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Detroit Free PressMarch 10, 2004 Wednesday 0 EDITION

WCHA, CHA and CHAW tournament schedulesWCHA TOURNAMENT

Friday-Sunday, campus sites

(Best of three)

* No. 10 Michigan Tech (8-23-5) at No. 1 North Dakota(26-6-3), 8:35 p.m. Fri-day/8:05 Saturday/7:05 Sun-day.

* No. 9 Minnesota State (9-22-5) at No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth(23-10-4), all games at 8:05.

* No. 8 Alaska-Anchorage (11-20-3) at No. 3 Wisconsin (20-10-8), all games at 8:05.

* No. 7 Colorado College (18-15-3) at No. 4 Denver (23-10-5), 9:35/9:05/9:05.

* No. 6 St. Cloud State (18-14-4) at No. 5 Minnesota (22-13-3), all games at 8:05.

Outlook: Michigan Techscored an upset this seasonwhen it beat Wisconsin, thenthe third-ranked team in thecountry, in Madison. And theHuskies have a legitimateHobey Baker Award candidatein sophomore forward ChrisConner of Westland, whose25 goals are tied for the Divi-sion I lead. But the Sioux fin-ished the regular season witha pair of 5-1 victories in GrandForks over the Huskies. Oh --and they're the No. 1 team in

the country. Pick: North Da-kota.

CHA TOURNAMENT

Friday-Sunday, Tri-City Arena,Kearney, Neb.

(Single elimination)

Friday, quarterfinals

* No. 4 Air Force (14-20-2) vs.No. 5 Findlay (10-21-5), 4:05p.m.

* No. 6 Wayne State (8-23-3)vs. No. 3 Alabama-Huntsville(11-15-4), 8:05.

Saturday, semifinals

* Air Force/Findlay winner vs.No. 1 Bemidji State (19-12-3),4:05.

* Wayne State/Alabama-Huntsville winner vs. No. 2Niagara (19-14-1), 8:05.

Sunday

Championship, 8:05.

Outlook:Last year, as the No.3 seed, Wayne State won itsthird straight College HockeyAmerica tournament andearned the conference's firstautomatic bid to the NCAAs.The Warriors have a muchbigger task ahead of them thisweekend as the No. 6 seed.They split a four-game series

this season against Alabama-Huntsville -- winning both onthe road, Feb. 28-29. How-ever, they were outscored,15-5, in four losses to Niagara,their potential semifinal oppo-nent.

CHAW TOURNAMENT

Saturday-Sunday, DwyerArena, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

(Single elimination)

Saturday, semifinals

* No. 4 Wayne State (15-14-4)vs. No. 1 Mercyhurst (24-6-4),2 p.m.

* No. 2 Findlay (16-14-4) vs.No. 3 Niagara (8-22-3), 5.

Sunday

Championship, 2.

Outlook: The Warriors alreadyhave finished with a schoolrecord for victories this sea-son under new coach Jim Fet-ter. But even though Fetter isa former assistant for theLakers, it's tough to imagineWayne State pulling the up-set. Mercyhurst is ranked sixthin the country and outscoredthe Warriors, 15-1, in fourgames this season. Theteams did go to overtime Nov.15 in Erie, Pa., before theLakers won, 1-0.


Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMarch 10, 2004 Wednesday RegionSports, p. B-5 District Colleges Basketball Notebook

ST. VINCENT A DANGEROUS 'MYSTERY'St. Vincent qualifies as the mys-tery team in the field of 32 at theNAIA Division II tournament atthe College of the Ozarks in PointLookout, Mo.

That's because the seedingcommittee didn't do its homeworkand overlooked the Bearcats (24-6), who are at full strength with 6-foot-7 Tony Washam in thelineup. They were 16-1 andranked No. 3 in the country whenWasham went on the injured listwith a broken bone in his righthand. They were 5-5 without him,then went 3-0 to win the AmericanMideast Conference champion-ship with him.

Washam, the country's leadingscorer with a 28.2 average, willlead unseeded St. Vincentagainst No. 12 Indiana Tech (27-6) in the first round tomorrow.

"Washam's the best player in thecountry," said first-year coachD.P. Harris. "We're probably oneof the hottest teams in the coun-try."

St. Vincent is making the trip tothe tournament for the fifth timein the past seven seasons. TheBearcats reached the Elite 8 twoyears ago.

"The players have gotten a first-year coach to the tournament,"said Harris, who replaced BernieMatthews after being his longtimeassistant. "Maybe the pressureis more on me as a first-yearcoach. That's good, because Iwant the guys to enjoy it.

"It matters how we defend be-cause I know we're going to putpoints on the board."

In addition to Washam, the Bear-cats rely on point guard KennyRoberts (17 ppg, 7 apg) and 6-11sophomore Jeff Mallory, theschool's all-time shot-blockerwith 120.

IUP vs. Pfeiffer

No. 8 seed IUP (21-9) will play atNo. 1 Pfeiffer University (26-4)Saturday in the NCAA Division I IEast Region.

IUP rallied from halftime deficitsto win all three games en route tothe Pennsylvania State AthleticConference championship and anautomatic bid to the NCAA tour-nament.

"We've done things the hard wayall season," said IUP coach GaryEdwards, who is taking the Indi-ans to the tournament for thethird time in the past five years."We've been underdogs a lot, sothis will be nothing new for us.We're going in with a lot of confi-dence."

IUP is led by forward G.J. Macon(12.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the MVP ofthe PSAC championship game,and senior forward DonovanThomas (12.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg). Thisis the first season at IUP for bothplayers. Macon is a junior-collegetransfer and Thomas transferredfrom Division I Loyola of Mary-land.

IUP sophomore guard Ed Peter-son (10.7 ppg) has a team-high76 steals as the Indians set aschool record for a season with389.

The Pfeiffer Falcons are led byRico Grier (19.2 ppg, 5.5 apg)and Kenny Mickens (7.9 ppg).

The tournament trail

NCAA Division II

* California (23-6) and Cheyney(22-7), which both lost in thesemifinals of the PSAC tourna-ment, will meet Saturday in theopening round of the East Regionat Pfeiffer University. California,champion of the PSAC West Di-vision, has five players averag-ing in double figures led by KevinHandy (13 ppg). Cheyney, theEast Division champion, featuresAnthony Frazier (18.1 ppg, 7.9rpg).

* Gannon (22-7), making its fifthconsecutive appearance in thenational tournament, playsMichigan Tech (21-7) Satur-day in the opening round of theGreat Lakes Regional at LewisUniversity in Romeoville, Ill.Michigan Tech defeated Gan-non twice during the season,including in the semifinals of theGreat Lakes Intercollegiate Ath-letic Conference. MichiganTech boasts Josh Buettner (22ppg, 6.6 rpg), the Player of theYear in the GLIAC. Gannon's topgun is 6-11 Geoff Husted (18.3ppg, 10.9 rpg).

* The California women, winnersof 52 consecutive home games,will play host to the NCAA Divi-sion II East Region with a dou-bleheader Friday night and thechampionship Saturday. Califor-nia (29-1) plays Charleston,W.Va. (23-7) and Pitt-Johnstownmeets Barton (23-5).

