Broncos to get goaltender Gill for '06-07

Texarkana Bandits' All-Star goaltender Riley Gill will be moving on to college hockey next season by committing to Western Michigan University this week.

There he will join former Bandits' forward Pat Galivan who is currently a freshman with the Broncos.

Gill, from Northfield, Minn., is the third Bandit this year to commit to a Division I school. Earlier this season, Pat Maroon committed to Ferris State University while Jason Weeks will be attending Canisius College.

The 21-year-old Gill will be the 23rd Bandit in their short three-year history to play college hockey.

In 29 games this year, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Gill is 22-6-1 with five shutouts, tied for tops in the NAHL, a 2.02 goals-against average (second) and a .932 save percentage (second).

"We believed in Riley and he believed in our program, and it has paid off with a scholarship to play college hockey" said Texarkana coach-GM Jon Cooper." I truly believe Western Michigan is getting the best goalie playing junior hockey today."

Wolverines upend Broncos Tuesday night

Danny Fardig and Chad Kolarik scored two goals apiece to lead No. 6 Michigan to a 7-3 victory over Western Michigan last night at Yost Ice Arena.

The Wolverines trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes and 2-0 early in the second period, but Kolarik sandwiched two goals around Fardig's first tally and Brandon Kaleniecki's marker gave Michigan a 4-3 edge going to the second intermission. Kevin Porter and Brandon Naurato also scored for U-M.

"When you are creating chances on offense sometimes it's puck luck and sometimes it's good plays," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said of the play in the second period. "The one scrappy goal in the second period, you can't say that's skill, but Kolarik found that puck and he tapped it in. Brandon Kaleniecki took advantage of a turnover and a loose puck, he and Andrew Ebbett, and buried it from a tough angle. The meat and potatoes of the game was not giving them the next goal."

Fardig (pictured) said his performance was nothing to brag about.

"The first one hit off my skate and the second one I just shot when I was moving my feet," explained Fardig. "I just continued on to the net and a few more could go in. That's how it works out."

“I thought we played our tails off, both teams did,” said WMU coach Jim Culhane. “We handed the beginning of the game well, but missed opportunities down the line. It took Michigan a little while to get going; they’re a good team, though.”

Jeff LoVecchio, Brian Bicek and Reid Yantzi scored for WMU, who got 37 saves from goalie Daniel Bellissimo.

Billy Sauer stopped 17 shots for Michigan (15-9-3, 10-6-3 CCHA).

Michigan hosts Ohio State for a pair this weekend. The Broncos (6-17-4, 6-12-3 CCHA) play a home-and-home with Ferris State beginning Friday night at Lawson Ice Arena.

Lakers sweep past Bowling Green

Lake Superior State University completed its fifth series sweep of the season defeating Bowling Green twice this past weekend at the Taffy Abel Arena.

LSSU came out with an offensive explosion Friday night against BGSU. Junior goaltender Jeff Jakaitis was his regular stellar self recording 27 saves on 28 shots.

The Lakers came out flying, in front of a crowd of 2285, including a strong contingent in the student section. Junior forward Dominic Osman scored his eighth goal of the season, on a rebound, less than 5 minutes into the game. LSSU was able to add another goal at minutes later just over ten seconds into their first power play of the contest, with Colin Nicholson scoring his sixth goal of the season.

Senior forward Nathan Ward banged in the goal on the doorstep five minutes into the second period to make it a 3-0 Laker lead. After killing off two penalties, freshman Troy Schwab scored his sixth of the season to give the Lakers a 4-0 lead.

Schwab was able to add his second goal of the game midway through the third period burying a breakaway past Bowling Green goaltender Jon Horrell. Bowling Green’s Brandon Svendsen was able to breakup Jakaitis attempt for his fifth shutout of the season by scoring a goal with just over eight minutes left in the third period. Derek R. Smith was able to slip a back hand shot past BGSU goaltender Horrell on the odd man rush to give the Lakers a 6-1 lead.

Saturday night Laker forward Colin Nicholson opened the scoring for LSSU, notching his seventh goal of the season midway through the first period.

