WCHA Hockey Tournament: 5 Teams Advance Saturday, Denver Forces Game 3

In addition to Minnesota's 7-3 win over Alaska-Anchorage, Saturday night saw a pair of overtime games and five teams finishing two-game sweeps to advance to St. Paul next weekend for the WCHA Final Five. They included a double overtime game in Duluth, a comeback effort falling short in Grand Forks, Nebraska-Omaha suffering a last minute heartbreak and the Denver Pioneers holding on against Wisconsin to force a third and deciding game Sunday night.

Saturday WCHA Final Recaps:

#2 Minnesota-Duluth 3 - #11 Minnesota State 2 (2OT)
DULUTH- It took almost 85 minutes to determine a winner Saturday but Mike Seidel was able to finally put Minnesota State away with his 15th goal of the season. That capped a night which saw the two teams combine for 108 shots and saw Mavericks goaltender Austin Lee make 56 saves to keep his team in the game. UMD goalie Kenny Reiter was just as good, making 47saves and helped Minnesota-Duluth kill a critical penalty in the first overtime.

The Bulldogs will play the winner of one of the two Thursday quarterfinals on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center.

#3 Denver 3 - #10 Wisconsin 1
DENVER- After being shut out by Joel Rumpel for 104:04 of this weekend's series, Denver found the back of the net three times in the final period and tied the series at one game apiece Saturday. Pioneer forward Nate Dewhurst started the scoring to give DU their first lead of the weekend but Wisconsin defenseman Justin Schultz tied the game at 1 two minutes later. Salazar, however, scored on a one-timer from the left circle with 7:07 left in the game to put Denver ahead and Nick Shore iced the game with a late empty netter.

The two teams will play the decisive Game 3 Sunday night in Denver at 8:00 p.m. Central (7 p.m. local time).

#4 North Dakota 4 - Bemidji State 3
GRAND FORKS- Two third period goals 17 seconds apart by Bemidji State senior forward Jamie MacQueen brought the Beavers within one goal but the Fighting Sioux were able to hold for the final 3:37 and clinch their tenth consecutive Final Five berth. The North Dakota line of Mark MacMillan, Carter Rowney and Michael Parks had two of their four goals (Connor Gaarder and Dillon Simpson scored the other two) and the trio scored 13 points in two games this weekend.

The Fighting Sioux will play either St. Cloud State (if Denver wins on Sunday) or Wisconsin if they win on Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center.

#8 Michigan Tech 4 - #5 Colorado College 3 (OT)
COLORADO SPRINGS- For the second consecutive season, the eighth seed defeated the fifth seed in two games. This time David Johnstone scored 3:30 into overtime for Michigan Tech, following Steven Seigo tying the game with 1:05 left in regulation. Andrew Hamburg had two goals in defeat for Colorado Collegeas the Huskies head to their first Final Five since 2007.

Michigan Tech will play either Denver (if the Pioneers win Sunday) or St. Cloud State (if Wisconsin wins Sunday) Thursday in a Final Five quarterfinal.

#6 St. Cloud State 3 - #7 University of Nebraska-Omaha 1
ST. CLOUD- Ben Hanowski's 22nd goal of the season with 43 seconds remaining in regulation broke a 1-1 tie and handed Nebraska-Omaha their sixth consecutive loss to end the season. Jarred Festler scored 22 seconds into the game on a two-man advantage for St. Cloud State before Dominic Zonmbo tied the game seven minutes later. Travis Novak added a last-second (literally) empty netter and the Huskies, who lost numerous players to injuries and defections, advance to the Final Five.

St. Cloud State will play either North Dakota (if Denver wins) or Michigan Tech (if Wisconsin wins Sunday) Thursday in a Final Five quarterfinal.

Gophers Hockey: Minnesota Goes "En Fuego" In Third Period, Beat Alaska-Anchorage 7-3 Saturday

For forty-five minutes Saturday night, it looked like Alaska-Anchorage would be the team whose quick scoring would make the biggest difference. Tied at 3, the Seawolves were getting chances on net in the third period and just hit the crossbar on a shorthanded attempt to finish the second.

Then before they could blink, the Gophers stole their quick scoring crown and the game.

"We had them on their heels and then it flipped-flopped. We marched to the box, took three or four penalties and lost our legs and ran out of gas," said Seawolves head coach Dave Shyiak.