NOTES: Phil Axelrod can bereached at [email protected] or 412-263-1967.


Detroit Free PressMarch 9, 2004 Tuesday 3 EDITION

MEN'S ROUNDUP: Marshall beats Eastern, faces Western next

FREE PRESS NEWSSERVICES

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.

Marvin Black had 16 pointsand 14 rebounds to lead No.8 Marshall to a 78-59 win overNo. 9 Eastern Michigan in thefirst round of the Mid-American Conference tour-nament Monday night.

Marshall (12-16) will play No. 1Western Michigan (23-4) inthe quarterfinals Thursdaynight in Cleveland.

A.W. Hamilton also scored 16points for Marshall.

JaQuan Hart led EasternMichigan with 19 points. JohnBowler added 14 points and11 rebounds.

Eastern Michigan (13-15) hasfailed to reach the quarterfi-nals in six straight seasonsafter advancing to the MACtitle game in the four yearsbefore that. MORE MID-AMERICAN

Toledo 91, Central Michigan88: Sammy Villegas scored 28points and made two foulshots with six seconds left toseal host Toledo's win. GerritBrigitha scored five of his 33points in a 43-second span forCentral Michigan (6-24) to cutToledo's lead to 87-86 with 36seconds left.

Ball State 76, Akron 72: Rob-ert Owens had 20 points and

nine rebounds for host BallState (14-14). Derrick Tarverscored 25 for Akron (13-15).

Bowling Green 56, Ohio 54:Ron Lewis scored 19 points,all in the second half, andblocked two shots in the finalseconds for host BowlingGreen. Terren Harbut scored24 for Ohio.

Buffalo 90, Northern Illinois73: Yassin Idbihi had 23points and eight rebounds forhost Buffalo, which won itsfirst MAC postseason game inhistory. Perry Smith scored 28for Northern Illinois (10-20). MID-CONTINENT SEMIS

Valparaiso 90, Missouri-Kansas City 78: Dan Opplandscored a career-high 32points and Valparaiso over-came a 17-point deficit. Mi-chael Watson led the Kanga-roos with 28 points.

Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis68, Chicago State 47: OdellBradley had 22 points and 13rebounds for IUPUI (21-10),the defending tournamentchampion. Jeleel Akindelescored 11 for Chicago State(12-20). TOURNAMENT CHAMPION-SHIPS

Virginia Commonwealth 55,George Mason 54: JessePellot-Rosa's free throw with1.6 seconds left won the Co-lonial Athletic Associationchampionship for Virginia

Commonwealth (23-7).George Mason (21-9) fell justshort of its third championshipin the last six years.

Manhattan 62, Niagara 61: Inthe Metro Atlantic AthleticConference, Dave Holmesscored 16 and Manhattan (24-5) held on to earn its secondstraight NCAA tournamentberth. Juan Mendez scored26 for Niagara (21-9).

Northern Iowa 79, SouthwestMissouri State 74 (2OT): BenJacobson tied his career highwith 26 points and hit twothree-pointers in the secondovertime, leading NorthernIowa (21-9) to the MissouriValley Conference tourna-ment title. Southwest Missourifinishes 19-14. AP POLL

Tiny Saint Joseph's, thePhiladelphia school with anenrollment of 3,400 and notmuch recent sports history tobrag about, was No. 1 in theAP men's college basketballpoll Monday for the first time.The Hawks are 27-0.

Notebook: Eastern Michiganjunior guard Ryan Coleman ofDetroit Communication & Me-dia Arts and Western Michiganjunior guard Casey Rost of St.Johns were voted to the All-Mid-American Conferencewomen's team. Easternsophomore forward NikkiKnapp made the secondteam. Eastern guard-forwardSarah VanMetre, Western


guard Carrie Moore of Bir-mingham Detroit Country Dayand Bowling Green forward AliMann of Chelsea made the all-freshman team. . . . Toledoguard Justin Ingram of Lans-ing Waverly was named MACmen's freshman of the year,and Western Michigan seniorReggie Berry was given thesixth-man award. . . . Wiscon-sin junior guard Devin Harris(44 points, nine rebounds intwo games) is Big Ten playerof the week.

NCAA Division II: No. 8 seedWayne State will face hostLewis, the top seed, in Satur-day's first round of the NCAADivision II Great Lakes Re-gional at Romeoville, Ill.Wayne State (17-11) madethe tournament for the firsttime since 1999. Lewis is 23-6. Fourth-seeded MichiganTech (21-7) also is in the re-gional and will play fifth-seeded Gannon (Pa.) (22-7).The semifinals are Sundayand the final Tuesday . . . .

After winning the Great LakesConference tournament,Lake Superior State (26-3)enters the NCAA Division IIGreat Lakes women's regionalas the No. 2 seed. The Lakerswill play No. 7 seed SouthernIndiana (20-9) in Friday's firstround at Quincy, Ill. No. 3seed Ferris State (21-9) willmeet No. 6 Ashland (Ohio)(22-7) in the same regional. . ..

Lake Superior junior guardRandi Johnson (St. Ignace)was voted most valuableplayer of the Great Lakes Con-ference women's tournament.Among others on the teamwere Lake Superior freshmanforward Mandi Johnson (St.Ignace), Ferris State seniorguard Lucy DeMartin (Mason)and Ferris sophomore guardErin Miller (Niles).. . . TheGreat Lakes Conferencemen's all-tournament teamincluded Michigan Techjunior center Josh Buettner

and Tech junior guard JasonMarcotte (Ishpeming West-wood).

NAIA tournament: Corner-stone of Grand Rapids opensWednesday in the NAIA Divi-sion II tournament in PointLookout, Mo. The ninth-seeded Eagles (26-8), whowon the Wolverine-HoosierConference tournament, willface unseeded Bluefield, Va.(21-2). Siena Heights ofAdrian, the Wolverine-Hoosierregular-season champion, isthe No. 15 seed. The Saints(28-6) will open Thursdayagainst unseeded CardinalStritch, Wis. (29-5). Thechampionship is March 16. . . .The third-seeded Corner-stone women (27-5) will playsixth-seeded Daemen, N.Y.(26-4) in Thursday's firstround of the NAIA Division IItournament in Sioux City,Iowa. That championship alsois March 16.


Grand Forks HeraldMarch 9, 2004 Tuesday North Dakota: SPORTS

MEN'S HOCKEY

Lundbohm, Porter honored

UND senior David Lundbohm (below, top)and freshman Chris Porter (below, bo t -tom) have received player of the weekawards from the Western CollegiateHockey Association.

Lundbohm, a center from Roseau, Minn., i sthe co-offensive player of the week wi th

three goals and two assists in two winsover Michigan Tech. He shares the honorwith Minnesota sophomore Thomas Vanek.

Porter, a wing from Thunder Bay, Ont., i sthe rookie of the week for the second timethis season. He picked up a goal and threeassists against Michigan Tech in twogames.


