Wayne State adds Berecz for '07-08

The Springfield Jr. Blues have announced that third-year forward Andrew Berecz, 20, has committed to Wayne State University for the 2007-08 season.

"We’re very happy for Andrew,” said Jr. Blues coach-GM Nick Pollos. “He will be an asset to the Wayne State program.”

After 42 games this season, the Rochester, Ill., native has 17 goals and 30 points. Ten of Berecz’s goals have come on the power play.

“He has great hockey sense and the ability to make the right play at the right time,” Pollos said of his team's captain. “He goes hard to the net and scores goals from in tight.”

“I'm very excited about the opportunity to play for Wayne State," said Berecz.

Berecz started his junior career with the CSHL’s Peoria Mustangs under the tutelage of coach Kevin Lune. He later signed a tender with Springfield.

“Kevin spoke very highly of Andrew as we were scouting him,” said Pollos. “The more we watched him, the more upside we saw in his game. He does all the little things that coaches love.”


Berecz becomes the fourth member of this year’s Jr. Blues to commit to a Division I program, joining Adam Roy (Holy Cross), Chris Waterstradt (University of Connecticut) and Christian Hmura (Wayne State).

Wildcats fall to UMD, 4-2, Wednesday

Northern Michigan junior forward Mike Santorelli moved into a first-place tie for the NCAA lead in goals, but the Wildcats lost for the second time this season to Minnesota-Duluth on Wednesday, 4-2.

Santorelli, who is the reigning CCHA Offensive Player of the Week, tied Niagara sophomore forward Ted Cook for the national lead after scoring his 23rd of the season in the first period.

Senior forward Pat Batemen tallied the other Wildcats score when he tied the game, 2-2, in the second period.

Freshman goaltender Brian Stewart allowed three goals on 24 shots.

NMU (11-15-2, 8-11-1 CCHA) is at Nebraska-Omaha this weekend for two games.

5 straight goals push Broncos past Bulldogs

The Ferris State Bulldogs got the first goal and the last goal. The Western Michigan Broncos got the more-important five in between en route to a 5-2 conference win on Tuesday night in Kalamazoo.

Bulldog Matt Verdone started the scoring with a power-play goal at 6:01 of the first period. From there, the Broncos started their charge.

Paul Szczechura tied the game with a power-play goal at 8:29 and Mark Letestu scored to give the Broncos the lead with just 36 seconds left in the first period.

Jeff LoVecchio piled on with the eventual game winner at 4:17 of the second. Brian Bicek notched a shorthanded marker at 7:40 and Letestu added his second of the night at 19:49 to put the home team up 5-1.

Matt Case added a third-period goal for the Bulldogs, but it wasn’t enough as the Broncos won for the third time in their last four games.

Daniel Bellissimo started between the pipes for WMU and stopped 26 of 28 shots.

Mitch O'Keefe began the game for FSU, but left in the second period after allowing his fourth goal on nine shots. Derek MacIntyre mopped up and stopped five of six.

The Broncos (10-13-1, 9-10-1 CCHA) will continue their eight-game home stand at Lawson Ice Arena with a pair of games against the CHA's Alabama-Huntsville Chargers this weekend.

The Bulldogs (7-16-3, 4-12-2 CCHA) will be at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor for a pair of games against the 12th-ranked Michigan Wolverines.

MiCHO Power Poll 1.23.07

For the third straight week, the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans are on top of our MiCHO Power Poll after a two-game sweep of 19th-ranked Lake Superior State at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing. The Spartans have now won five in a row and 10 of their last 12 contests. The 12th-ranked Michigan Wolverines hold onto the second spot after sweeping the Nanooks in Alaska.

1) Michigan State, 16-8-1 (swept No. 19 LSSU)
2) Michigan, 17-9-0 (swept Alaska)
3) Lake Superior State, 13-10-3 (swept by No. 9 MSU)
4) Michigan Tech, 11-13-2 (split at UAA)
5) Northern Michigan, 11-14-2 (swept BGSU)
6) Western Michigan, 9-13-1 (split with No. 3 Notre Dame)
7) Wayne State, 7-17-0 (swept Robert Morris)
8) Ferris State, 6-14-3 (split with UNO)

Each week, MichiganCollegeHockey.com editors Matt Mackinder and Tom Balog will compile the MiCHO Power Poll. The poll will comprise the eight Division I teams in the state of Michigan. (rankings in parenthesis reflect the USCHO/CSTV Division I Men's Poll)

UPDATED: Riedel bolts Ferris State for ECHL

Ferris State sophomore forward Dan Riedel has left the Bulldogs to pursue a professional career.