Three goals by Minnesota (26-12-1) in 91 seconds, including two by Erik Haula 18 seconds apart, turned a tight game into a 7-3 rout over Alaska-Anchorage (9-25-2) and sent the Gophers to their first Final Five since 2009. Jake Hansen, Zach Budish, Nick Bjugstad, Seth Helgeson and Sam Warning also scored for the Maroon and Gold while Matt Bailey scored twice in defeat.Kent Patterson in front of 9,018 fans at Mariucci Arena.

Penalties played a major role in Saturday's game. After giving the Seawolves 3 first period power plays in Friday's 2-1 win, Minnesota was the team with the man advantage Saturday. The Gophers had three power play opportunities in the opening twenty minutes - they only had two all of Friday - but were unable to take advantage of them or find a way past Alaska-Anchorage goaltender Chris Kamal. Jake Hansen came the closest when he hit the post.

Hansen, however, did score earlier in the period when Minnesota was even-strength - tipping in a shot from Ben Marshall past Kamal - to give them a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period.

Alaska-Anchorage battled back in the second period and used Gopher penalties to their own advantage en route to three power play goals. The first by Bailey took only 35 seconds to tie the game. He added another seven minutes later after the Seawolves received two minutes with a two-man advantage with both Seths (Helgeson and Ambroz) in the box. Finally Scott Allen scored his third of the season on a rebound, putting Minnesota in a 3-1 hole halfway through the game.

"Hats off to Alaska-Anchorage," said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. " They played extremely well and took advantage of the power plays."

As good as the Seawolves were on the power play, the Gophers continued to struggle. They looked great when they were playing five-on-five hockey to the point where they continued to force Alaska-Anchorage to take penalties. Unfortunately when they were on the man-advantage, Minnesota often looked like the team who was shorthanded.

Zach Budish got the team within one with 8:44 remaining after he one-timed a Kyle Rau pass past Kamal, It looked like they would be down a goal at the second period before Nick Bjugstad broke through with 45.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 3 and give the Gophers their first power play goal in seven opportunities

"We had a little bit of a roll at the end of the second, beginning of the third," said Budish, who has five goals and five assists in eight games against Anchorage.

Bjugstad's last-minute goal changed momentum and the floodgates opened 5:05 into the third period. When Kyle Rau baited everyone towards him, Erik Haula found himself all alone and made Chris Kamal look human for the first time all weekend to give Minnesota a 4-3 lead.

"We wanted to do this tonight, it was payback from last year," said Haula, who has five goals in his last three games.

Haula went beast mode again 18 seconds later and the rout was on. Whether Kamal lost his composure or the Seawolves were tired after having to kill 13 minutes of penalties or perhaps both, Minnesota could not stop scoring. Helgeson made up for his previous penalty leading to an UAA goal with a slap shot for his fourth goal of the season and Sam Warning found himself the recipient of Haula's generosity to cap off the scoring.

The highlight of the night, meanwhile, was senior walk-on goalie Jake Kremer getting a chance to play in the final 44 seconds. Beckoned by assistant head coach Mike Guentzel, Lucia put in the third string goalie for his first action in his college career and Kremer ended the night with a 1.000 save percentage.

"It was awesome. [Kremer] works his tail off in practice. We would have liked to see him play on senior night (against Wisconsin) but couldn't since it was a 2-1 game," said Budish.

In the end though, he and the rest of the Gopher hockey team are advancing to their first Final Five since 2009. And between the onslaught of goals and finish, it was a good night all around.

Minnesota will play an opponent yet to be determined in the Final Five next Friday. The game will be televised on Fox Sports North.

For more Minnesota Golden Gophers coverage, be sure to check out The Daily Gopher. You can also read up on the WCHA at Western College Hockey.

Minnesota vs. Alaska-Anchorage Saturday Night Line Combinations

Don Lucia is making only one minor change from last night's 2-1 win over Alaska-Anchorage. Senior forward Nick Larson returns to the lineup Saturday for Minnesota replacing Tom Serratore on the fourth line.

It's the only lineup change for either side because Alaska-Anchorage is icing the same lineup they did Friday.

Kent Patterson is in net for the Gophers while Chris Kamal, who has allowed five goals in three playoff games against Minnesota and had 32 saves last night, gets the nod for the Seawolves.

