It's Another Full Slate of WCHA Series on schedule for Nov. 21-22 Weekend; Minnesota, Wisconsin UP Unbeaten Streaks; Five Points Separate Top Seven Clubs

St. Cloud State Sweeps DU; Golden Gophers, Badgers Earn Three Points; Six WCHA Teams Ranked Among Top 20 in Latest National Poll ... Minnesota No. 1, CC No. 3, DU No. 10, MSU No. 11, SCSU No. 17, UND No. 20 ... UAA, UW, UMD Receive Votes; WCHA Teams 19-8-4 in Non-Conference Play

David Fischer and the No. 1-ranked Golden Gophers Lead the WCHA Race

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Record Total of 119 Student-Athletes Named to Men's All-WCHA Academic Team for 2009-10

UAA's Clark, MSU's Davis & Cook Named Red Baron® WCHA Players of the Week

2010 WCHA Playoffs Get Underway Friday; First Round, Best-of-Three Series to Feature #10 MTU at #1 DU, #9 UAA at #2 UW, #8 MSU at #3 SCSU, #7 UM at #4 UND, #6 CC at #5 UMD

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Nov. 17, 2008

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MADISON, Wis. – It will be a full complement of five head-to-head series for the second straight week as the 10 Western Collegiate Hockey Association-member teams reach the one-third mark of their 28-game league slates. Scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22, are WCHA series featuring league-leading, No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Minnesota (6-0-4, 5-0-3 WCHA) at No. 10 Denver (6-4-1, 4-3-1 WCHA) and Magness Arena (6,026), defending MacNaughton Cup champion and No. 3-ranked Colorado College (7-2-3, 5-2-1 WCHA) at Alaska Anchorage (6-4-2, 3-3-2 WCHA) and Sullivan Arena (6,251), Wisconsin (4-6-2, 4-4-2 WCHA) at No. 17 St. Cloud State (7-4-0, 2-3-0 WCHA) and the National Hockey Center (5,371), No. 11 Minnesota State (5-3-2, 3-3-2 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (2-7-1, 1-6-1 WCHA) and John MacInnes Student Ice Arena (4,128), and No. 20 North Dakota (4-6-0, 4-4-0 WCHA) at Minnesota Duluth (4-4-3, 1-4-2 WCHA) and the DECC (5,294).

Heading into week seven of the 2008-09 season, just five points separate the top seven teams in the current standings and just three points separate six teams from second place to a share of fifth. Only one team, Minnesota, has yet to suffer a loss in WCHA play, only three teams – UM, CC and DU – have winning records in league action, seven of the 10 have at least three league victories, and eight of the ten have at least three conference defeats. In WCHA play to date, there have seven ties, 13 games decided by just one goal, seven games decided by two goals, and 10 games decided by three goals or more.

In the full set of five conference series last weekend (Nov. 14-16), only St. Cloud State was able to forge a two-game sweep, with the host Huskies defeating Denver by 4-2 and 2-1 scores. SCSU has now won four straight. Two other teams – Minnesota and Wisconsin – managed to gain three of four points over the weekend while two series ended in splits. The host Golden Gophers, who have launched their season with a 10-game unbeaten streak, tied Michigan Tech 2-2 (ot) last Saturday then won by a 3-0 count on Sunday. UM’s unbeaten streak is the Gophers’ second-longest to open a season since 1940, behind their 11-0-2 start in 2001-02. The visiting Badgers tied 3-3 (ot) at Minnesota Duluth last Friday and then posted a 4-1 triumph last Saturday to extend their unbeaten streak to five games at 4-0-1. At Mankato, host Minnesota State won 2-1 over Colorado College on Nov. 14 before the Tigers bounced back for a 4-3 decision on Nov. 15. And in Grand Forks, visiting Alaska Anchorage skated to a 3-2 victory over host North Dakota last Friday before the Sioux rebounded to capture a 3-1 win last Saturday. With the victory, the Seawolves equaled their WCHA win total of a year ago just seven games into the schedule; they are also just one triumph shy of tying their overall win total from 2007-08.

Following this weekend, most of WCHA teams will engage in non-conference action over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with just one league game – St. Cloud State at Minnesota Duluth – being played on Saturday, Nov. 29. Outside the league on Nov. 28-29, Minnesota and Wisconsin will take turns hosting Central Collegiate Hockey Assocation-members Michigan and Michigan State in the annual College Hockey Showcase, Minnesota State travels to CCHA-member Bowling Green, Michigan Tech heads to College Hockey America-member Bemidji State, Denver hosts ECAC Hockey-member Colgate and Atlantic Hockey-member Air Force, North Dakota entertains ECAC Hockey-member Cornell, and Colorado College plays at Air Force and then hosts Colgate. Through games of Nov. 17, WCHA-member teams are a combined 19-8-4 (.677) in non-conference play this season.

Looking ahead to the first weekend in December (Dec. 5-6), WCHA series find Michigan Tech hosting Denver, Wisconsin welcoming Alaska Anchorage, Colorado College hosting Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State and St. Cloud State playing a home-and-home set. In non-conference action, North Dakota travels to Harvard. Minnesota will be idle.

In this week’s (Nov. 17) USCHO.com/CBS College Sports XXL Div. 1 Men’s Poll, there are sixWCHA-member teams ranked among the 20 in the nation, while three others also received votes. Minnesota is up to No. 1, Colorado College is at No. 3, Denver is at No. 10, Minnesota State is No. 11, St. Cloud State is up to No. 17, and North Dakota is No. 20. Other WCHA-member teams receiving votes were Alaska Anchorage, Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth.

This Week in the WCHA

Games for Friday, November 21: Colorado College at Alaska Anchorage, 7:07 pm AT (WCHA); Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 7:07 pm ET (WCHA); Wisconsin at St. Cloud State, 7:07 pm CT (WCHA); Minnesota at Denver, 7:37 pm MT (WCHA); North Dakota at Minnesota Duluth, 7:37 pm CT (WCHA).

Games for Saturday, November 22: Colorado College at Alaska Anchorage, 7:07 pm AT (WCHA); Minnesota at Denver, 7:07 pm MT (WCHA); Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 7:07 pm ET (WCHA); North Dakota at Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 pm CT (WCHA); Wisconsin at St. Cloud State, 7:07 pm CT (WCHA).