College Hockey: This Week in West Region DIII - Dec. 1, 2005
Dec. 1, 2005Unrest in the West
It can arguably be called the most exciting region in Division III college hockey. For the past few weeks, the teams in the West have proven the old adage true — anybody can beat anybody on any given night.
In the annual NCHA/MIAC battle, Wisconsin-Superior was upset by Bethel, St. Norbert lost to Augsburg, St. John’s fell to Wisconsin-Stout and last year’s NCAA runner-up, St. Thomas, started 1-3-0 and toppled out of the rankings from the No. 3 spot.
Things looked to be turning around before Thanksgiving.
No ranked teams were upset in either the MIAC or NCHA the following weekend, although St. Norbert and Wisconsin-Superior skated to a tie. And even St. Thomas started to turn things around slightly, as they picked up a pair of one-goal wins over St. Mary’s.
But Thanksgiving brought about another wave of upsets.
Third-ranked St. Norbert was upset 2-1 at Stevens Point on Friday; then managed to skate to a 2-2 tie with Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a team that hasn’t won game this season. Luckily for the Green Knights, the coaches didn’t judge too quickly and dropped them only one spot in the USCHO.com poll.
St. Norbert wasn’t the only ranked NCHA team to stumble after the holiday. Fifth-ranked Superior had a 3-1 lead against Concordia in the Hockey Showcase in Blaine, Minn., but it wasn’t big enough. The Cobbers scored three unanswered goals to pick up the 4-3 overtime victory. But unlike the Green Knights, the Yellowjackets were able to bounce back from a tough loss and hammered Augsburg 7-0 on Saturday.
But there are teams that have had relatively smooth sailing — Wisconsin-River Falls. Some teams are righting the ship after surprisingly slow starts — St. John’s. Then there are those that the country left for being lost at sea — the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and everyone in the MCHA for that matter.
High Flying Falcons
Usually, you expect to see one team alone atop the NCHA standings – St. Norbert. But after two weeks of play, the Green Knights are tied for first with four teams, but have the fewest conference wins among those four teams with one.
The steadiest team of the bunch has been Wisconsin-River Falls. The Falcons are 2-0-0 in conference play and 5-1-2 overall, jumping to the No. 5 spot in the latest USCHO.com poll.
But River Falls has a tough weekend ahead of them after having last weekend off.
“Right now we look at it as a good thing having last weekend off,” coach Steve Freeman said. “We were able to heal up a little bit and get a couple players back and it kind of seemed to reenergize our team a little bit. So we’ll see how it carries over on the ice.”
On Friday, the Falcons travel to take on the sporadic Lake Forest, a team that has lost twice this season against the MCHA, but did pull off a 3-2 win over St. Thomas.
“We know we’re going to have a real, real tough game down there,” Freeman said. “They always play real well at home, so we’re going in realizing that we have to play probably our best game of the season to have a chance to win.”
It doesn’t get any easier on Saturday, as River Falls travels to DePere, Wis., to take on St. Norbert.
“Every time we play St. Norbert it’s such a challenge,” Freeman said. “They’re such a talented team that it’s kind of a measuring stick for us. Especially on the road over there, we really haven’t had any success against St. Norbert in their building.”
The Falcons have not won in DePere since the 1997-1998 season, a streak of 11 games.
While Freeman feels it’s the defense that has been the key to the Falcons hot start, it’s their offense, particularly that of sophomore Tyler Dahl that stands out.
After a successful freshman campaign, in which he was the second leading scorer on the team with 30 points, Dahl is picking up where he left off and leading the team with 13 points in eight games.
Last season, Dahl lit the lamp 12 times, with four of those goals coming on the power play. This season, Dahl already has seven goals – six of them on the power play.
“It was really valuable for him to play such a big role as freshman for us last year,” Freeman said. “So he came in as a real experienced veteran and we’ve counted on him kind of heavily and he’s really come through for us.
“So far in the season he’s found a way to put himself in the right spot to pick up those goals and we hope it continues,” Freeman said.
The Falcons have solid goaltending as well. Freshman A.J. Bucchino is 2-0-2 with a 2.16 GAA and a .929 save percentage. Senior Andy Scanlon is 2-1-0 with 2.34 GAA, a .913 save percentage and one shutout. The two have alternated throughout the season and will most likely do so this weekend.
“Both of them have played pretty well and it’s a luxury we’re lucky to have right now,” Freeman said. “Scanlon has a lot of experience and Bucchino is a very talented kid so we’ll just go like that until we see one really step up in front of the other.”
Righting the Ship
No other team in West has made more of a dramatic turnaround than St. John’s.
Last season ended in heartbreak for the Johnnies when they lost to St. Thomas in the MIAC playoff championship game, then fell to the Tommies again in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to end their season. This season didn’t start a whole lot better.
St. John’s began the season with a 3-0 loss to St. Norbert at home on their way to a 1-2-1 start. Their 1-2-1 start was the worst four-game start for the Johnnies since 2001-2002 — the last time they didn’t win the MIAC regular season championship — when they went 1-3-0 in their first four games.