Bowling Green was able to tie the game at 1-1 when Derek Whitmore scored on the power play for the Falcons at midway through the second period. Trent Campbell was able to regain the lead for the Lakers scoring on a 5-on-3 opportunity for the Lakers at minutes later. On the ensuing 5-on-4 Bowling Green’s Brandon Svendsen was able to take the puck on a breakaway and bury it behind Jeff Jakaitis, to tie the game at 2-2.

Lake State’s Jon Booras was able to break the tie with what would become the game winning goal at three minutes into the third period. Nicholson was able to add a second goal of the game a little over a minute later (4:35) to give the Lakers an insurance goal.

The series sweep puts LSSU in sole possession of second place in the CCHA with 23 points, with Michigan State (22 points), Northern Michigan (22 points), and Michigan (22 points) knocking at their door. LSSU has one game in-hand against MSU, two to NMU, and U of M has two games in-hand against LSSU. Lake Superior plays these teams twice each following a series next weekend in Omaha.

Photo courtesy of LSSUHockey.com

Finlandia men and women get points

Both the Finlandia men's and women's teams earned points last weekend.

The Lions' men split at Northland while the ladies tied Wisconsin-Eau Claire and lost to Wisconsin-River Falls.

Friday night, Keith Johnstone, Mike Parks and Corey Blake all scored twice to give FU a 9-2 win. Joe Lewis, Ryan Sullivan and Joe Beaudry also scored to back the 20-save outing for Joe Juntilla.

Saturday night, the Lions went down in overtime, 3-2, after Parks and Joe Welgos scored in regulation for Finlandia, who outshot Northland, 50-23. Lukas Alberer stopped 20 shots for the Lions (7-9-2, 7-5-2 MCHA), who hosts Lawrence this weekend.

Saturday, the women skated to a 2-2 tie with Eau Claire as Danielle Syrowik netted both tallies for FU. Corinne Czekaj made 41 saves.

Then Sunday, the Lions got two goals apiece from Adele Horrigan and Sara Sleik, but it wasn't enough as Finlandia fell, 6-4. Katie Markovich made 35 saves in goal.

The women (7-10-2, 1-9-1 NCHA) host St. Mary's this weekend.

Wayne State ties Friday, falls Saturday

Wayne State played a rough series last weekend at home and could only muster a point as the Warriors tied Alabama-Huntsville, 2-2, Friday night and lost Saturday night, 6-2.

Friday night in WSU's third consecutive Friday night tie, freshmen Derek Punches (pictured) and Jon Grabarek scored for the Warriors before UAH knotted the game on a power play with 6:18 left in the third period.

Will Hooper made 33 saves in net for WSU.

It was all Huntsville Saturday night as the Chargers led from start to finish. Punches and junior Mark Cannon scored for WSU while Hooper finished with 29 stops.

For his efforts. Punches was subsequently named the CHA's rookie of the week this past Monday.

The Warriors (5-14-5 overall, 2-6-4 CHA) play their next four contests on the road starting with a two-game non-league series at Northern Michigan this Friday. WSU returns home on Feb. 17-18 to face the Niagara Purple Eagles in another Warrior hockey doubleheader as Wayne State's women's squad also skates against Niagara at 4:05 p.m. both days preceding the men's games at 7:05.

Michigan and Michigan State tie twice

No bragging rights came about last weekend as Michigan and Michigan State tied both games.

With the two stalemates, the Wolverines and Spartans have now tied in five of the last six meetings.

"We can't beat them," Michigan goalie Billy Sauer said. "I think everyone is a little frustrated about that. There's really no emotions right now, nobody is really disappointed, but nobody's really happy either."

Friday night at Munn Ice Arena, Brandon Kaleniecki (pictured) scored late in the first period to pull U-M into a 1-1 tie. MSU captain Drew Miller had opened the scoring for the Spartans.

But from that point on, defense and goaltending prevailed and the game ended in a 1-all tie.