The StateMarch 9, 2004 Tuesday FINAL EDITION Columbia, SC: C; Pg. 2

Rookie Amadio makes an impact on defenseINFERNO DEFENSEMANGreg Amadio is under no illu-sions about the glamour of hisjob

He is not meant to makeheadlines or score lots ofgoals. His job is to stop theother team from scoring.

"Playing solid defense is whatbrought me here," Amadiosaid. "Coach (Scott) Whitebrought me in to be a defen-sive defenseman, and that'swhat I try to do."

Amadio, 22, is in his first fullseason as a professionalhockey player, although hehad a brief stint with the Mem-phis River Kings of the CentralHockey League last year.

He came to Columbia largelybecause of his connectionswith White, who recruitedAmadio to Michigan Tech.White, then an assistant at hisalma mater, eventually left forprofessional coaching, butAmadio went on to a success-ful four-year career at Tech.

When he wanted to continuehis career in the pro ranks, hehad a friend in White.

"I've known Greg for a longtime, since he was 15 years

old," White said. "I knew hewould fit in well, and that wasvery important in our lockerroom."

Fitting in was just as importantfor Amadio, and he's foundthe Inferno to be a rookie-friendly club.

"The older guys on the teamhave helped me a lot, on andoff the ice," he said. "This is agreat place for a rookie toplay."

White said he thinks Amadiohas grown in his first full sea-son, from an unsure start inOctober to solid contributionsover the past few months.

"He's probably the most im-proved player from the open-ing of training camp to now,"White said. "Early in the year,he was a little tentative andhad a struggle adapting, but inthe last two months he's reallycome into his own."

Amadio said he has been ableto adjust physically and men-tally to the pro game.

"On the ice, the players aresmarter," he said. "There aremistakes, but not as many mis-takes as in college. I thinkthat's the biggest difference."

White said Amadio has thetools to keep getting better.

"The key thing with youngerplayers is to get players withgood character that will beable to get better as the sea-son progresses," White said."Greg fits in with that."

Tough trip. Inferno playersChris St. Croix and Paul Ca-bana earned call-ups to theManitoba Moose of theAmerican Hockey League lastweek, but had a hard time get-ting there. The Winnipeg Sundescribed their travel woes inan article Sunday.

It started with a five-hour busride from Roanoke, Va., toColumbia. Cabana packed hisbags at 3 a.m. and drove tothe airport a few hours later fora 7 a.m. flight to Chicago. Thescheduled Chicago-to-Winnipeg flight at noon wascanceled and canceled again.It wasn't until 12 hours laterthat Cabana and St. Croixwere finally bound for Canada.

Cabana told the Sun, "When Isay, I'm just happy to be here,'I really, really mean it."


Grand Forks HeraldMarch 7, 2004 Sunday North Dakota: SPORTS

MEN'S HOCKEY: Plenty to play forSeniors put on a show to lead Sioux to win in season closer

By Virg FossHerald Staff Writer

In a game that UND hockeycoach Dean Blais called oneof the most difficult to preparefor all season, the threeFighting Sioux seniorsstepped forward on SeniorNight to make the difference.

Seniors Ryan Hale, DavidLundbohm and TylerPalmiscno all scored a goal inUND's 5-1 Western CollegiateHockey Association victoryover Michigan Tech in frontof 11,512 Engelstad Arenafans.

"It was great we all got achance to get out there, andscored goals," Lundbohmsaid.

On a night in which the emo-tional tank was drained afterthe Sioux celebrated winningthe MacNaughton Cup withFriday's 5-1 win over the Hus-kies, the hat trick of seniorsprovided the emotional sparkto eventually ignite the of-fense.

The Sioux sweep keptMichigan Tech from escap-ing the WCHA cellar andmeans that the Huskies willopen the first round of theWCHA best-of-three first-round playoffs in Grand Forksagain, beginning Friday.

Tech, in fact, plans to stay inGrand Forks all week rather

than make the 10-hour busride back to Houghton, Mich.,its home.

Has there ever been a yearwhen every Sioux seniorscored a goal in his final regu-lar-season home game?

Maybe not. "It's kind of fitting,"Blais said, "but most years wehave six or seven seniors."

Lundbohm matched his ca-reer high with his 15th goal ofthe season, while for Hale andPalmiscno, it was just theirsecond each.

Combined with goals by juniorNick Fuher and freshmanBrady Murray, it was more thanenough offense for the No. 1-ranked Sioux, who gave upjust one goal for the fifth gamein a row.

"For guys like us (seniors) tobe contributing factors thisweekend, that's fun," saidHale, a fifth-year senior. "Iwasn't skating the last time wewon the MacNaughton Cup(2001) because of injury, soto be a part of it this time isvery special."

The game may have turnedon a phantom goal.

With the score tied 1-1, Siouxjunior defenseman Nick Fuherhit the far goal post flush at12:37 of the second period.Referee Bill Mason immedi-ately signaled a goal, and the

goal judge then turned on thegoal light. After a telephonecall between the two, Masonruled the goal good.

The Huskies never recov-ered. Palmiscno's centeringpass deflected in off the skateof Tech defenseman MarekDora for a 3-1 Sioux lead aftertwo periods. Murray and Halethen completed the scoringwith goals at 3:00 and 17:56of the closing period.

Blais was concerned that theSioux would have a difficulttime of regrouping after Fri-day's title-clinching win. Hewas right.

"We weren't prepared men-tally," Blais said. "The guysgot shocked into playing afterthe guys realized we had only15 shot attempts the first pe-riod, and we average twicethat."

The Huskies, with the incen-tive of avoiding the cellar anda matchup this coming week-end with the Sioux again, bat-tled hard. Tech fired 28 shotson goal, but freshman goalieJordan Parise was superb,turning back 27 shots to runhis season won-lost record to12-3-3.

"It was their most importantgame of the year," Blais saidof Tech. "If they win, they're ineighth place, and that wouldhave been a terrific accom-plishment. They could have


stayed away from us in thatfirst round (of the playoffs),but that didn't happen."

Blais said there was no easyway to overcome the mentalletdown from championshipFriday to Senior Saturday. "Itwas hard to get up after lastnight, when you've won sucha tough league," Blais said."The players are not robots -they're human beings.They're not kids, they'reyoung men. But still, it's toughto get up mentally whenyou've won such a great ac-complishment, winning whatyou started out to do."

Chris Conner, MichiganTech's super sophomore whoscored his nation-leading25th goal of the season,praised the Sioux. "They're agreat team, No. 1 team in thenation," Conner said. "Youcan't take anything away fromthem."

He doesn't mind having toplay the Sioux again, either.

"We're going to give it ourbest shot, play our besthockey," Conner said.

Sioux notes: Sophomore for-ward Mike Prpich injured hisleft leg when he crashed hardinto the corner boards whilemaking a check in the first pe-riod and left the game forgood. His status for the play-offs is uncertain ... . UND's toptwo scorers, Brandon Bo-chenski and Zach Parise,went without a point Saturday.Bochenski finished tied forthe WCHA scoring title withMinnesota Duluth's JuniorLessard, who had had twogoals and one assist in Satur-day's 4-1 win over Wisconsin.Both finished with 39 points in28 games.