Minnesota Golden Gophers Line Combinations

Forwards:

Kyle Rau (#7) - Nick Bjugstad (#27) - Zach Budish (#24)

Sam Warning (#11) - Erik Haula (#19) - Jake Hansen (#21)

Nate Condon (#16) - Taylor Matson (#9) - Seth Ambroz (#17)

Tom Serratore (#14) - Travis Boyd (#22) - Nico Sacchetti (#13)

Defense:

Seth Helgeson (#4) - Justin Holl (#12)

Ben Marshall (#10) - Mark Alt (#20)

Jake Parenteau (#6) -Nate Schmidt (#29)

Goalies (bold indicates starting):

Kent Patterson (#35)

Michael Shibrowski (#1)

Jake Kremer (#30)

University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves Line Combinations

Forwards:

Jade Portwood (#36) - Daniel Naslund (#40) - Brett Cameron (#7)

Curtis Leinweber (#11) - Matt Bailey (#21) - Jordan Kwas (#17)

Scott Allen (#29) - Eric Scheid (#39) - Sam Mellor (#19)

Andrew Pickering (#28) - Alex Gellert (#20) - Chris Crowell (#18)

Defense:

Derek Docken (#4) - Brad Gorham (#15)

Quinn Sproule (#13) - Corbin Karl (#25)

Austin Coldwell (#5) - Tyler Currier (#26)

Goalies:

Chris Kamal (#35)

Rob Gunderson (#33)

Tonight's game starts at 7:00 PM and is being televised on Fox Sports North (the main channel). You can follow me on Twitter for in-game hockey updates@gopherstatelive from Mariucci and follow @sbnminnesota for the best in Minnesota sports.

WCHA Hockey Tournament: Saturday Night Schedule, TV & More

After a eventful opening day, the WCHA first round continues with six hockey games Saturday night. Two teams, Denver and Colorado College, look to tie things up and force a game three Sunday on home ice against Wisonsin and Michigan Tech, respectively. At the same time, Michigan Tech looks to make the WCHA Final Five for the first time since 2007, Minnesota is one win away from their first trip to St. Paul in three years and North Dakota can book their tenth consecutive Final Five appearance with a win over Bemidji State.

Details for each of the games are below.

#12 University of Alaska-Anchorage at #1 University of Minnesota (Minnesota leads 1-0)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Central
Location: Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN
TV/Radio: Fox Sports North/FCS Atlantic; 1500 ESPN (Minnesota)

#11 Minnesota State University Mankato at #2 University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD leads 1-0)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Central
Location: AMSOIL Arena, Duluth, MN
TV: None

#10 University of Wisconsin at #3 University of Denver (Wisconsin leads 1-0)
Time: 8:00 p.m. Central
Location: Magness Arena, Denver, CO
TV: None

#9 Bemidji State University at #4 University of North Dakota (North Dakota leads 1-0)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Central
Location: Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND
TV: FCS Central/Fighting Sioux Sports Network (North Dakota)

#8 Michigan Tech University at #5 Colorado College (Michigan Tech leads 1-0)
Time: 8:00 p.m. Central
Location: World Arena, Colorado Springs, CO
TV: None

#7 University of Nebraska-Omaha at #6 St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud State leads 1-0)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Central
Location National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN
TV: None

For more coverage of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher and for Wisconsin coverage read Bucky's Fifth Quarter. You can also find more on the WCHA at Western College Hockey.

WCHA Hockey Tournament: Wisconsin, Michigan Tech Pull Off Upsets Friday

In addition to Minnesota's 2-1 win over Alaska-Anchorage, five other games in the WCHA first round were played Friday night. While second-seeded Minnesota-Duluth, fourth-seeded North Dakota and sixth-seeded St. Cloud State won at home, tenth-seeded Wisconsin and eighth-seeded Michigan Tech upset both Colorado schools (Denver and CC) on the road.

Friday WCHA Final Recaps:

#2 Minnesota-Duluth 4 - #11 Minnesota State 2
DULUTH- Second period goals by Mavericks forwards Max Gaede and Joe Schiller erased an early 2-0 UMD lead and gave Minnesota State a chance to pull off a road upset. However, Minnesota-Duluth took advantage of mistakes in the third period and senior defenseman Brady Lamb scored the eventual game-winner with just over eight minutes left. Wade Bergman added an 150 foot empty net goal for the Bulldogs as they look to go for the sweep Saturday.

