Western Collegiate Hockey Association

March 15, 2003

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MADISON, Wisc. ­ Four of the top five seeds for the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs were victorious in game one of their best-of-three series on Friday (March 14) night, but No. 7 seed University of Denver managed to win on the road over No. 4 seed North Dakota to claim the advantage heading into game two tonight (March 15). The defending WCHA Playoff Champion Pioneers, behind a goal and an assist from D Brett Skinner and a game-winning tally from RW Luke Fulghum at 13:28 of the first period, upended the host Fighting Sioux 4-1 before 10,264 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. The two clubs combined for just 32 shots on goal (DU 15, UND 17).

Other first round playoff series opening scores on Friday night saw the home teams win, as No. 1 seed and MacNaughton Cup champion Colorado College downed No. 10 seed Alaska Anchorage, 5-3; No. 2 seed Minnesota skated past No. 9 seed Michigan Tech, 3-1; No. 3 seed Minnesota State edged #8 seed Wisconsin, 2-1; and No. 5 seed Minnesota-Duluth defeated No. 6 seed St. Cloud State, 5-4.

Following the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the five winning teams will be re-seed No. 1 through No. 5 according to their regular season finish, and will advance to the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five. The 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five will be held Thursday, March 20 through Saturday, March 22 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The winner of the Final Five receives the Broadmoor Trophy and an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Friday Night Results
Fri., March 14: #10 Alaska Anchorage 3 @ #1 Colorado College 5; #9 Michigan Tech 1 @ #2 Minnesota 3; #8 Wisconsin 1 @ #3 Minnesota State 2; #7 Denver 4 @ #4 North Dakota 1; #6 St. Cloud State 4 @ #5 Minnesota-Duluth 5.

Upcoming Games
Sat., March 15: #10 Alaska Anchorage @ #1 Colorado College, 7:05 pm MT; #9 Michigan Tech @ #2 Minnesota, 7:05 pm CT; #8 Wisconsin @ #3 Minnesota State, 7:05 pm CT; #7 Denver @ #4 North Dakota, 7:05 pm CT; #6 St. Cloud State @ #5 Minnesota-Duluth, 7:05 pm CT. Sun., March 16 (if necessary): #10 Alaska Anchorage @ #1 Colorado College, 7:05 pm MT; #9 Michigan Tech @ #2 Minnesota, 7:05 pm CT; #8 Wisconsin @ #3 Minnesota State, 7:05 pm CT; #7 Denver @ #4 North Dakota, 7:05 pm CT; #6 St. Cloud State @ #5 Minnesota-Duluth, 6:05 pm CT.

2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five € March 20-22 € Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Thur., March 20: #5 vs #4, 7:08 pm CT. Fri., March 21: Semi-Final, 2:08 pm CT; Semi-Final, 7:08 pm
CT. Sat., March 22: Third Place Game, 2:08 pm CT; Broadmoor Trophy Championship Game, 7:08 pm CT.