Saint Paul Pioneer Press

March 7, 2004 Sunday SPORTS; BRIEF; Pg. 17B

COLLEGE HOCKEY: Freshmen spark Gusties women to title

From news services

Four freshmen sparked Gus-tavus Adolphus to a 3-2 vic-tory over top-seeded St.Thomas in the Minnesota In-tercollegiate Athletic Confer-ence women's hockey playoffchampionship game Saturdayin Mendota Heights.

Freshman goalie Kristin Set-terstrom stopped 21 of 23shots, and the Gusties gotgoals from three freshmen --Ingrid Neve, Andrea Patter-son and Michelle Guimond --for the victory at St. ThomasArena.

The Gusties (22-5) get theMIAC's automatic berth intothe NCAA Division III playoffquarterfinals, their secondNCAA trip in three years. Theplayoff pairings will be an-nounced today.

The No. 7-ranked Gusties rantheir winning streak to 10 andbeat No. 10-ranked St. Tho-mas for the first time in twoyears, or six games, includinga 2003 playoff championshiploss to the Tommies.

Freshman goalie Katie Jetlandstopped 21 of 24 shots for St.Thomas (19-6-2), which loston home ice for the first timein 12 games. The Tommiesnever led and were hurt by 10penalties. Gustavus had eightpower plays, four in the final18 minutes.

Neve scored the first goal un-assisted 6:16 into the game.The Tommies tied it 10 min-

utes later on Sue Heinmiller'spower-play goal.

The Gusties went ahead 2-1on Patterson's goal midwaythrough the second periodand took a 3-1 lead with 7:49left in the game on Guimond'spower-play goal.

Rachel Reinhardt pulled theTommies within 3-2 on a goalwith 4:25 remaining. But twoSt. Thomas penalties downthe stretch helped theGusties run out the clock.

The Tommies' Tomery Stolzhad one assist to move intothird place in MIAC careerscoring with 154 points.

Gustavus 1 1 1 -- 3St. Thomas 1 0 1 -- 2

First--1, Gustavus, Neve,6:13. 2, ST, Heinmiller(Mitchell, Reitz), 16:30 (pp).

Second--3, Gustavus, Peter-son (Stypulkowski), 13:15.

Third--4, Gustavus, Guimond(Randall), 12:11 (pp). 5, ST,Reinhardt (Stolz), 15:35.

Saves--Gustavus, Setter-estrom 7-7-7--21; St. Thomas,Jetland 10-5-6--21. Records--Gustavus 22-5, St. Thomas19-6-2.

WCHA WOMEN

Minnesota 7, St. Cloud State5: Krissy Wendell scored fourgoals to lead the No. 1-rankedGophers over St. Cloud State

at the National Hockey Cen-ter.

The Gophers, who clinchedtheir third Western CollegiateHockey Association title infour years on Friday, also gotgoals from Natalie Darwitz,Kelly Stephens and La ToyaClarke.

Wendell's first goal was short-handed, her school-recordsixth short-handed goal thisseason. It was also the ninthshort-handed goal of her ca-reer, also a school record.Ambria Thomas held the pre-vious record of five in a sea-son and eight in her career.

Minnesota will play host to theWCHA Final Five next week-end at Ridder Arena. The Go-phers, the No. 1 seed, willface the winner of the OhioState/Minnesota State(Mankato) game on Saturday.The championship game is at4:05 p.m. next Sunday. NCHA MEN

St. Norbert 2, Wis.-River Falls0: Andy Cote and SpencerCarbery scored first-periodgoals, and Chancy Colqu-houn made 23 saves as St.Norbert beat visiting Wiscon-sin-River Falls to win theNorthern Collegiate HockeyAssociation playoff title andearn an automatic bid into theNCAA Division III playoffs. WCHA MEN

Minn.-Duluth 4, Wisconsin 1:Freshman goaltender Josh


Johnson stopped 29 shots,and Junior Lessard scoredtwo goals, leading No. 5 Min-nesota-Duluth over No. 4Wisconsin at Madison, Wis.

Justin Williams and BryanMcGregor scored for the Bull-dogs, who extended theirroad unbeaten streak to eightgames (6-0-2). Wisconsin'sunbeaten run ended at sevengames.

Johnson, starting only his fifthgame of the season, was 38.8seconds away from his sec-ond shutout, until the Badg-ers' Adam Burish scored.

Both teams started theirbackup goaltenders in a gamethat meant nothing in theleague standings.

Wisconsin freshman BrianElliott, who has lost his lastthree starts, made 27 saves.

Williams put the Bulldogsahead 13:21 into the game,firing a pass from Lessard pastElliott.

Lessard put UMD ahead 2-0 inthe second period, skating offthe right boards and flipping ashot off Elliott's glove and in.

North Dakota 5, MichiganTech 1: North Dakota gotgoals from senior TylerPalmiscno, Ryan Hale andDavid Lundbohm as the Siouxbeat visiting Michigan Tech.

The Fighting Sioux hadwrapped up the league titleon Friday with a 5-1 win overthe Huskies.

On Saturday, they took thelead for good at 2-1 midwaythrough the second period ona shot that appeared to de-flect off the goal post.

Nick Fuher was credited with agoal, UND got another sec-

ond-period goal fromPalmiscno, and Hale andBrady Murray scored for theSioux in the third.

Chris Conner scored Tech'sonly goal, on the power playearly in the second period.

Freshman goalie Jordan Pa-rise had 27 saves for theSioux.

Minnesota State (Mankato) 9,Nebraska-Omaha 1: ShaneJoseph and Travis Morin hadtwo goals apiece, as Minne-sota State (Mankato) crushedNebraska-Omaha (7-24-5) in anonconference game atMankato.

Joseph's goals came in thefirst five minutes of play, andMike Lefley scored Nebraska-Omaha's only goal at 9:46.Chad Clower and StevenJohns also scored forMankato.


The Associated Press State & Local WireMarch 6, 2004, Saturday, BC cycle

Michigan Tech 69, Gannon 59FINDLAY, Ohio

Bob Evans scored 16 points, nine on 3-pointers, to lead Michigan Tech to a 6 9 - 5 9win Friday night over Gannon in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate AthleticConference tournament.

Josh Buettner added 16 points for the Huskies (21-6), who advanced to play Findlay f o rthe championship Saturday. Findlay beat Northwood 74-61 in the other semifinal F r i -day.

Jeff McHenry had 13 points and eight rebounds for Michigan Tech, and Jason Marcotteadded 13 points.

Gannon (22-7) was led by Iren Rainey, who had 16 points. Geoff Husted added 13 pointsand 12 rebounds, and Forrest Kirby had 10 points.



Findlay 73, Michigan Tech 68FINDLAY, Ohio

Frank Phillips had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Findlay to its first Great Lakes I n -tercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament title with a 73-68 win over MichiganTech on Saturday.

Matt Metzger added 15 points and Tyson McGlaughlin had 14 for the Oilers (24-6), whoearned a bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.

