Here's this weeks edition of the NCHA Newsletter, originating in the office of the NCHA Sports Information Officer, Terry Owens, at UW-Stevens Point. All typos are mine. Debbie FALCONS VAULT INTO SECOND WITH SWEEP; BLUGOLDS WIN ELMIRA TOURNEY LAST WEEK: In the only conference series of the week, UW-River Falls swept St. Norbert to jump into second place in the NCHA. In notable non-conference play, UW-Eau Claire won the Elmira Tournament and UW- Superior and UW-Stevens Point split a pair of games. THIS WEEK: The eight teams all get back into league play as December hits. Bemidji State takes its league-leading status to UW-Eau Claire, who has won five straight; hot UW-River Falls is at struggling Lake Forest; UW-Superior and St. Scholastica resume a neighborly rivalry; and St. Norbert and UW-Stevens Point play a home-and-home series. UW-RIVER FALLS 4 ST. NORBERT 3 UW-RIVER FALLS 6 ST. NORBERT 0 Friday: The Falcons got three goals in the second period and held on at the end for the win. SNC struck first on Todd Deacetis score at 2:27 of the first. But, UWRF hit hard in the second period with three unanswered goals by Chris Coakley, Matt Mauer and Brian Wilson before Keith Mizwicki snapped the string for the Green Knights at 18:17 of the period. Mike Porcaro brought St. Norbert within one at 7:20 of the third but they could get no closer as Tom Bachmeier shut them down the final 13 minutes. Bachmeier had 22 saves for the win while Scott Vettraino and Roby Gropp combined for 29 saves in a losing effort. Saturday: Brian Wilson scored a pair of goals and Jeff Heil stopped 20 shots on goal as the Falcons completed the sweep. Wilson started things with a shorthand goal 52 seconds into the second period that began a five-goal outburst by UWRF. Following Wilson were Brian Savage, Chris Coakley, Wilson again, and Matt Mauer. Scott Bachinski closed out the scoring midway through the third. UW-SUPERIOR 2 UW-STEVENS POINT 0 UW-STEVENS POINT 3 UW-SUPERIOR 2 Friday: Dave Graichen turned away 30 shots for the shutout. Dustin Fahl scored at 13:06 of the first and Doug Smith at 5:21 of the third for the only scoring. Graichen stopped five shots in the first, 11 in the second and 14 in the third for the win. David Fletcher had 21 saves in a losing effort. Saturday: Brian Ensign s goal with under four minutes left gave Point a split. Casey Howard and Willy Frericks tallied in the first period to five UWSP a 2-0 lead but UWS got powerplay scores from Dustin Fahl at 15:46 of the second and Kevin Sobb at 1:36 of the third to tie it, setting the stage for Ensign s game-winner. Dave Ketola stopped 21 shots on net for the win while Dave Graichen made 17 saves in a losing effort. UW-EAU CLAIRE 3 CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 1 (Elmira Tournament) UW-EAU CLAIRE 7 ELMIRA COLLEGE 6 (Elmira Tournament) Friday: Steve Kueppers scored what proved to be the game-winner at 19:25 of the second and Jason Ledford scored his second goal of the game for insurance early in the third as the Blugolds advanced to the Elmira College Star-Gazette Invitational Championship Game. Bob Thorp made 23 saves for the win in net. Saturday: Tourney MVP Jason Ledford and Trapper Niccum each scored a pair of goals to lead the Blugolds to the Championship of the Invite. Besides Ledford and Niccum, Matt Loen, Bill Houck and Dan Granato also scored in the back-and-forth contest. Niccum s second goal at 14:46 of the third proved to be the game-winner. Bob Thorp stopped 32 shots for the win in net. MANKATO STATE 9 ST. SCHOLASTICA 1 MANKATO STATE 5 ST. SCHOLASTICA 3 Friday: The