The Spartans appeared to double their lead eleven minutes into the first. Ethan Graham ripped a slapshot from the left point, which later television replays showed to have gone past Sauer, through the netting behind the netminder and carom off the back wall. Officials used video replay to review the play, but after ten minutes of deliberations there was not enough video evidence to award the Spartans the goal.

Sauer made 21 saves and Jeff Lerg stopped 27 shots for Michigan State.

"We're so close as teams, and you almost think every time we play that it's going to be an overtime game," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "That's what it looks like because that's how even these teams are. But at home, you're disappointed with a tie, bottom line."

Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, David Booth's second goal of the game with 3:56 remaining in regulation erased a two-goal Michigan lead and pushed the Spartans into a 5-5 tie.

Tyler Howells also scored twice for MSU with Chris Mueller netting the other.

For Michigan, Keleniecki scored twice while Kevin Porter, David Rohlfs and Andrew Cogliano added singles.

Lerg stopped 29 U-M shots and Sauer turned aside 22.

"I thought it was a good tie and I am proud of our guys from coming back from that two-goal deficit in the third," said Comley. "I thought (Lerg) was big for us tonight. He may have given up five goals, but they could have scored that many in the first period with the chances they got. He made some great saves to keep us in it and we were able to battle back to tie the game."

"I hope that everyone now actually realizes that this is a wake-up call," said Kaleniecki. "It's not like we didn't realize it before, but to let a lead like this slip through our hands in a game as big as this one is a disappointment. We're just going to have to bounce back. We didn't have a bad game, we just gave up a few too many goals and didn't bury all of our chances when we had them and we gave up some costly goals at the end. That was the difference. All in all, it was a pretty decent game for us."

Michigan (14-9-3, 9-6-3 CCHA) hosts Western Michigan tonight and then Ohio State for a pair this weekend. The Spartans (14-10-7, 8-7-6 CCHA) have a home-and-home set with Notre Dame starting Friday in South Bend.

ACHA Weekend Round-Up, Jan. 31

Oakland puts two touchdowns on board vs. GVSU

By Matt Mackinder

Oakland University finally started to get back on track by netting 14 goals against a much-improved Grand Valley State team Friday night at the Onyx. It was all OU from the drop of the puck, scoring five first-period goals and eight before the Lakers could get on the board.

"It was great to get all the lines scoring,” OU head coach Sean Hogan said. “When that happens we are a very difficult team to beat.”

Will McMahon (three goals, two assists), Brent Cooper (two goals, three assists), Jonah Rogowski (three goals), Jordan Ingram (two goals, assist), T.J. Schaeffler (goal, two assists), captain Brandon Lipari (goal, assist) and John Parrish all scored in the 14-2 romp. Other notables were J.P. Ferrari with four assists and B.J. Belliotti who dished out two helpers.

Andrew Hansen started in net for the Grizzlies and turned away 25 Laker scoring chances.

Next up – OU will travel to Leamington, Ontario, to play in the St Clair College Tournament on Feb. 11. Oakland will play St. Clair, Davenport or Michigan State in Round 1 on Saturday and play in either the gold medal game with a win or the bronze game with a loss on Sunday.

Western takes three points from Northern

Western Michigan hasn't lacked heart or talent this season, but what they have lacked is an ability to convert that potential into points. That began to change last weekend, as they skated to a 4-2 win and a 2-2 tie with Northern Michigan.

The Broncos started strong in Friday's game. Mike Lesperance and Ryan Mahrle combined to set up Brian Bicek for the night's first goal. The 'Cats evened the score on a shorthanded effort from Darin Olver in the second period.

Brent Walton (pictured) put the Broncos back on top with some help from Paul Szczechura and Daryl Moore. Nathan Ansell widened Western's lead to 3-1 on a power-play goal. Lesperance and Reid Yantzi earned assists on the play.

Zach Tarkir scored to put the game within Northern's reach, but an empty-net goal from Jeff LoVecchio sealed the win for Western. Northern netminder Bill Zaniboni finished with 26 saves while Western goalie Daniel Bellissimo recorded the win with 22 saves.