"While I'm disappointed to see Dan's collegiate career end prematurely, I believe a change of scenery will be positive for both parties," said FSU head coach Bob Daniels. "We wish Dan all the best as he takes the next step in his life of pursuing a professional hockey career."

Last year, the Rochester Hills native made the CCHA All-Rookie Team with 11 goals among 31 points and this year had three goals and 12 points.

Ferris State press release HERE.

Tuesday Update: Riedel, 21, has signed with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the ECHL and is expected to make his pro debut Friday at Fresno.

Warrior pair garners weekly awards

Wayne State junior forward Tylor Michel (right) recorded his first career hat trick against CHA rival Robert Morris over the weekend as was rewarded with the College Hockey America Offensive Player of the Week award.

Michel earned the hatter by scoring school three goals in a school record 7:57 in Friday’s 7-4 victory at the Coliseum.

His first goal proved to be the game-winner, his second even strength, and his third tally was his second shorthanded goal of the season.

Warriors freshman goaltender Brett Bothwell (left) stopped 50 shots in two games and picked up the CHA’s Rookie of the Week award. The pair of wins evened Bothwell’s personal record at 6-6-0.

Sophomore blueliner Dan Illiakis was also nominated for the CHA Defensive Player of the Week award after picking up 3 assists in Friday’s win and recording his first game-winning goal of the season in Saturday’s 2-1 triumph.

Wildcats and Spencer Dillon part ways

Defenseman Spencer Dillon, who has not played a game since December 8, is no longer a Northern Michigan Wildcat. According to coach Walt Kyle, Dillon and the team parted ways after a "simple violation of team rules."

Dillon, a Florida Panthers 2004 draft pick, had picked up just one assist in 15 games during the 2006-07 campaign. The sophomore has only a pair of assists in 21 career games at NMU and looks to not be a major loss at this point. It was anticipated, however, that he would step up and help to anchor the Wildcat defense this season.

"We have a set of values and standards here and if you step outside those lines, there will be consequences," Kyle said. "Spencer may, at some point, return, but right now he is facing the consequences for his actions."

Warriors sweep rival Robert Morris

The Wayne State Warriors continued their best stretch of hockey this season with a two-game sweep of CHA foe Robert Morris at the Coliseum over the weekend.

Friday night's opener was a seesaw affair, but a huge third period pushed the Warriors to a big 7-4 win over the Colonials.

The Colonials jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the 10-minute mark in the first period.

The Warriors responded with goals by Jared Katz and Derek Bachynski and the score was tied up by the 5:46 of the second.

RMU went back on top again less then four minutes later on a goal by Chris Margott, but the Green and Gold unloaded for five straight markers to seal the game.

Jon Grabarek started the onslaught by tying the game with a power-play goal at 14:08 of the second.

Jason Bloomingburg gave the Warriors their first lead at 4:46 of the third and then the Tylor Michel show began.

Michel scored the eventual game winner at 9:56, another even-strength goal at 12:33, and then notched a shorthanded empty-netter at 17:53 for his first career hat trick.

The Colonials added a late goal, but it wasn't enough as the Warriors earned just their second conference win of the season.

Blueliner Dan Illiakis (pictured) contributed to the big win with three assists.

Brett Bothwell stopped 25 of 29 in net for WSU for the victory.

Saturday night was not as high scoring, but it might have been more exciting as the Warriors pulled off a 2-1 win.

After over 40 minutes of scoreless play, senior Jason Baclig opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 1:56 of the third period.

Aaron Clarke countered for the Colonials less than a minute later to tie the score at 1-all.

Illiakis capped a fine weekend with the game-winner 7:24 to give the Warriors their first series sweep since knocking off Merrimack in two straight on December 9-10, 2005.

Bothwell started between the pipes again for Wayne and stopped 25 of 26 to even his personal record at 6-6-0.

Ice Chips…

- The Warriors have won three of their last four games and will be on the road at the Dwyer Arena next weekend for a pair of conference games against the 16^th-ranked Niagara Purple Eagles.

- With their seventh win on Saturday night, the Warriors have already surpassed last years win total with 10 games left to play.

- Michel's hat trick took only 7:57 to complete, marking a new school record.

Adrian announces inaugural men's schedule

Adrian College, a Division III school set to join the MCHA this fall, announced their men's hockey schedule for the upcoming 2007-2008 season.