Josh Buettner led the Huskies (21-7) with 28 points, including nine on 3-pointers.Jason Marcotte scored 20 points and Jeff McHenry added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Findlay led 29-26 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. The Huskies trailed68-55 with 1:02 to play but outscored the Oilers 13-5 the rest of the way to make i tclose.



North Dakota 5, Michigan Tech 1GRAND FORKS, N.D.

North Dakota got goals from seniors Tyler Palmiscno, Ryan Hale and David Lundbohm asthe Sioux ended the regular season Saturday with a 5-1 win over Michigan Tech.

The Fighting Sioux (26-6-3, 20-5-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) hadwrapped up the league title on Friday with a win over the Huskies.

On Saturday, they took the lead for good at 2-1 midway through the second period on ashot that appeared to deflect off the goalpost.

Nick Fuher was credited with a goal, UND got another second-period goal f romPalmiscno, and Hale and Brady Murray scored for the Sioux in the third.

Chris Conner scored Tech's only goal, on the power play early in the second period.

Jordan Parise had 27 saves for the Sioux. Cam Ellsworth stopped 26 shots for the Hus-kies (8-27-1, 6-19-3), who finished in last place in the WCHA and will return toGrand Forks next weekend for the first round of the league playoffs.


Detroit Free PressMarch 6, 2004 Saturday 3 EDITION

COLLEGE ROUNDUP: U-M scores late to tie MSU, 4-4

BY ERIC HABERMAS, FREEPRESS SPECIAL WRITEREAST LANSING

Michigan and Michigan Stateadded another chapter totheir wild hockey rivalry Fridaynight.

Jason Ryznar scored a short-handed goal with 1:18 left inregulation to help the sixth-ranked Wolverines salvage a4-4 tie with the No. 14 Spar-tans before 6,812 at MunnArena.

"It was a typical Michigan-Michigan State game," U-Mcoach Red Berenson said."Anything can happen."

Although the tie eliminatedMSU from Central CollegiateHockey Association title con-tention, tonight's regular-season finale between thetwo teams at Joe Louis Arenawill be important for U-M.

Second-place Miami (Ohio)beat Ohio State, 4-3, in over-time Friday, moving to withinone point of U-M. The Spar-tans headed into the week-end four points behind U-Mand needed a sweep to haveany chance for a piece of thetitle.

"It certainly was a good gameto watch," MSU coach RickComley said. "It was fast, hard-

fought and intense. It's a greatrivalry."

U-M led, 3-2, after two peri-ods, but freshman defense-man A.J. Thelen scored on arebound at 9:04 and juniorMike Lalonde scored during ascramble in front of the net at11:50 to give MSU the lead.

Ryznar and Dwight Helmineneach had a goal and an assist,and Al Montoya made 31saves for U-M (23-10-2, 18-7-2).

David Booth and BrockRadunske also scored forMSU (20-15-2, 16-9-2).Dominic Vicari stopped 27shots.

Jeff Tambellini gave U-M a 1-0lead at 5:01 of the secondbefore the Spartans evenedthe score on a goal by Boothat the 16:53 mark.

The teams then scored threegoals in a wild 25-secondspan late in the second pe-riod. Helminen scored at18:41 and Andrew Ebbettgave U-M a 3-1 lead at 18:55,but Radunske pulled theSpartans within a goal at19:06.

"We thought we were insomewhat of a good position,with a two-goal lead, and wehad that for less than a min-ute," Berenson said. "We

were not happy with our over-all game."

Spartans forward Lee Fa-lardeau put the puck in thenet during overtime, but thegoal was immediately wavedoff and ruled a high stick.

Lake Superior State 3, NotreDame 0: Jeff Jakaitis stopped23 shots, and Colin Nicholsonhad a goal and an assist forthe host Lakers (9-17-7, 7-15-5 CCHA). Notre Dame (17-12-4, 13-11-3) went 0-for-3 onthe power play.

Northern Michigan 3, FerrisState 2: Justin Kinnunenscored the go-ahead goal andadded an assist for hostNorthern (17-14-4, 12-13-2CCHA). The Bulldogs are 15-17-3, 10-16-1.

North Dakota 5, MichiganTech 1: David Lundbohm hadtwo goals and an assist to leadhost North Dakota (25-6-3,19-5-3), which clinched theWestern Collegiate HockeyAssociation title. Brett Engel-hardt scored for Tech (8-22-5,6-18-3) with 1:12 left.

Air Force 6, Wayne State 4:Shane Saum had two goalsand an assist for Air Force (13-20-2, 5-13-1 College HockeyAmerica). Jason Baclig scoredthree goals for the host Warri-ors (8-22-3, 4-14-1).


Detroit Free PressMarch 6, 2004 Saturday 3 EDITION

NCAA road bumpy for U-MBY MICHAEL ROSENBERGFREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

For Michigan, the road to theNCAA tournament starts today.

It's a dirt road, actually, nowherenear the actual tournament. Fortourney teams, it's the road lesstraveled, because it's almostimpossible to get there from here.But Michigan has no choice.

To make the NCAAs, U-M needsa lengthy run in the Big Ten tour-nament, and the Wolverines canimprove their chances by beatingNorthwestern today in Evanston,Ill.

With a victory, the Wolverinesmight earn a bye in the Big Tentournament, slipping in as the No.4 or 5 seed. With a loss, U-M willbe forced to play in the Big Ten'sfirst round.

The first round isn't all bad --teams get a chance to beat analso-ran, improving their record.But at this point, U-M probablyneeds to make the tournamentfinal to get an NCAA bid, andthat's much easier with a bye.

Besides, if the Wolverines wintoday, they will show they have aclue how to win outside of AnnArbor. They are 1-6 on the road inthe Big Ten.

"I honestly don't know why it's sotough for us to win on the road,"center Courtney Sims said. "Ithink we can bounce back. Westill have a shot of making the(NCAA) tournament. We have asclear a shot as any team of win-ing the Big Ten tournament, tal-

ent-wise, so if we just buckledown and stay focused, we canmake it into the (NCAA) tourna-ment." STATE MEN

Findlay (Ohio) 74, Northwood 61:Dustin Pfeifer scored 18 pointsfor host Findlay (23-6) in thesemifinals of the Great LakesConference tournament. Findlayfaces Michigan Tech today in thefinal.

Michigan Tech 69, Gannon 59: AtFindlay, Bob Evans scored 16points for Michigan Tech (21-6) inthe GLIAC semifinals.

Kalamazoo Valley CC 58, LakeMichigan College 57: Jamie Smithhad 19 points and 11 reboundsas host Kalamazoo Valley ad-vanced to today's final of theNational Junior College AthleticAssociation regional. STATE WOMEN

Lake Superior State 97, Gannon(Pa.) 80: At Sault Ste. Marie,Lake Superior (25-3) shot 59.4percent in jumping to a 48-31halftime lead as it advanced totoday's final of the GLIAC tour-nament against Ferris State.Mandi Johnson led with 21points.

Ferris State 86, Ashland (Ohio)80 (OT): At Sault Ste. Marie, ErinMiller and Lucy DeMartin scored22 each as Ferris (21-8) ad-vanced to the GLIAC final.

