January
31, 2008
CHA
Race? Bemidji State is Secretariat
By
Warren Kozireski
NFL coaches say defense wins championships.
If last weekend's College Hockey America action was an indicator,
that tenet was proven true in college hockey as well. Bemidji
State took three points from Robert Morris, skating to a
2-2 draw Friday and shutting out the Colonials, 4-0, in
the finale. The result puts the Beavers firmly in control
of the race for the College Hockey America regular-season
championship.
College
Hockey America Notebook
Eyes
on the prize: Forward Matt Pope, who scored three
goals against Robert Morris last weekend, and Bemidji
State are poised to win their first CHA regular-season
title since 2005.
Even though BSU had accumulated a five-point
lead in the CHA standings before last weekend's set with
RMU, the Colonials, with four games left against the Beavers
and four league games in hand, were in a great position
to make a run at first place in the league standings. But
in the last two weekends, the Colonials earned just three
of a possible eight points, dropping them to third place
behind Bemidji State and Niagara.
"We're allowing only 24 shots a game,
so our defense and our team have been successful at blocking
shots and denying the passing lanes and goaltending has
been good," Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore said.
Indeed, goaltender Matt Climie registered
his fifth shutout of the season last weekend — he
leads the nation in that category — and has a 9-1-3
mark in league play. The Beavers are tied for third in the
country in scoring defense, allowing just 2.0 goals per
game.
Climie's lone league loss was a 5-2 defeat
at Wayne State in November. It's also the last time the
Beavers lost a conference game. BSU has six CHA games remaining,
four of them at home against Wayne State. The Warriors haven't
won in Bemidji since Feb. 23, 2002.
"Wayne State took it to us in November
and is a good team, so we are not looking ahead," Serratore
said. "We need to realize the task at hand and not
look ahead. It's all about Friday night right now because
there is a very fine line between all hockey teams and we
know first hand how good they are."
With apologies to the Warriors, it appears that the Beavers are a virtual lock to win their third CHA regular-season title and first since 2004-05, with Niagara and Robert Morris fighting over the last line change for their likely first-round playoff game.
That said, the news is not all good from Bemidji. Senior captain Jake Bluhm is likely out for the weekend as is Swedish freshman Eric Billberg, who was scheduled for an MRI to examine a potential season-ending knee injury.
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE CHA
Warrior Mentality: Wayne
State swept a pair from Alabama-Huntsville last weekend,
including the first career shutout by sophomore Brett Bothwell,
who was in net for both games.
Freshman Chris Kushneriuk picked a great time
to pick up the first goal and point of his collegiate career
— overtime in the second game of the series, securing
the sweep for the Warriors after the Chargers came back
from a 3-0 deficit with three third-period goals to force
the extra session. Jared Katz awoke from a bit of an offensive
slumber with a three-point weekend, doubling his assist
total for the season in the process. Tylor Michel also had
a three points and Derek Punches scored twice to lead the
offense.
"We didn't play as well as we wanted
too at times and we maybe got a little complacent, but we
battled back," said Wayne State head coach Bill Wilkinson.
"Brett has practiced hard and played well. It was tough,
but playing at home helped us."
As for the upcoming weekend at Bemidji, the
first of two February trips to Minnesota's north country,
Wilkinson said, "We're banged up and our captain Mike
Forgie will miss the weekend. We' ll try to withstand the
early onslaught and not let them get too far ahead. [Bemidji]
is like the Marines; they just keep coming."
Niagara Says Thanks, Q: Not
to be overlooked was Niagara's sweep on the road over previously
ranked Quinnipiac. Goaltender Juliano Pagliero seems to
have found his game again, making 64 saves and allowing
four goals in the two wins. He is now back among the top
ten in the nation in save percentage.
Les Reaney and Chris Moran both had three-point weekends, but the Purple Eagles got scoring from all four lines in both games. Niagara will begin a three-game homestand starting with St. Lawrence at Dwyer Arena Saturday. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but later moved.
Great Weekend Getaway
Alabama-Huntsville
at Robert Morris (Fri.-Sat.) Robert Morris seeks offense as they host
Alabama-Huntsville. The Colonials need a sweep to
retake second place outright in the conference.
While You're There: First, check
the local news Saturday for that groundhog event and
see if there will be six more weeks of winter. Then,
go ice-swimming with the Pitts-burrrrrgh Drowned Hogs
at the Riverfront Park boat ramp at noon. The event,
which benefits Circle C Youth and Family Services,
will make the rink seem warmer.
Stick
Salute
Wayne State sophomore goalie Brett Bothwell notched his first career shutout by making 15 saves in a 2-0 win against Alabama-Huntsville Friday.
Bench
Minor
The Robert Morris power play has scored just four goals in 31 opportunities since New Year's Day. That includes last weekend's 0-for-8 showing at Bemidji State.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE BAG
• In his 2-0 shutout over Alabama-Huntsville,
Wayne State's Brett Bothwell became just the second (and
possibly last) Warrior goaltender to earn an assist. The
other was David Guerrera, who did it twice in 2002.
• The 2-0 shutout UAH suffered Friday was their fifth blanking of the season, tying the team record set in 2005-06.
• The line listed as Niagara's fourth
unit (Ryan Olidis, Les Reaney and Brian Haczyk) on the line
chart combined for six points in the team's Friday victory
at Quinnipiac.
• Robert Morris goaltender Wes Russell, who transferred to the school from Quinnipiac, came on in relief of starter Jim Patterson in the third period of the Colonials' loss to Princeton Tuesday for his sixth appearance of the season . Russell did not allow a goal on nine shots.
• Bemidji State will play just three different teams — Robert Morris, Wayne State, and North Dakota — over their last 10 games of the regular season.
• With their sweep last weekend, Niagara improved to 9-1-0 all-time against Quinnipiac.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report. Warren Kozireski can be
reached at warrenkozireski@yahoo.com.