First Round WCHA Playoff Highlights

Friday, March 14
#10 UAA 3 @ #1 CC 5: WCHA scoring champion and LW Peter Sejna had the game-winning goal at 5:43 of the third period and added two assists while linemate and RW Noah Clarke had 1-2=3 to propel the No. 1-ranked Tigers over the visiting Seawolves before 5,869 at Colorado Springs World Arena... following a game-tying tally (1-1) by UAA's Matt Hanson at 16:33 of the first, CC scored four unanswered goals in the second and third and owned a 49-19 advantage in shots on goal overall... in goal, Curtis McElhinney had 16 saves for the Tigers while Chris King made 44 stops for UAA... CC leads the series, 1-0.
#9 MTU 1 @ #2 UM 3: LW Andy Sertich had a goal and an assist and RW Troy Riddle netted the eventual game-winner on a power-play at 8:42 of the second period to push the host Golden Gophers past the Huskies before 9,897 at Mariucci Arena... UM owned a 32-22 advantage in shots on goal and scored on two of six man-advantage opportunities to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three first round playoff series... in goal, Travis Weber had 21 saves and drew an assist on Riddle's game-winner for the Gophers while for MTU, Cam Ellsworth turned aside 29 shots and F Chris Conner had the lone goal.
#8 Wisconsin 1 @ #3 Minnesota State 2: F Brock Becker snapped a 1-1 third period tie with a goal at 12:25 and Jon Volp stopped 33 of 34 shots on goal as the host Mavericks edged the Badgers before 4,182 at Midwest Wireless Civic Center in game one of their best-of-three playoff series... MSU F Grant Stevenson opened the scoring at 1:18 of the first to take a 1-0 lead, but UW D Brian Fahey knotted the score at 8:03... both teams were scoreless on the power-play (MSU 0-4, UW 0-2) while in goal for the Badgers, Bernd Bruckler had 32 saves.
#7 Denver 4 @ #4 North Dakota 1: D Brett Skinner had a goal and an assist while F Luke Fulghum knocked home the eventual game-winner at 13:28 of the opening period as the visiting Pioneers began defense of their 2001-02 WCHA Playoff Championship with a road victory over the Fighting Sioux before 10,264 at Ralph Engelstad Arena... DU never trailed in a game that featured just 32 combined shots on goal (15 for DU, 17 for UND)... in goal, Adam Berkhoel had 16 stops for the Pioneers while starter Marc Ranfranz (3) and Jake Brandt (8) combined for 11 for UND... the Sioux closed to within one at 2-1 of the second period after a goal by F David Lundbohm but third period tallies just :33 apart by F Lukas Dora at 14:08 and F Connor James at 14:41 iced the result.
#6 St. Cloud State 4 @ #5 Minnesota-Duluth 5: F Brett Hammond scored two goals, including a shorthanded game-winner at 3:08 of the third period, and set up another to lead the host Bulldogs over the Huskies before 3,834 at the DECC in game one of their best-of-three playoff series... with the game tied 1-1 after one, UMD scored three unanswered goals in the first 6:07 of the second to take a 4-1 lead... for SCSU, who hit on 3-of-8 power-play chances, F Jon Cullen led the way with 2-1=3... in goal, Isaac Reichmuth had 27 stops for UMD while Jason Montgomery had 24 for SCSU.

Televison Coverage:

2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five
The 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five will be telecast live. The Minnesota Wild and Wild Director of Broadcasting Patrick O'Connor are producing the telecasts in conjunction with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association on Fox Sports Net North (FSN North). Games will be produced by Patrick O'Connor and Rick Lee.

The 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five will be televised in several states including Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Additional markets may also be added.

The television schedule for the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five is listed below. Game coverage will start on the hour, with faceoffs at 2:08 and 7:08 pm CT.

Live Audio Broadcasts of 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five featured on wcha.com
For the third consecutive season, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will provide live broadcasts of all five games from the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five via the league's official web site ­ wcha.com.

All five games of the tournament will start on the hour and will be broadcast live on www.wcha.com, with Jack Swanson (station manager at KJ102 in Roseau and longtime college hockey broadcaster) and Jim Rich ­ voice of This Week in the WCHA (league's weekly radio show) ­ handling the commentary. The league will also rotate special guests throughout the five live broadcasts.

2003 WCHA Awards Ceremony
March 20 - 4 pm - Landmark Center The Western Collegiate Hockey Association's annual Awards Ceremony ­ to honor the league's individual award winners and kickoff the 2003 Kellogg's WCHA Final Five ­ will be held on Thursday, March 20th at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. The event is open to media, Final Five teams, conference-member coaches and administrators, and invited guests.

The program will begin at 4:00 pm CT with the announcements of the 2002-03 WCHA individual award winners and all-league teams, followed by the official announcement of the Top 10 Finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

Those two events will then be followed by a catered meal for attending media, the five competing teams, league and member-school administrators and staff, and invited guests.

WCHA First Round Playoff Game Summaries

Friday, March 14

#10 Alaska Anchorage 3 @ #1 Colorado College 5
1st: G1 CC - Joe Cullen 20 (Peter Sejna 42, Noah Clarke 43), 13:23; G2 UAA - Matt Hanson 7 (unassisted), PPG, 16:33. 2nd: G3 CC - James Laux 5 (unassisted), 2:44; G4 CC - Scott Polaski 4 (Reid Goolsby 6), 12:22. 3rd: G5 CC - Sejna 32 (Clarke 44, Richard Petiot 6), 5:43; G6 CC - Clarke 20 (Sejna 43), SHG, 12:44; G7 UAA - Vladimir Novak 3 (Curtis Glencross 12, Ales Parez 22), PPG, 13:05; G8 UAA - Dan Gilkerson 1 (Morgan Roach), 13:22. Score by Periods: UAA 1-0-2 = 3; CC 1-2-2 = 5. Pen: UAA 6-12; CC 5-10. PPs: UAA 2-5; CC 0-6. Saves: Chris King (UAA), 14-12-18 = 44 (60:00); Curtis McElhinney (CC), 3-6-7 = 16 (60:00). Att: 5,869. Time: 2:10. (CC leads, 1-0)

