MiCHO Power Poll 03.13.2013

Below is the final MiCHO Power Poll for the 2012-13 season.

1. Western Michigan (idle)
2. Ferris State (idle)
3. Michigan (beat Northern Michigan in CCHA first round)
4. Michigan Tech (split with Colorado College)
5. Michigan State (beat Alaska in CCHA first round)
6. Lake Superior State (lost to Bowling Green in CCHA first round)
7. Northern Michigan (lost to Michigan in CCHA first round)

This weekend, the second round of the CCHA playoffs kick into high gear as Michigan State plays at Miami, Western Michigan hosts Michigan and Ferris State travels to Ohio State.

In the WCHA postseason, Michigan Tech will play on the road at North Dakota.

Lakers advance with sweep of Alaska

By Michael David/LSSU Beat Writer

The Lake Superior State Lakers advance to the second round of the CCHA Playoffs with a sweep of the Alaska Nanooks this weekend. LSSU held on to the 4-3 lead on Fridady, and shut out UAF 2-0 on Saturday.

Friday night the Lakers were down 1-0 early, but Dominic Mondaro's power play goal late tied the score. Assists went to junior forward Nick McParland and sophomore forward Kyle Jean. The Lakers would take a 2-1 lead with just .39 seconds remaining in the opening stanza when junior defenseman Zach Trotman jumped into the play and his shot from just above the circle found the back of the net. Jean and McParland drew their second assists of the night.

The Lakers scored the lone goal of the second period. Freshman forward Buddy Robinson banged the puck in the net after he recieved a nice feed from Ben Power, who dug it out of the corner.

The Nanooks came out in the third period and scored just .14 seconds in, to make the score 3-2. The Lakers would re-take the two goal lead just .46 seconds later, though, when Kellan Lain knocked a rebound in the net on a goal assisted by freshman forward Stephen Perfetto. UAF kept fighting, though, and scored a goal after pulling their goalie for the extra attacker. They were unable to net the tying goal, and the Lakers held on for the win.

Sophomore goalie Kevin Kapalka stopped 36 shots for LSSU, and both team were 1-4 on the power play.

Saturday night, it was the Lakers who jumped on the board first. Freshman forward Chris Ciotti scored and early first period goal assisted by McParland.

Neither team could find the net in the second, and Lake State scored an empty net goal to secure the win. Senior defenseman Kyle Haines was credited with the unassisted goal.

LSSU was 0-5 on the power play, while the Nanooks were 0-4. Kapalka was solid again in net, and made another 36 saves for his second shut out of the season.

The Lakers (18-15-5) travel to Kalamazoo next weekend to face the Western Michigan Broncos in the next round.