Mavericks got three in the first, two in the second and four in the third to run away from the visiting Saints. CSS s lone score came from Doug Chos at 10:27 of the first period that cut the MSU lead to 2-1. But Mankato then scored the next seven goals. Saturday: The Mavericks built a 3-0 lead after two and then held off a Saints rally in the third for the sweep. Jeff Burton and Joe Nosan scored powerplay goals in a five-minute span of the early third to make it 3-2 before Mankato bounced back with back-to-back goals to retake control. Bill Vukelich closed out the scoring for CSS at 18:27. MERCYHURST 6 LAKE FOREST 2 MERCYHURST 6 LAKE FOREST 0 Friday: The host Lakers broke away from a back-and-forth contest with three in the second for the win. Craig Cotterell had tied the score at 1-all at 10:46 of the first before MC took a 2-1 lead after one. Chris Austin then tied it again at 2-2 just nine seconds into the second before Mercyhurst rattled off four unanswered goals for the win. Sean Keck stopped 36 shots in a losing effort. Saturday: The Lakers got two scores in each period to record the shutout in a penalty-marred contest. Mark MacGillivray made 39 saves in the loss. --------- NCHA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jeff Heil, Fr, Goalie, Bloomington, MN, UW-River Falls Jeff Heil wins this week s NCHA Player of the Week honor. Heil recorded his first collegiate shutout in a 6-0 win over St. Norbert College on Saturday night, stopping all 20 shots he faced. Heil received close competition from Jason Ledford, a forward from UW- Eau Claire, who earned Elmira Tournament MVP honors while scoring four goals and one assist as the Blugolds took a pair of games to win the Tourney Championship; and Dave Graichen, a goalie from UW-Superior, who went 1-1 in a split with UW-Stevens Point, including a 2-0, 30- save shutout on friday night, his second career shutout. November 7: Omer Belisle, Bemidji State November 14: Luke Strand, UW-Eau Claire November 21: Bernie Adlys, Bemidji State November 28: Jeff Heil, UW-River Falls --------- Overall Home and Road HOME ROAD Team W L T W L T Bemidji State 3 1 0 2 1 0 Lake Forest 1 3 0 0 4 0 St. Norbert 4 0 0 0 2 0 St. Scholastica 1 0 0 0 7 0 UW-Eau Claire 2 1 0 2 2 0 UW-River Falls 2 0 0 2 1 1 UW-Stevens Point 1 2 1 2 0 0 UW-Superior 4 2 0 1 1 0 Neutral: St. Norbert 1-1-0 UW-Eau Claire 1-0-0 ------------ 1994-95 OVERALL STANDINGS TEAM (OVERALL RECORD) W L T Pts GF GA Bemidji State (5-2-0) 4 0 0 8 27 10 UW-River Falls (4-1-1) 3 0 1 7 17 7 UW-Stevens Point(3-2-1) 2 1 1 5 11 12 St. Norbert (5-3-0) 2 2 0 4 11 15 UW-Eau Claire (5-3-0) 2 2 0 4 21 26 UW-Superior (5-3-0) 2 2 0 4 25 16 Lake Forest (1-7-0) 0 4 0 0 10 15 St. Scholastica (1-7-0) 0 4 0 0 11 32 North Division W L T Pts Bemidji State 4 0 0 8 UW-Eau Claire 2 2 0 4 UW-Superior 2 2 0 4 St. Scholastica 0 4 0 0 South Division W L T Pts UW-River Falls 3 0 1 7 UW-Stevens Point 2 1 1 5 St. Norbert 2 2 0 4 Lake Forest 0 4 0 0 -------------- THIS WEEK: December 2 UW-Superior at St. Scholastica Bemidji State at UW-Eau Claire St. Norbert at UW-Stevens Point UW-River Falls at Lake Forest December 3 UW-Superior at St. Scholastica UW-Stevens Point at St. Norbert Bemidji State at UW-Eau Claire UW-River Falls at Lake Forest \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Debbie Somers NCAA Div III National Champs UW-Stevens Point 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91,1992-93 [log in to unmask] ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "The right to be heard does not include the right to be taken seriously." Hubert H. Humphrey