#10 Wisconsin 1 - #3 Denver 0
DENVER- Wisconsin sophomore forward Sean Little scored the only goal of the night with 5:50 remaining in the third period and Badgers freshman goalie Joel Rumpel stood tall, saving all 28 shots he faced against Denver, to give tenth-seed Wisconsin a 1-0 lead in the series.

With the loss the Pioneers drop to 1-13 against Wisconsin in the postseason.

#4 North Dakota 4 - #9 Bemidji State 1
GRAND FORKS- Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell saved 28 of 29 shots he faced from Bemidji State as North Dakota defeated the Beavers 4-1 and got one step closer to clinching a NCAA Tournament berth. Carter Rowney had three assists Friday night and Connor Gaarder, Corban Knight, Mark MacMillan and Ben Blood scored for UND.

Aaron McLeod had the lone goal for Bemidji State, who lost Friday for the first time in three WCHA first round games. Their only other appearance last season saw the Beavers sweep Nebraska-Omaha.

#8 Michigan Tech 3 - #5 Colorado College 1
COLORADO SPRINGS- After Rylan Schwartz tied the game at one 39 seconds into the third period on a two-man Tigers advantage, Michigan Tech rebounded three minutes later when Dennis Rix found a way past Colorado College goaltender Josh Thorimbert. Alex McLeod added an insurance goal for the eighth-seeded Huskies, who are one win away from heading to St. Paul for the first time since 2007.

#6 St. Cloud State 4 - #7 Nebraska-Omaha 0
ST. CLOUD- As a signal of things to come, Joe Rehkamp gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead 2:30 into the game and St. Cloud State never took their foot off the pedal. Nebraska-Omaha was never able to find a way past Huskies senior goalie Mike Lee, who made 27 saves in the shutout win, and Ben Hanowski, Andrew Prochno and Taylor Johnson also scored for the home team to give them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

It was the second consecutive Friday that the Mavericks have been shut out and they are 0-3-2 in their last five opening games.

Gophers Hockey: Minnesota Defeats Alaska-Anchorage 2-1 Friday With Two Erik Haula Goals

In a night which has seen three college hockey games go to double overtime and upsets in the CCHA and Hockey East, the Golden Gophers (and their bleached blond hair) did just enough to win.

"It was the type of game I expected it to be," Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said. "Look around the country with all the overtimes and that is what happens this time of year."

Erik Haula scored twice, the second one being controversial, and Chris Kamal made 32 saves for Alaska-Anchorage (9-24-2, 5-22-1 WCHA) as Minnesota (25-12-1, 20-8-0 WCHA) defeated the Seawolves 2-1 Friday night at Mariucci Arena.

The Gophers moved up to sixth place in the Pairwise rankings with the win.

Coming out sporting bleached blonde hair as a playoff bonding experience, Minnesota took two early penalties that gave the Seawolves chances on goaltender Kent Patterson and hurt any chance to get an flow going in the first period. Alaska-Anchorage out-shot the Gophers 6-2 in the first 10 minutes before the Maroon and Gold found their legs late in the period. They had a couple great chances, including a Jake Hansen tip in the final minute, but Kamal kept the score (0-0) and shots (9-9) tied after 20 minutes.

"I think [Kamal] is a a great goalie to go out and face 30 shots per game and get a chance to win. He's a big player who came to play tonight on a big stage and big players come to play in big games," said defenseman Nate Schmidt.

Haula, who came up big in last weekend's 2-1 victory over Wisconsin, did so again 1:42 into the second period. After receiving a breakout pass from Schmidt, the Minnesota Wild prospect took advantage of a rare odd-man rush and shot a wrister to the right of Chris Kamal and into the net for a 1-0 Gophers lead. He went "beast mode" after, running into the boards to celebrate and having his wrist looked at.

Eight minutes later, Erik tapped home a rebound after Nate Schmidt hit the post for his second goal of the night and a long review. Replays showed that Jake Hansen ran into Kamal but it was inconclusive whether or not the Seawolves goaltender could have stopped it.

"[Minnesota's second goal] was clearly a no goal. It was goalie interference. You can see the overhead of it," said Alaska-Anchorage head coach Dave Shyiak said. "[The refs] agreed that he was knocked down but couldn't get to it. I said 'so you're going to guess if he could get it?' It was the call and there's nothing more said about it.

