WCHA Final Five Semifinal Preview
March 19, 2004
ST. PAUL, Minn. - One big question entering Friday's first Red Baron WCHA Final Five semifinal was if Alaska Anchorage had enough left in the tank to stay with No. 1-ranked North Dakota after winning Thursday night's play-in game victory?
Another question was if Seawolves' goalie Chris King - who has been feeling ill for the past several days - could duplicate his wonderful 44-save performance of the night before.
Friday, in front of 13,597 fans at the Xcel Energy Center, King was again exceptional and the Seawolves played very hard and fought all the way. But North Dakota is top-ranked for a reason, and the Sioux skated to a spirited 4-2 victory.
North Dakota (29-6-3) advances to meet the Minnesota/Minnesota-Duluth winner in the Red Baron WCHA Final Five Championship Game at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the 'X'. Alaska Anchorage (14-22-3) will play in the third-place game at 2 p.m. Saturday.
None of the goals in this one were soft as goaltending stole show this afternoon. Jordan Parise, who finished with 22 saves, made the game's first great save at 7:29 of the first when UAA's Dallas Steward took a pass on a 2-on-1 and let a quick low shot go that Parise somehow snared while diving into position. A half minute later King, who finished with 41 saves, retorted with a dandy kick save on North Dakota's Colby Genoway.
North Dakota broke the seal and made it 1-0 on Brady Murray's 19th goal of the season at 15:56 of the first. The Seawolves had a costly turnover in their own end and Brandon Bochenski picked it up and headmanned to Zach Parise, who made a move down low. At the last second he hit Murray crashing the net and he got the puck past King's glove.
Period one ended with UND lead 1-0 on the scoreboard and holding a 16-7 advantage in shots on goal.
North Dakota gained a 2-0 lead on a rebound goal by Rory McMahon at 2:16 of the second period. Ryan Hale sent in a shot from the right side and King made the save, but the rebound came free and McMahon was able to poke it through the 5-hole for his 10th goal of the season. Hale and Mike Prpich got the assists.
The Fighting Sioux put the Seawolves behind the 8-ball at 9:01 of the second when Zach Parise banged home his 21st goal of the season, giving UND a 3-0 lead. Bochenski sent in a shot and the rebound came way out to the left. Parise sent it into the goal mouth and it bounced off King and into the net.
But Alaska Anchorage wasn't done quite yet, and would go on to outscore the Sioux 2-1 the rest of the way.
The Seawolves got their first goal on the power play Justin Bourne made a perfect pass from just behind the extended goal line and hit Curtis Glencross, who one-timed it through the 5-hole for his 20th goal of the season at 10:30. Bourne got the lone assist.
North Dakota's David Lundbohm almost scored when he hit the post on a breakaway, and one minute later Hale connected on his third goal of the season at 15:50 to put the Fighting Sioux up by three. Hale zoomed around a UAA defender, through the slot and got the puck by King on the stick side. Matt Jones and McMahon got the assists.
The Sioux took a 4-1 lead into the intermission, and a 17-8 edge in shots in the second period.
Most of the third was punctuated with great saves by both Jordan Parise and King before UAA's Lee Green made it 4-2 with a 4-on-4 goal at 17:18. Green intercepted a clearing pass and boomed a slapshot into the net from the right post. His second goal of the year was unassisted.
And that's the way it ended. UND had 45 shots and UAA had 24 in the game.
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