Kalamazoo Valley CC 84, Sinclair(Ohio) CC 72: At Toledo, DarinaParker had 18 points and 10 re-

bounds as Kalamazoo Valley (30-1) advanced to the final of theNJCAA District G regional. TheCougars will play Edison (Ohio)State today.

Edison State 54, Lake MichiganCollege 44: At Toledo, EdisonState (21-7) forced 20 Indiansturnovers and advanced to thefinal of the NJCAA regional. Adri-enne Dent had 16 points andseven rebounds for Lake Michi-gan (13-14).

Owens (Ohio) CC 70, Wayne CC65: At Toledo, Deanna Jenningsscored 16 points as Owens (22-9) advanced to today's final ofthe NJCAA District H regional.Sarah Wilson scored 18 forWayne (24-6).

Lakeland (Ohio) CC 63, OaklandCC 50: At Toledo, Lakeland (25-5) forced 28 turnovers, and ad-vanced to today's final of theNJCAA regional. Patrice Andrescored 15 for Oakland (20-10).

Notebook: Michigan Techjunior forward Josh Buettner wasnamed Great Lakes Conferencemen's player of the year, andTech senior forward Andrea No-vak was named women's playerof the year. Kevin Luke of Techwas voted men's coach of theyear. Tracey Fiskof Ferris Statewas named women's coach of theyear. . . . Oakland senior guardMike Helms (Detroit King) andjunior forward Rawle Marshall(Detroit Mackenzie) were namedto the Mid-Continent's all-conference first team.


Grand Forks HeraldMarch 6, 2004 Saturday North Dakota: SUE

UND MEN'S HOCKEY: Outright nightLundbohm scores twice to lead UND to MacNaughton Cup title

By Virg FossHerald Staff Writer

They must brainwash hockeyplayers early at UND. Takefreshman wing Chris Porter,for example.

Minutes after the FightingSioux celebrated winning theMacNaughton Cup outrightFriday night as Western Col-legiate Hockey Associationchampions, Porter was talkingabout the future as much asthe present.

"The job's half done," Portersaid. "We got one trophy,we're going after the nextone. We're real happy withthis one, but we've got tokeep going and get the next."

The ultimate goal is the NCAAchampionship to be decided amonth from now in Boston.

And the way the Sioux areplaying of late, who's to betagainst them?

They ran their winning streakto five games, beating Michi-gan Tech 5-1 Friday in frontof 11,399 Ralph EngelstadArena fans.

UND's victory, coupled withMinnesota Duluth's 2-2 tie atWisconsin, gave the Siouxthe outright championship. It'sUND's fifth MacNaughton Cupin the last eight seasons andits first in the $104 million rinkthe late Ralph Engelstad built

for his alma mater to helpmake more championshipspossible.

The Sioux salted this gameaway with a three-goal secondperiod, capped by a burst ofgoals in a five-minute span byRory McMahon at 7:58, DavidLundbohm at 9:13 and ZachParise at 12:42.

That staked the Sioux to a 4-0lead and lifted whatever pres-sure they felt from knowingthe MacNaughton Cup was inthe building to be presentedto them by WCHA commis-sioner Bruce McLeod - if theywon.

"We controlled our own des-tiny tonight, and we did it,"Porter said. "We went out andplayed really well."

They played far too good forMichigan Tech, trying to es-cape last place in the WCHAby winning one game here.The Huskies were torched forthree power-play goals in fourtries by the Sioux and avoideda shutout by goalie JakeBrandt only on Brett Engel-hardt's power-play goal with1:12 left in the game.

In the final minute, fans roaredlouder as the seconds tick-eted off the clock. When thefinal horn sounded, fireworksexploded inside EngelstadArena, horns blared and thecelebration began, eachSioux player taking a turn

hoisting the MacNaughtonCup.

"It's an amazing feeling," Por-ter said. "A burden off theshoulders - for now."

Porter had a goal and an assistwhile linemate David Lund-bohm - one of just three sen-iors on the roster - led the waywith two goals and one assist.Brandt, a Roseau, Minn.,product, like Lundbohm,stopped 22 of 23 Huskiesshots in winning for the fifthtime in his last five starts.

Brandt didn't even mind los-ing his shutout late. "Thatdon't matter," he said. "Wewant won game and that's themain thing."

It was the first MacNaughtonCup team Brandt has beenon. "It's something really spe-cial," Brandt said. "I'm veryexcited right now."

The Huskies, beaten by fourgoals in all three of theirlosses to the Sioux this sea-son, trailed just 1-0 after 20minutes on Porter's power-play goal at 8:54.

The Sioux picked up thetempo in an electrifying first12 minutes of the second pe-riod when they poured inthree goals on beleagueredTech goalie Cam Ellsworth.

Brandt loved it when the fanscame to their feet in the final


minute to start the celebrationprematurely. "It was loud, hec-tic and chaotic," Brandt said."That's kind of what we likehere at home."

UND coach Dean Blais hadinstructed Engelstad Arenaofficials not to announce theMinnesota Duluth-Wisconsinscore while the Sioux gamewas in progress, fearing hisplayers might be distracted.His wish was honored, theBulldog outcome not an-nounced until the Sioux gamewas over.

Blais said it never gets oldwinning the MacNaughtonCup.

"It's as exciting now as it wasfor the first one, if not more,considering how tough theleague is," said Blais, whocoached previous MacNaugh-ton Cup winners in 1997,1998, 1999 and 2001.

"Every weekend (in theWCHA) you have a battle onyour hands, and we had onetonight," Blais said. "A lot ofpeople thought it would be aneasy game."

Blais says, though, that thereare no easy ones in theleague.

"I didn't think the guys felt anypressure at all (tonight), butit's there," Blais said. "You

know that the commissionerhas the Cup, and it's in yourarena. It's nothing that reallybothered us, but it's always inthe back of your mind."

That the Sioux had to go tothe final weekend of theWCHA regular season to winthe title made it all the morespecial, Blais said.

"In some years, we've won itwith two or three weeks to goin the season, and it wasn'tquite as dramatic as this," Blaissaid.

The drama is over for now.The Sioux are MacNaughtonCup champions - once again.


Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMarch 6, 2004 Saturday REGION EDITION SPORTS, Pg. C-6

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS

GLIAC Men

South Division First Team: Kendon Ed-wards, Wayne State; Tom Farmer,Hillsdale; Josh Helm, Mercyhurst; GeoffHusted, Gannon; Justin Shouse, Mercy-hurst.

South Division Second Team: Brandon An -drews, Gannon; Cory Coe, Hillsdale; M o r -ris Hall, Wayne State; Dustin Pfeifer,Findlay; Frank Phillips, Findlay.

Player of the year: Josh Buettner,Michigan Tech.

Freshman of the year: Alex Jones, Ashland.

Coach of the year: Kevin Luke, MichiganTech.

GLIAC Women

South Division First Team: Alanna Burma,Ashland; Jen Gwin, Gannon; ZsofiaHorvath, Findlay; Ebony Vincent, WayneState; Jodi Young, Wayne State.

South Division Second Team: Isolina B r e -scia, Ashland; Cassie Seth, Mercyhurst;Emily Thornbury, Gannon; Michelle Vorst,Findlay; Nikki Wutsman, Hillsdale.