In the first four games of this season, St. John’s offense was nowhere to be found. Quite a surprise considering the Johnnies averaged 5.13 goals per game last season, while only allowing 1.75 goals per game in conference play.
“I think we were confident that we had players that could score and for some reason we didn’t,” coach John Harrington said. “It wasn’t like we were getting shut down. We were getting some good opportunities.”
But St. John’s didn’t let their poor start affect them and when they opened conference play against Concordia, the Johnnies came out firing.
St. John’s pummeled the Cobbers last weekend, winning 12-1 and 7-0. Everyone got in on the scoring action over the weekend for the Johnnies as 10 different skaters scored a goal, eight had multiple goals, 16 had an assist and 11 had multiple assists.
“We’ve pretty much gotten it done with a lot of depth,” Harrington said. “We had a line that I guess you could call our fourth line…and they had seven goals and nine assists on the weekend.
“We have a pretty balanced team. There’s no one right now that I would say is our go-to guy,” Harrington continued. “It’s kind of the way it’s been on our team for a number of years now.”
Senior goaltender Adam Hanna has been solid, but hasn’t gotten any offensive support. Hanna allowed just one goal on 34 shots against Concordia and has a 1.69 GAA and a .930 save percentage on the season.
“He’s been terrific since the start of the season,” Harrington said of his senior net-minder. “No one can tell me that there’s a better goaltender than Adam Hanna in the country, much less in the West or in our league.
While most people expected the Johnnies to beat Concordia – who have only won seven conference games over the past two seasons –the Cobbers did enter the weekend on a four-game win streak. However, those games were against the weaker MCHA.
“Like I tell my guys, no matter how we start, we’re never as bad as we think we are and we’re certainly not as good as we think we are after a weekend like that,” Harrington said. “I imagine most coaches, including Concordia’s, could say the same thing about their team and they showed it. They’re just a very young team that happened to not get very good goaltending that night.”
The Cobbers definitely showed everyone what they can do in their 4-3 win over fifth-ranked Superior in the Hockey Showcase on Friday.
Still, the wins have to come somwhere, and if St. John’s hopes to win a fourth consecutive MIAC regular season crown, they will need all the victories they can get.
“If you have any designs on winning the championship, it’s not about how many points you win, it’s how many you drop and to teams that aren’t maybe considered contenders for the championship,” Harrington said.
The Johnnies will look to stay atop the MIAC with a sweep against Hamline this weekend in a home-and-home and series on Friday and Saturday.
On Top of the League — Again
Very little attention is given to the MCHA – arguably the weakest conference in the West. Nonetheless, both the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Lawrence did get a win against Lake Forest. While Lake Forest is hardly among the best in the NCHA, they are still receiving votes in the national polls.
MSOE is currently on top of the MCHA with six points, and is coming off the biggest win in school history, a 3-2 win over Babson in the Babson Invitiational. Babson was No. 11 in the country at the time and became the Raiders’ first ever win over a nationally ranked team in school history.
The Raiders are 3-1-0 tied for the league lead in team offense at 4.75 goals per game. MSOE is allowing an average of 2.75 goals per game in conference play, tops in the MCHA.
The Raiders’ offense is led by junior Michael Duta, who has four goals and six assists in four games, and is leading the MCHA with 10 points. Freshman R.G. Flath is tied for third in the conference with seven points on five goals and two assists. Flath is leading the goal-scorer in the conference as well, and two of those goals were of the shorthanded variety.
“Michael Duta is an outstanding hockey player,” MSOE coach Mark Ostapina said. “(Flath is) very good and was somebody that had a lot of DI interest.”
The Raiders also feature two of the top goalies in the conference. Junior Matt Burzon is leading the MCHA at 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .935 save percentage in conference play, while teammate Joe Dovalina has also faired well, posting a 1-1-0 record with a 3.36 GAA and an .885 save percentage. But neither goalie has earned the starting nod yet.
“We’re still very comfortable in using both, a two-headed monster as some coaches would say,” Ostapina said. “Each goalie had basically gotten what my athletic director called, the biggest win in the history of our program.
“Dovalina got it when we beat Lake Forest for the first time in our history,” Ostapina said. “Then Burzon got it when we beat a nationally ranked team in their own tournament in Babson.”
That win got the Raiders some national respect, as MSOE got five points in the most recent USCHO.com poll.
But newfound recognition isn’t going to phase the Raiders, who take on Northland — the MCHA’s cellar-dweller.
“We play one game at a time. We see nothing as a tune up,” Ostapina said. “We understand that it’s been proven the last couple of years that on any given Friday or Saturday, anyone can beat anyone — it’s truly a college hockey league.”
Bad News for Bethel
The Bethel Knights are off to their best start in school history. They are 7-1-0 after beginning the season on a five-game win streak and a loss to St. Olaf has been the only speed bump in their fast start.
But the Knights have reportedly had a road block.
Coach Pete Aus confirmed that an ineligible player skated for the Knights to begin this season. However, no penalties have been confirmed at this point.
“The decision will be made by all faculty representatives and they meet on Saturday,” Aus said. “But they’ll be a penalty against the player and then a penalty against the team, that’s what I think.”