The Bulldogs will christen the Arrington Ice Arena on Oct. 19 against Potsdam State.

The Bulldogs' full schedule is below:

2007-08 ADRIAN COLLEGE HOCKEY SCHEDULE
(tentative dates and times 1/17/07)

FRI. OCT 19 vs. Potsdam State Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT. OCT 20 vs. Potsdam State Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT. OCT 27 @ Neumann College Ice Works Complex 7:00 p.m.
SUN OCT 28 @ Neumann College Ice Works Complex 2:00 p.m.

FRI NOV 2 @ USNTDP – 18 Ann Arbor Ice Cube 7:05 p.m.
FRI NOV 9 vs. Lawrence Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT NOV 10 vs. Lawrence Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
FRI NOV 16 @ Finlandia Houghton Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT NOV 17 @ Finlandia Houghton Arena 7:00 p.m.
FRI NOV 30 @ Marian Blue Line Center 7:00 p.m.

SAT DEC 1 @ Marian Blue Line Center 7:00 p.m.
FRI DEC 7 vs. MSOE Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT DEC 8 vs. MSOE Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.

FRI. JAN 4 vs. Geneseo Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
FRI. JAN 11 @ Concordia Ozaukee Center 7:00 p.m.
SAT JAN 12 @ Concordia Ozaukee Center 7:00 p.m.
FRI JAN 18 @ Crookston Civic Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT JAN 19 @ Crookston Civic Arena 7:00 p.m.
FRI JAN 25 vs. Northland Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT JAN 26 vs. Northland Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.

FRI FEB 1 vs. Marian Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT FEB 2 vs. Marian Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
FRI FEB 8 @ MSOE Kern Center 7:00 p.m.
SAT FEB 9 @ MSOE Kern Center 7:00 p.m.
FRI FEB 15 vs. Concordia Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.
SAT FEB 16 vs. Concordia Arrington Ice Arena 7:00 p.m.

Michigan State sweeps Lake Superior State

In sweeping Lake Superior State at home last weekend, Michigan State has strung together a season-best five-game winning streak.

Friday night, Bryan Lerg's goal 2:52 into overtime gave MSU a 3-2 victory.

"I think we have come together better as a team," said Lerg. "We were down by one after the first and we didn't panic at all. We knew that we had 40 more minutes to go out there and score some goals and we did that. If we relax and don't panic, we're in the game the whole time."

Josh Sim scored both Laker goals and LSSU goalie Pat Inglis made 37 saves.

"(Inglis) played good and he's been good all year for us," said Lake Superior State head coach Jim Roque. "He's a big kid and he battles hard. Obviously, as you can see I had no problem playing him in a situation like this."

Jeff Lerg (pictured) stopped 27 for the Spartans, who also got goals from Nick Sucharski and Justin Abdelkader.

Saturday night, Lerg turned aside 27 yet again in a 4-0 blanking of the Lakers. He was named CCHA Goaltender of the Week today as well.

Bryan Lerg, Jim McKenzie, Daniel Vukovic and Chris Mueller scored for MSU and Mike Ratchuk added a pair of assists.

"I just knew we needed to get the win and the points for conference reasons and for national reasons," said Jeff Lerg. "It was nice for Bryan to get the game-winning goal on his birthday and for us to give Coach another win on his birthday. It ended up being a nice weekend for all of us."

Jeff Jakaitis made 26 stops for LSSU.

"We had some chances in the first where we were right in front of the net and we couldn't get it over Jeff Lerg," said Roque. "That could've given us the lead and instead they came out of the first period with the lead. We're just struggling with confidence, but we're playing hard, and our guys want to win and they're trying. I thought we played more controlled tonight and I thought we competed a bit better. We played hard but we're just not making good decisions with the puck right now."

The Spartans (16-8-1, 12-6-1 CCHA) are off this weekend, but will resume action Feb. 2-3 at Nebraska-Omaha.

Lake Superior State (13-10-3, 7-8-3 CCHA) hosts Ohio State for two this weekend.

Michigan earns road sweep in Alaska

The No. 13 Michigan Wolverines ventured to Alaska last weekend and came home with a two-game sweep of the Nanooks.

Saturday, with the score tied at 1-1 in the third period, the Maize and Blue erupted for three goals over 2:09. Brandon Naurato had a career-high three points on a goal and two assists. He had the primary helper on U-M's first and second goals before tallying the fourth in the 5-2 win.

