The NMU sweep over the Colorado College Tigers was certainly a nice
holiday present for Wildcat fans, who can now enjoy the rest of December
as boosters of a team which shares first place in the WCHA. It's a very
nice cap for Wildcat athletics this week, with the women's volleyball
team winning the national Division II championship here Monday night.
There were over 3,000 in Hedgcock fieldhouse for the volleyball final,
and the excitement was electric.
(Making maximum use of this feat, the volleyball team was introduced on
the ice between periods of the Friday CC-NMU hockey game. The crowd
loved it.) (Aside to Bob Gilreath--just wait 'til the Tech basketball
teams play in Marquette! ;-) )
I believe the coaching staff and many local observers of the Wildcat
hockey program feel that very strong defensive play gets the credit for
the team's rise through the league standings. In the CC series, the
Tigers had only 37 shots on goal in the two games combined. (The 'Cats
had 57.) CC's two leading scorers, Jay McNeill and R.J. Enga were held
goalless in the series (well, the entire Tiger team was Saturday night).
The single most impressive player in the series, in my book, was the
Tigers' goalie Ryan Bach. He made a large number of amazing saves,
mainly at point-blank range to keep 4-3 and 4-0 games from being more
like 9-3 and 8-0. The NMU goalies, Paul Taylor (Friday) and Dieter
Kochan (Saturday, with his second career shutout--already) played very
well and made some good stops when they had to, but they were the
beneficiaries of (usually) outstanding help from their defensive
teammates. CC coach Don Lucia said, "That's as good a job defensively
against a team I've been involved with that I've seen in seven or eight
years of coaching."
Rick Comley was visibly (does that adjective make sense when it's
derived from listening to a radio interview? Well, we do talk about
"color" people in radio, right Mike M.?) pleased at the end of the
weekend's work. While he was disappointed with the 'Cats' slacking off
in the better part of the second two-thirds of the Friday game, he had
nothing but praise for the game-long effort on Saturday.
Senior Bryan Ganz returned again after yet another series of missed
games due to injury, and immediately contributed Saturday with a goal on
a rebound in the middle period. The goal Greg Hadden scored Saturday
was the nicest to watch; during an NMU penalty Hadden picked up a loose
puck in the Wildcat zone and carried it all the way down the right side,
letting go with a vicious slap shot from about 60 feet. Bach had an
excellent look at the shot but couldn't stop it, and Hadden had an
unassisted shorthanded goal. (I wonder if Joe Frederick is smiling; a
lot of his SHGs last year were courtesy of Hadden's unselfish passes.)
Looking forward to the "exhibition" games of the Badger tournament after
Christmas. Who in the East will fill we WCHA folks in onwhat to expect
from Providence?
Happy Holidays!
**********************************************************************
* Steve Christopher, NMU [log in to unmask] - GO CATS! *
* 1993 NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONS!!! *
* NCAA Division I Hockey National Runnerups 1979-80 *
* NCAA Division I Hockey Final Four 1980-81 * * * * *
* NCAA Division I Hockey National Champions 1990-91 * "WE'VE * *
* NCAA Division I Hockey Final Eight 1991-92 * ONLY * *
* NCAA Division I Hockey Final Eight 1992-93 * JUST * *
* WCHA League Champions 1990-91 * BEGUN"* *
* WCHA Playoff Champions 1988-89/1990-91/1991-92 * * * * *
* And a Bunch of CCHA Stuff Too! *
**********************************************************************
|