The Seawolves, meanwhile continued to frustrate the home team and bait them into parading to the box as they had seven power plays to Minnesota's two (one being 25 seconds). A late interference penalty by Seth Ambroz with one minute left in the second period ended up being a turning point for UAA. While the Gophers seemed content to play out the final few seconds, senior defenseman Brad Gorham made them pay with a shot that trickled past Patterson with two seconds remaining to cut the lead to 2-1.

"I was real proud of our effort tonight. We did a lot of little things and frustrated them," said Shyiak. "I thought our guys battled hard."

Alaska-Anchorage continued getting chances in front of Kent Patterson in the third period. Eric Scheid found himself all alone on a power play chance but the senior goalie, who made 16 saves Friday, stood tall when Minnesota needed him the most.

Momentum turned in the final ten minutes and Minnesota continued testing Kamal in an attempt to get a third goal. They were unsuccessful but were able to hold on playing their best hockey of the night. Of course it helped that this was the longest stretch of hockey without having to kill a penalty.

"[The coaches] addressed that we needed to stay out of the penalty box (after intermission)," said Haula.

Overall, it was a good win for the Gophers. It may not have been the cleanest victory as a 1-12 match-up but they looked dominant at times despite taking penalties and going against a goalie that clearly has their number in Chris Kamal. Games like Friday are going to be the norm in the post-season and although Minnesota has some things to work on for Saturday and beyond, they found a way to win a game which could have easily gone the other way (and has this season).

Minnesota faces Alaska-Anchorage in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs again at Mariucci Arena Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.

For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. You can also catch up on the WCHA and college hockey over at Western College Hockey.

Minnesota vs. Alaska-Anchorage Friday Night Line Combinations

The Gophers are making two changes from their lineup in last Saturday's 2-1 win over Wisconsin. Travis Boyd, who sat out after playing with Zach Budish and Kyle Rau in the first game in the Wisconsin series, returns to the lineup as does Nico Sacchetti. Seniors Nick Larson and Joe Miller both sit in their place.

Alaska-Anchorage is without junior Mitch Bruijsten. The Seawolves' leading scorer was dismissed for academic reasons earlier in the week.

Kent Patterson starts in net for Minnesota while Chris Kamal, who has been a thorn in the Gophers' side in the past, gets the nod for the Seawolves.

Minnesota Golden Gophers Line Combinations

Forwards:

Kyle Rau (#7) - Nick Bjugstad (#27) - Zach Budish (#24)

Sam Warning (#11) - Erik Haula (#19) - Jake Hansen (#21)

Nate Condon (#16) - Taylor Matson (#9) - Seth Ambroz (#17)

Tom Serratore (#14) - Travis Boyd (#22) - Nico Sacchetti (#13)

Defense:

Seth Helgeson (#4) - Justin Holl (#12)

Ben Marshall (#10) - Mark Alt (#20)

Jake Parenteau (#6) -Nate Schmidt (#29)

Goalies (bold indicates starting):

Kent Patterson (#35)

Michael Shibrowski (#1)

Jake Kremer (#30)

University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves Line Combinations

Forwards:

Jade Portwood (#36) - Daniel Naslund (#40) - Brett Cameron (#7)

Curtis Leinweber (#11) - Matt Bailey (#21) - Jordan Kwas (#17)

Scott Allen (#29) - Eric Scheid (#39) - Sam Mellor (#19)

Andrew Pickering (#28) - Alex Gellert (#20) - Chris Crowell (#18)

Defense:

Derek Docken (#4) - Brad Gorham (#15)

Quinn Sproule (#13) - Corbin Karl (#25)

Austin Coldwell (#5) - Tyler Currier (#26)

Goalies:

Chris Kamal (#35)

Rob Gunderson (#33)

Tonight's game starts at 7:00 PM and is being televised on Fox Sports North Plus (find your channel here). You can follow me on Twitter for in-game hockey updates @gopherstatelive from Mariucci and follow @sbnminnesota for the best in Minnesota sports.

Gophers Hockey: Minnesota Looks For Revenge Against Alaska-Anchorage In WCHA First Round Series

Minnesota plays the same team that eliminated them last season, Alaska-Anchorage, in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs.

For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher.

WCHA Hockey Tournament Bracket: Minnesota Plays Alaska-Anchorage In First Round

The 2012 WCHA Tournament bracket was set over the weekend. The Minnesota Golden Gophers will play Alaska-Anchorage in the first round.