The 'Cats didn't let Saturday's game get away from them, but they didn't quite finish the job either. Western lit the lamp first thanks to a Moore rebound late in the first period. Nathan Sigmund of Northern netted his first goal of the season to tie up the game in the second. Rob Lehtinen and Nick Sirota were credited with assists. The two teams traded goals once more. Western's Kevin Labatte notched a top-shelf power-play goal while Mike Santorelli scored in the second period's waning minutes to seal the tie.

Zaniboni finished with 22 saves, Bellissimo had 29.

Next weekend, Northern (14-12-2, 10-10-2 CCHA) welcomes Wayne State to the UP, while Western (6-16-4, 6-11-3 CCHA) faces off with the Michigan Wolverines.

Miami frustrates Ferris, Bulldogs swept at home

The Ferris State Bulldogs (12-10-6; 7-8-5 CCHA) managed only a single goal against the now-No. 1-ranked Miami-Ohio Redhawks last weekend and were swept on their home ice. They lost 3-1 on Friday and 5-0 on Saturday.

Friday's game started on the right foot. Nick Schieble scored his fourth goal of the season with some help from Brendan Connolly and Adam Miller. Freshman goaltender Mitch O'Keefe (pictured) stopped all eight Miami shots.

However, the next two periods would favor Miami. The Redhawks scored two goals, each coming on the power play, to seize the lead going into the game's final minutes. O'Keefe, having made 29 saves for the night, was sent to the bench in a Ferris rallying attempt, but their efforts were futile and resulted in a Miami empty-netter to seal the Bulldogs' 3-1 loss.

On Saturday, although the Bulldogs outshot the Redhawks 37-26, they could not foil Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff even once. O'Keefe stopped 21 shots in the 5-0 loss.

Ferris State plays a home-and-home this weekend with Western Michigan starting Friday night in Kalamazoo.

Wayne women sweep second straight series

The Wayne State Warriors (10-12-4, 2-1-1 CHA) got some offensive contributions from unlikely sources last weekend. The scoring, combined with continued solid goaltending, resulted in a sweep of Robert Morris on the road.

On Friday, goaltender Tiffany Thompson had a flawless first period, but her job was made easy by the fact that the Colonials put only two shots on net. At the other end of the ice, Sam Poyton and Laura Monk set up Amanda Hungle for her second goal of the season and Wayne's first of the game. The Warriors extended their lead to two at 9:39 of the second period when freshmen Lindsay DiPietro and Melissa Boal set up fellow rookie Poyton for her 18th of the season.

Late in the second, DiPietro connected with Kristy Leng (reigning CHA Offensive Player of the week) on defenseman and assistant captain Peyton Patterson's on her first goal of the season.

Special teams would be critical for Robert Morris in the third. The Colonials scored a power-play goal less than a minute into the period and then reversed the fortune of a Warriors power play just two minutes later when they scored a short-handed goal.

The Warriors didn't let them back in the game any further. Boal widened the Wayne lead to two with six minutes left in the game. DiPietro and Kristi Thome were credited with assists.

Thompson finished with 15 saves in Friday's 4-2 win.

Saturday's contest started much like Friday's. Wayne State got on the board first with efforts from the usual suspects and a few fresh faces. With a minute left in the first period, Poyton and Sarah Campbell set up DiPietro for her fourth point of the weekend. Midway through the second period, DiPietro connected with senior Rachel Benninger (pictured above left) to help Poyton light the lamp. And with 22 seconds left in the second period, Benninger scored her first goal in nearly three years to widen the Warriors' lead to three. Poyton and DiPietro were credited with assists.

Surprisingly, the last goal featured neither Poyton nor DiPietro. Leng capitalized on a Warrior power play early in the final period with some help from Campbell and captain Jessica Snelgrove.

Although the Colonials managed to rob Turcotte of her shutout at 7:09, the sophomore goaltender made 11 saves.

The Warriors are idle this weekend, but welcome CHA leader Mercyhurst to Detroit on Feb. 10-11.