalie.
The Seawolves came back and took a 2-1 lead on two quick goals a minute apart. The first one came at 9:51 when Brandon Segal basted a long slap shot that beat Tigers' goalie Matt Zaba between the pads. It was the first goal of the season for Segal, and his goal was unassisted.
One minute later at 10:51 UAA took the lead when Vladimir Novak knocked in a rebound. Justin Johnson sent in a long slapper that Zaba made a blocker save on, but the rebound came out to Novak, who banged it into the net.
Colorado College then replaced Zaba with Curtis McElhinney in goal.
Still, the Seawolves made it 3-1 when they got one by McElhinney at 19:24. Novak made a great pass to Brent McMann and he whacked it past McElhinney for his second goal of the season.
UAA took the 3-1 lead into the second intermission, although CC had an 18-9 edge in shots on goal in the period.
The kitchen sink was about all CC didn't throw at King in the third period. Still, the UAA senior made save after spectacular save to keep the Tigers at bay.
Then, the Seawolves wrapped it up with an open-net goal by Dallas Steward at 19:43. Charlie Kronschnabel and Lee Green got the assists.
Colorado College pumped 17 shots on goal in the third period and
finished with 45. UAA had 18 shots on goal.
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