Goalie Billy Sauer made 32 saves for the win and Andrew Cogliano, Tim Miller, David Rohlfs and Jack Johnson also scored for U-M.

On Friday, T.J. Hensick scored once in each period for his first career hat trick as the Wolverines collected a 6-2 victory.

"The last two were great plays," said Hensick. "The second one by Chad Kolarik on the back door, I think my little sister could have put that one in. The other one was Jack Johnson. He said, 'Get open,' and he found me. Chad had a good screen in front of the net and luckily it went in. On the first one, Kevin Porter had a good shot on net and I put the rebound in. The puck was going in tonight. It's a good feeling to finally get back on the scoreboard. I was lucky enough to get one and I got three, so I'm pretty happy about it."

Cogliano, Naurato and captain Matt Hunwick tallied U-M's other goals to back Sauer's 29-save performance in goal.

"He played a great game," Johnson said of Sauer. "He played the way we know he can play. We expect him to be that good the rest of the year."

Michigan (17-9-0, 12-6-0 CCHA) returns to Yost Ice Arena for two games this weekend against Ferris State.

Broncos beat, lose to No. 3 Notre Dame

Western Michigan surprised No. 3 Notre Dame Friday night in Kalamazoo, but couldn't keep the momentum going and split the series Saturday night.

Friday, Jeff Pierce's goal with 2:46 left in regulation lifted the Broncos to a 3-2 win over the Irish. In the process, the WMU notched its fifth win against a Top 20 team and the fourth at home this season.

"It was a tremendous effort by our team against a very good Notre Dame squad," WMU coach Jim Culhane said afterwards. "I thought we showed a lot of composure when the game got tight at 2-2. It was a great crowd and environment in the building tonight."

Patrick Galivan and Jeff LoVecchio also scored and in goal, Daniel Bellissimo finished with 29 saves.

Saturday, the Irish pitched a 3-0 shutout.

"It's awfully tough to sweep in the CCHA, and although we came up short tonight, I thought we battled hard," Culhane said. "We'll take our two points from this weekend and get ready for Tuesday's game."

Bellissimo made 23 saves in net.

Western Michigan (9-13-1, 8-10-1 CCHA) plays host to Ferris State Tuesday and Alabama-Huntsville this weekend.

MTU earns split up north with SeaWolves

Michigan Tech travelled to Anchorage for a WCHA series with the Seawolves, and earned a split on the weekend. MTU misfired out of the gate on Friday, losing 3-2, but responded nicely with a 4-1 win on Saturday. The Huskies moved out of the basement and into eighth in the WCHA with the win, only two points behind a home playoff series.

Friday saw Anchorage get on the board first, but MTU tied it before the end of the first when Lars Helminen found the back of the net on a 5-on-3 power play. In the second, Alaska got the go-ahead goal.

The third saw the Seawolves take a 2 goal lead at the eight-minute mark. With seven minutes left in the game, MTU scored to make it 3-2. It was Malcolm Gwilliam who was able to get the puck by the UAA netminder. That was all the road team could muster, as Anchorage held strong.

Rob Nolan was in net for the Huskies and stopped 16 shots.

The play on Saturday started out ugly for the Huskies, but somehow MTU was able to get the first goal of the period, when Tyler Shelast was able to find the back of the net. Anchorage tied the game, less than a minute later. MTU was outshot 11-5 in that first period.

In the second, MTU evened the shots, and took a one-goal lead, off the stick of the team's leading scorer, Peter Rouleau. MTU came close a few times, but one was all they could get out of the second period.

MTU entered the third with three minutes remaining on a five-minute major. UAA took a second penalty early in the third, and MTU capitalized as Geoff Kinrade was able to bury a shot to give the Huskies a two- goal cushion. Jimmy Kerr added an empty-netter inside of the last minute to secure the game for the visitors.

Michael-Lee Teslak improved to 5-5-1 on the year with 25 saves, and has now won two straight.

MTU (11-13-2) will host Colorado College in a pivotal WCHA series. With 11 wins, MTU has amassed their largest win total since the 1997-98 season (17).

NMU Wildcats sweep Bowling Green

The Northern Michigan Wildcats picked up their first sweep of the season against Bowling Green as they dropped the Falcons 4-1 on back-to-back nights in Marquette.

Friday

NMU established a solid 3-0 lead on a goal from Mike Santorelli and a pair of Darin Olver markers. BGSU's Tomas Petruska cut the lead to 3-1 midway through the final period, but a Zach Tarkir goal at the 15:24 mark capped the scoring and sealed the win for the Wildcats.