Player of the year: Andrea Novak,Michigan Tech.

Freshman of the year: Amber Rall, Ash-land.

Coach of the year: Tracey Fisk, Ferr isState.

Big East Women

First Team: Jacqueline Batteast, NotreDame; Rebekkah Brunson, Georgetown;Jessalyn Deveny, Boston College; TamaraJames, Miami; Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers;Diana Taurfasi, Connecticut.

Second team: Kate Bulger, West Virginia;Amber Jacobs, Boston College; Ieva Kub-lina, Virginia Tech; Courtney Mix, V i l l a -nova; Barbara Turner, Connecticut.

Player of the year: Diana Taurasi, Con-necticut.

Freshman of the year: Meg Bulger, WestVirginia.

Defensive player of the year: RebekkahBrunson, Georgetown.

Coach of the year: Mike Carey, West V i r -ginia.


Saint Paul Pioneer Press

March 6, 2004 Saturday SPORTS; Pg. 3D

COLLEGE HOCKEY: Fighting Sioux clinch WCHA title

From news services

David Lundbohm scored two goals as NorthDakota beat Michigan Tech 5-1 Fridaynight at Grand Forks, N.D., and capturedits fifth Western Collegiate Hockey Asso-ciation title in eight years.

North Dakota's victory, coupled wi thMinnesota-Duluth's tie at Wisconsin, putthe Sioux three points ahead of the B u l l -dogs with one regular-season game r e -maining. Sioux players skated around theice with the MacNaughton Cup to celebratethe championship.

Wisconsin 2, Minnesota-Duluth 2: FormerBurnsville star Dan Boeser, a senior de-fenseman, scored a power-play goal w i th2:35 remaining to give Wisconsin a t iewith Minnesota-Duluth in Madison, Wis.

The tie clinched second place in the WCHAfor the Bulldogs.

Wisconsin, which also got a goal from JakeDowell but had three shots hit the post,will finish in third place in the WCHA.

Niagara 4, Bemidji State 1: Aaron Clarkescored the winning goal as visiting Niagarabeat College Hockey America regular -season champion Bem-idji State.


The Associated Press State & Local WireMarch 5, 2004, Friday, BC cycle

Michigan Tech's Buettner GLIAC player of the year

BAY CITY, Mich.

Michigan Tech forward Josh Buettner was picked as Great Lakes Intercollegiate A th -letic Conference men's player of the year by coaches and in all-conference balloting.

Buettner, a junior from Shawano, Wis., helped the Huskies post their third straight 2 0 -plus win season by leading the conference in scoring (22 points per game) and blocks(1.2 per game).

Ashland guard Alex Jones was chosen as freshman of the year. Michigan Tech coachKevin Luke earned his fourth GLIAC coach of the year honor.



Michigan Tech 69, Gannon 59FINDLAY, Ohio

Bob Evans scored 16 points, nine on 3-pointers, to lead Michigan Tech to a 6 9 - 5 9win Friday night over Gannon in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Con-ference tournament.

Josh Buettner added 16 points for the Huskies (21-6), who advanced to play Findlay f o rthe championship Saturday. Findlay beat Northwood 74-61 in the other semifinal F r i -day.

Jeff McHenry had 13 points and eight rebounds for Michigan Tech, and Jason Marcotteadded 13 points.

Gannon (22-7) was led by Iren Rainey, who had 16 points. Geoff Husted added 13 pointsand 12 rebounds, and Forrest Kirby had 10 points.



North Dakota 5, Michigan Tech 1GRAND FORKS, N.D.

David Lundbohm scored two goals as North Dakota beat Michigan Tech 5-1 on Fridayand captured its fifth Western Collegiate Hockey Association title in the past eight years.

UND's win, coupled with Minnesota-Duluth's tie at Wisconsin, put the Sioux three pointsahead of the Bulldogs with just one regular season game remaining.

Sioux players skated around the ice with the MacNaughton Cup to celebrate the champi-onship.

Chris Porter scored on a deflection while UND (25-6-3, 19-5-3) was on the powerplay to put the Sioux up 1-0 in the first period.

The Sioux then scored three goals in the second period to take a commanding 4-0 lead.Rory McMahon scored on a wrist shot, Lundbohm one-timed a pass from Porter on atwo-on-one break and Zach Parise scored on a power play for UND.

Brett Engelhardt scored for Tech with 1:12 left in the game to spoil Sioux goalie JakeBrandt's shutout bid. Brandt finished with 22 saves.

Cam Ellsworth stopped 30 shots for the Huskies (8-26-1, 6-17-3).


Grand Forks HeraldMarch 5, 2004 Friday North Dakota: OTHER

Profiles

Brady Murray, UND

The freshman wing from Brandon, Man., i sthe leading candidate for WCHA rookie ofthe year honors. Murray has six game-winning goals, tying him for the UNDrookie record set by Troy Murray (no r e -lation) in the 1980-81 season. Murrayranks second in the nation in game-winning goals. He leads the nation in pointsper game by a rookie (1.28). He had afive-point weekend the last time the Siouxplayed Michigan Tech, scoring a goal andassisting on four others. He's third on theSioux in points with 37, including 1 6goals. He's won both rookie of the week andoffensive player of the week honors f romthe WCHA this season.

Chris Conner, Michigan Tech

Like the 5-foot-9, 180-pound Murray,Tech's Connor is another example of goodthings coming in small packages. At 5 - 7 ,175, the sophomore forward from West-land, Mich., leads the nation in game-winning goals with eight, three more thananyone else. He is two shorthanded goalsshy of the NCAA record. He's the nation'smost dangerous penalty killer. Conversely,just five of his goals have come on Techpower plays. He's tied for 18th in the n a -tion in overall scoring with 38 points. Heleads the Huskies in goals with 24, andhe's tied for second in the nation in thecategory. In fan balloting for the HobeyBaker Award, Conner has drawn the mostvotes.


Grand Forks HeraldMarch 5, 2004 Friday North Dakota: ICE

Everything is up for grabsThe wild, wacky world of theWestern Collegiate HockeyAssociation has reached theultimate craziness enteringthe final weekend of leagueplay.

Not a single team in the 10-team league has a positionlocked up. Not first-place UNDand not last-place MichiganTech.

Doug Spencer, the associatecommissioner of the WCHAfor the past 14 seasons, sayshe can't recall a year wherethat's ever happened.

Only three teams - UND, Min-nesota Duluth and Wisconsin- have locked up finishes inthe top five, guaranteeingthem of being at home for thefirst round of the league play-offs.

Alaska Anchorage, MinnesotaState and Michigan Tech willoccupy the bottom threeplaces in the standings whenthe season ends Saturdaynight, but that order has yet tobe determined.

And there's a monstrousscramble surrounding the finaltwo first-division finishes be-tween St. Cloud State, Den-ver, Minnesota and ColoradoCollege, all of whom can finishanywhere from fourth to sev-enth.