#9 Michigan Tech 1 @ #2 Minnesota 3
1st: G1 UM - Andy Sertich 5 (Jerrid Reinholz), 1:51. 2nd: G2 UM - Troy Riddle 25 (Tyler Hirsch, Travis Weber), PPG, 8:42; G3 UM - Grant Potulny 7 (Hirsch, Sertich), PPG, 14:51; G4 MTU - Chris Conner 13 (Justin Brown, Colin Murphy), PPG, 19:15. 3rd: No scoring. Score by Periods: MTU 0-1-0 = 1; UM 1-2-0 = 3. Pen: MTU 8-16; UM 9-18. PPs: MTU 1-7; UM 2-6. Saves: Cam Ellsworth (MTU), 9-14-6 = 29 (60:00); Travis Weber (UM), 7-4-10 = 21 (60:00). Att: 9,897. Time: 2:05. (UM leads, 1-0)

#8 Wisconsin 1 @ #3 Minnesota State 2
1st: G1 MSU - Grant Stevenson 25 (Dana Sorensen 8, Shane Joseph 31), 1:18; G2 UW - Brian Fahey 5 (A.J. Degenhardt 7, John Funk 6), 8:03. 2nd: No scoring. 3rd: G3 MSU - Brock Becker 13 (Ryan McKelvie 9, Joe Bourne 20), 12:25. Score by Periods: UW 1-0-0 = 1; MSU 1-0-1 = 2. Pen: UW 8-16; MSU 6-12. PPs: UW 0-2; MSU 0-4. Saves: Bernd Bruckler (UW), 12-9-11 = 32 (59:06); Jon Volp (MSU), 9-12-12 = 33 (60:00). Att: 4,182. Time: 2:13. (MSU leads, 1-0)

#7 Denver 4 @ #4 North Dakota 1
1st: G1 DU - Brett Skinner 4 (Ryan Caldwell), PPG, 3:22; G2 DU - Luke Fulghum 11 (Skinner, Max Bull), 13:28. 2nd: G3 UND - David Lundbohm 14 (Kevin Spiewak, Quinn Fylling), 8:44. 3rd: G4 DU - Lukas Dora 6 (Greg Barber), 14:08; G5 DU - Connor James 19 (unassisted), 14:41. Score by Periods: DU 2-0-2 = 4; UND 0-1-0 = 1. Pen: DU 7-14; UND 10-31. PPs: DU 1-5; UND 0-4. Saves: Adam Berkhoel (DU), 4-6-6 = 16 (60:00); Marc Ranfranz (UND), 3-x-x = 3 (13:28); Jake Brandt (UND), 2-4-2 = 8 (46:32). Att: 10,264. Time: 2:12. (DU leads 1-0)

#6 St. Cloud State 4 @ #5 Minnesota-Duluth 6
1st: G1 UMD - Brett Hammond 10 (unassisted), 0:27; G2 SCSU - Jon Cullen 15 (Ryan Malone 18, Derek Eastman 14), PPG, 10:36. 2nd: G3 UMD - Marco Peluso 9 (Luke Stauffacher 8, Hammond 6), PPG, 2:58; G4 UMD - Beau Geisler 4 (Junior Lessard 13, Tim Stapleton 26), 3:19; G5 UMD - Lessard 18 (Peluso 14, Stapleton 26), 6:07; G6 SCSU - Matt Gens 4 (Cullen 20, Malone 19), PPG, 17:56. 3rd:G7 UMD - Hammond 11 (unassisted), SHG, 3:08; G8 SCSU - Cullen 16 (Joe Motzko 23, Matt Hendricks 13), PPG, 4:23; G9 SCSU - Jonathan Lehun 8 (Peter Szabo 17, Hendricks 14), 6:49. Score by Periods: SCSU 1-1-2 = 4; UMD 1-3-1 = 5. Pen: SCSU 10-20; UMD 10-20. PPs: SCSU 3-8; UMD 1-7. Saves: Jason Montgomery (SCSU), 5-13-6 = 24 (59:10); Isaac Reichmuth (UMD), 6-9-12 = 27 (60:00). Att: 3,834. Time: 2:30. (UMD leads, 1-0)