NMU outshot BGSU 26-22 on the night. NMU netminder Bill Zaniboni stopped 21 of 22 shots while Bowling Green's Jimmy Spratt rejected 22 of 26 shots.

Despite the victory, the 'Cats commited 12 penalties and were only 1-8 on the power-play. The performance was sub-par in their minds.

"We didn't play the game that we needed to play tonight or for the rest of the year to be successful," Olver said. "Something is going to have to be done tomorrow night."

Saturday

Northern once again jumped out to a quick advantage, leading 3-0 after two periods. The lead came thanks to goals from Rob Lehtinen, Tarkir and Santorelli. Petruska again scored the lone Falcon goal and the scoring was capped when Olver scored on an empty net in the last two minutes of play.

"We gave ourselves a chance, but we have to be more consistent scoring goals," BGSU head coach Scott Paluch said. "We're putting way too much pressure on ourselves scoring only one goal. Ultimately, falling behind isn't a good recipe to be successful in this league."

Bowling Green outshot NMU, 23-21 and goalie Eddie Neville stopped 17 of 20 shots on the night. In the other net, Zaniboni allowed a single goal for the third straight game, this time turning away 22 of 23 shots.

During the weekend, Santorelli picked up six points on two goals and four assists. The six points gave Santorelli 100 for his career, making him the 46th NMU player to reach the mark.

"Actually, I didn't even know about it," Santorelli said of the milestone. "It's a great accomplishment, but I'm just happy that we got the four points."

Santorelli now has 11 points in his last five games, while his 22 goals is good for second in the nation in that category.

The Wildcats (11-14-2, 8-11-1 CCHA) will now travel to Minnesota where they have a non-conference match against the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs on Wednesday night. The road trip continues into the weekend as the 'Cats engage in a CCHA weekend series with the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.

Warriors take three points at Quinnipiac

After a tough series with Mercyhurst last weekend, the Wayne State Warriors rebounded in fine fashion this weekend as the team tied and beat Quinnipiac on the road.

They earned a 4-4 tie thanks to a clutch goal by Melissa Boal (pictured) on Friday, and pulled out a 4-3 victory on Saturday. The Warriors' record now stands at 9-14-1.

Quinnipiac got out to an early lead on Friday, but Brandi Frakie scored her sixth goal of the season to knot the score. Less than three minutes later, Laura Monk and Katrina Protopapas set up junior Danielle Wilson to put the Warriors ahead. The goal was Wilson's first of the season.

Quinnipiac struck back with a pair of power-play goals, but Boal scored her first goal of the game at 11:08 of the third period to tie the game again.

When Quinnipiac scored with less than three minutes remaining, they looked to have the game in hand, but Boal saved the day by scoring less than a minute later to seal the tie. Sam Poyton was credited with assists on both of Boal's goals.

Valery Turcotte was solid in net with 32 saves, including five in overtime.

The tie was bittersweet for the Warriors, as it was the first time they ever faced the Bobcats and didn't skate away with the win.

Saturday's game started impressively for the Warriors, as the team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half of the game. Lindsay DiPietro struck first, with some assistance from Poyton and Christine Jefferson. Wilson set up Monk early in the second period, and it was then Boal to Protopapas for the game's third tally.

Quinnipiac then scored two goals to narrow the Warriors' lead. Amanda Hungle scored the eventual game-winner at 4:31 of the third, though Quinnipiac would add another goal for a final score of 4-3.

The Warriors outshot the Bobcats 30-29, and Turcotte had 26 saves.

Wayne State will be on the road again next weekend as they will face CHA opponent Robert Morris.

FU men split, women fall at Superior

The Finlandia men split on the road at Marian and the Lion women lost their lone game at Wisconsin-Superior.

Friday, the FU men used a Ryan Sullivan hat trick to take a 7-4 win over the Sabres.

Joe Welgos, Matt Lindgren, Josh Paquette and Joe Beaudry also tallied to back Lukas Alberer's 26-save outing in net.

That same night, the women were blanked, 2-0, by the Yellowjackets on the road.

Saturday, Finlandia lost 4-3 in overtime.

Sullivan, Paquette and Keith Johnstone scored for the Lions and Joe Juntilla stopped 29 shots.

The men (11-6-0, 9-3-0 MCHA) host Northland this weekend while the women (4-11-2, 0-6-1 NCHA) host Wisconsin-River Falls.