The Sioux can finish no lowerthan second and the Bulldogsand Badgers no worse than

third. But even theMacNaughton Cup is up forgrabs this weekend. UND is inthe driver's seat, since a Siouxsweep over Michigan Techwould give them the outrighttitle, no matter how Duluthfares at Madison.

But if you think that No. 1-ranked UND beating last-placeMichigan Tech is a lock,think back to the 1993-94season. That's when Colo-rado College won the first ofthree straight MacNaughtonCups under coach Don Lucia.

In the first round of the leagueplayoffs, Michigan Tech up-set Colorado College behindthe brilliant goaltending ofJamie Ram. That upset costthe Tigers a trip to the WCHAFinal Five and worse yet theyweren't even selected to playin the NCAA tournament. A hot ticket

Tickets for the WCHA FinalFive in St. Paul are as hot asleague coaches are at times atcalls - or lack thereof - made byWCHA referee Don Adam.

WCHA officials said Thursdaythat 9,435 tournament pack-ages for all five games havebeen sold for the event, setfor March 13-15 at the XcelEnergy Center. That's morethan 1,200 packages over lastyear's total, when 72,000 fanstook in the five games of thetournament, the second-

largest turnout in league his-tory.

Single-game tickets for theFinal Five don't go on saleuntil Monday, so advancesales have been impressive.And the 9,435 packages solddon't include the allotment oftickets held back for partici-pating teams.

WCHA associate commis-sioner Doug Spencer sayshe's seen a resurgence ofinterest throughout theleague this season, especiallywith the rise in prominence ofprograms at Minnesota Duluthand Wisconsin.

The league's worst fear nor-mally would be that Minnesotadoesn't make it to the FinalFive, thereby killing atten-dance. Since the league de-pends on the revenue fromthe Final Five for its funding,that is a concern.

But the advance sales for theFinal Five eases some of thatworry. Also, teams that couldwell be in the Final Five suchas UND, Wisconsin, Minne-sota Duluth and St. CloudState would bring a lot of fanswith them. Quotables

* Sioux wing Mike Prpich onJake Brandt's 27-save per-formance in a 2-1 win overMinnesota Duluth Saturday:"Jake played unbelievable.He made his key saves when


we needed them. He was arock back there for us. Hegave us a chance to win."

* Duluth coach Scott Sandelinafter Saturday's 2-1 loss to theSioux: "We deserved a betterfate. We didn't get thebounces tonight. But we putourselves in position to chal-lenge for first place, and I'mproud of the kids for that."

* David Lundbohm, one of thethree seniors on UND's roster,on the thought of winning theMacNaughton Cup this week-end. "Coming in as a fresh-man, you don't have thatmuch pressure to do that. Youjust play your role. But as asenior, you're playing a lotmore roles. If you can helpbring a team to a title, it wouldbe something special."

* Minnesota coach Don Luciaafter his Gophers were sweptat Denver University lastweekend: "I have no issueswith the way we played. Goal-tending was an issue allweekend. It exploded on us." Around the rinks

* UND's five victories overMinnesota Duluth mark justthe second time the Siouxhave beaten the Bulldogs fivetimes during the regular sea-son. The Sioux were 5-1against Duluth in the 1981-82season when they played sixregular-season games. TheSioux beat the Bulldogs sixtimes in the 1986-87, 1989-90 and 2000-01 seasons, twoof the wins each year comingin the league playoffs.

* For what it's worth at thisstage of the season, the latestbracketology compiled byU.S. College Hockey Onlinefor the 16-team NCAA tour-nament projects UND to beplaying Bemidji State in theWest Regional in ColoradoSprings on March 26. Theother game would match Wis-consin against Miami of Ohio,with the winners meeting onMarch 27. The winner of thatgame would advance to theFrozen Four in Boston.USCHO projects both Denverand Minnesota Duluth fromthe WCHA to be playing in theMidwest Regional in GrandRapids, Mich., along withMichigan and Michigan State.USCHO has Minnesota mov-ing to East Regional in Al-bany, N.Y., where Mainewould be the favorite.


Grand Forks HeraldMarch 5, 2004 Friday North Dakota: OTHER

OtherAlaska Anchorage: The Sea-wolves have been swept fourweekends in a row and nowhave an eight-game losingstreak.

Colorado College: Last week-end's sweep at St. CloudState was the first for a Tigerteam in more than two years .... CC, which has not been onthe road for the first round ofthe WCHA playoffs, is onepoint away from beingmathematically hosting a first-round series this year ... . CC'snine-player sophomore classhas accounted for 63 percentof the team's 112 goals.

Denver: The Pioneers areriding a seven-game un-beaten streak (5-0-2) ... .Denver, which owns tiebreak-ers over both Minnesota andSt. Cloud State, can clinchhome ice this weekend bycapturing two points againstintrastate rival Colorado Col-lege.

Michigan Tech: Senior BrettEngelhardt loves it when Min-nesota State-Mankato showsup. He's scored 12 goals overhis career against the Maver-icks ... . Junior goalie CamEllsworth has started the lastnine games and owns a 4-4-1record with a 2.87 goals-against average and .915

save percentage over thatstretch.

Minnesota: The Gophers al-lowed 12 goals in two gamesat Denver last weekend, tyingthe season high in a seriesagainst the Gophers first setby UND on Nov. 7-8 ... . For-wards Jon Waibel and GarrettSmaagaard left Saturday'sgame at Denver with injuriesand are questionable for thisweekend's series with St.Cloud State ... . The Gophersare 0-13-2 this season whengiving up four goals or more .... Forward Thomas Vanekcould reach the 100-pointplateau in his career thisweekend, with 99 points (50goals) so far ... . The Gophersare in danger of finishing outof the first division in theWCHA, which would put themon the road for the leagueplayoffs for the first time sincecoach Don Lucia's first seasonin 1999-2000.

Minnesota Duluth: The Bull-dogs go into their final leagueseries of the season at Wis-consin this weekend with theprospects of finishing any-where from first to third in theleague standings ... . TheBulldogs could do well at theKohl Center in Madison, sincethey have a 6-0 record whenplaying on Olympic-size ice .... Team scoring leader Junior

Lessard hasn't had a point inhis last three games ... . Du-luth hasn't lost a game whenleading after two periods inalmost two years.

Minnesota State-Mankato:The Mavericks, who have fin-ished league play, snappedan eight-game winless streakwith a win at Michigan Techlast Saturday ... . SophomoreRob Rankin, who transferredto Minnesota State fromMichigan Tech, scored twogoals against his old school inSaturday's 3-2 win for theMavericks ... . Senior defen-seman Nate Metcalf, from EastGrand Forks, had an assist ineach game at MichiganTech.

St. Cloud State: The Huskiesplay a 2:05 p.m. game Satur-day afternoon against Minne-sota at Mariucci Arena to closetheir regular season.

Wisconsin: The Badgers havewon 20 or more games for the29th season in school history... . UW has allowed just twogoals in its last four games ... .The Badgers snapped an 0-29 drought on the power playby converting three times onsix chances in Friday's 3-0 winover Anchorage ... . TheBadgers are 9-0-2 in games inwhich forward RyanMacMurchy scores a goal.

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