CC Falls Back to No. 10 (No. 9 in USCHO)

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine
Division I hockey poll
(first-place votes in parenthesis)
Last Week's Ranking--2007-08 Record--Weeks In Top 15
1. Miami (Ohio) University (30) 2 6-0-0 5
2. University of Michigan, 3 5-1-0 5
3. University of North Dakota, 1 (2) 3-1-1 5
4. University of New Hampshire, 6 (2) 3-0-0 5
5. Boston College, 5 3-1-2 5
6. Michigan State University, 9 4-1-0 5
7. University of Denver, 7 4-2-0 5
8. University of Minnesota, 10 4-2-0 5
9. University of Wisconsin, 11 3-1-0 5
10. Colorado College, 4 2-2-0 5
11. Clarkson University, 8 4-2-0 5
12. University of Maine, 13 4-2-0 4
13. University of Notre Dame, 12 4-3-0 5
14. Michigan Tech University, 15 4-2-0 2
15. University of Minnesota-Duluth, NR 4-1-1 1
Others receiving votes: St. Lawrence University, 14; Niagara University, 10; The Ohio State University, 9; U.S. Air Force Academy, 7; University of Alaska Anchorage, 4; College of the Holy Cross, 1; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1.

USCHO.com/CSTV Division I hockey poll
October 29, 2007
Team (First Place Votes)--Record--Last Poll
1. Miami (39) 6-0-0 2
2. North Dakota (4) 3-1-1 1
3. Michigan 5-1-0 3

4. New Hampshire (3) 3-0-0 7
5. Boston College 3-1-2 5
6. Michigan State 4-1-0 8
7. Denver 4-2-0 6
8. Minnesota 4-2-0 10
9. Colorado College 2-2-0 4
10. Wisconsin 3-1-0 11
11. Clarkson 4-2-0 9
12. Maine 4-2-0 13
13. Michigan Tech 4-2-0 14
14. Notre Dame 4-3-0 12
15. Minnesota-Duluth 4-1-1 17
16. St. Lawrence 3-3-0 15
17. Rensselaer 5-2-0 NR
18. Niagara 4-1-0 NR
19. St. Cloud State 3-2-1 NR
20. Massachusetts 2-2-2 16
Others Receiving Votes: Dartmouth 51, Ohio State 45, Alaska-Anchorage 39, Air Force 36, Cornell 25, Mass.-Lowell 25, RIT 15, Holy Cross 10, Colgate 7, Quinnipiac 7, Vermont 7, Boston University 6, Merrimack 6, Nebraska-Omaha 3, Princeton 3, Northeastern 2, Robert Morris 2, Providence 1

Game day: New Hampshire 4, CC 2 (final)

Third-period goals:
Colorado College 1, New Hampshire 2: Brad Flaishans (Craig Switzer, Matt Fornataro), 4:33, pp.
Just 35 seconds into a 101-second five-on-three scenario, Switzer's pass from the point was one-timed by Flaishans from the top of the left circle. The slap shot beat Bachman inside the left post.
"There was a power-play blast and there was a lot of traffic," coach Scott Owens said of the goal.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 2: Scott McCulloch (Jack Hillen, Andreas Vlassopoulos), 9:52, pp.
Hillen ripped a shot from the point and McCulloch and Bill Sweatt crashed the net, punching the rebound past goaltender Brian Foster.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 3: Paul Thompson (Danny Dries, Joe Charlebois), 10:08.
Sixteen seconds after CC's game-tying score, Charlebois' slap shot from the outside edge of the right circle was tipped by Dries on the near post and batted in by Thompson backdoor.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 4: Peter LeBlanc (Jerry Pollastrone), 19:53, en.
After a neutral zone turnover created a 2-on-1 rush, defenseman Brian Connelly overcommitted to LeBlanc, who drove past him and finished in the empty net.

Post-game quotes:
Coach Scott Owens
--On the two-referee, two-linesman system
"The two-man system is something that's being experimented with this year, I thought it went reasonably well. I would give it a thumbs-up based on this weekend."
--On goaltender Richard Bachman
"You know what? Three goals against in a road game, his first road game, five goals in three games against teams rated top-six in the country, you know, that’s a good start for the young man."
--Concerned about CC's penalty kill, which gave up three goals on 10 power plays?
"I’m not concerned. I just hate putting so much pressure on our special teams by not generating a goal or a goal and a half a game on five-on-five and that’s an area we’ve really got to get better at here."

Defenseman Jack Hillen
--On what the Tigers learned this weekend
"What it takes to win on the road. Obviously we’re not good enough right now. You can’t just come into a barn, especially a team that’s as good as UNH, and not put a full road game together. We made too many mistakes. We did a lot of good things right, you can certainly take those away. But as a senior and a veteran on this team, I’m looking at goals after we just get one. ...It’s a whole different atmosphere coming into a place like this than playing at home and w e’ve got to learn and we’ve got to learn pretty quick or it’s going to get away."
--On playing from behind on the road
"It’s hard. It’s harder to come back on the road because you don’t get that momentum from the crowd. You feel like you’re on your own and you don’t get the breaks from the refs. I’m not saying that’s what caused the game, I’m just saying you’re not going to get anything going your way, you’ve got to make your own momentum and it’s that much harder on the road. If you’re playing catch up, it’s not a good recipe for road wins."

Left wing Scott McCulloch
--On what CC's 5-on-5 offense needs
"I think that’s just not playing in the tough areas. We’ve got a lot of skilled forwards but it’s getting the puck to the paint and being there and getting traffic in front of the goalie. I think that’s an area we need to improve on, especially being an older team, it’s something that we should already be doing. I think we need to improve big-time on that. Usually we do a good job down low, but it’s taking the puck to the net with authority and having bodies there and that’s where it’s tough to play, it’s in front of the net. That triangle in front, that’s where the goals are scored and I think we need to do a better job of getting there."
--On why the Tigers' forecheck struggled to contain New Hampshire
I think we had a few turnovers, just not taking care of the puck and maybe missing a few lanes. But they’re a great team, they move the puck really well through the neutral zone, that’s their strength. You’re not always going to be able to stop that team, but I think in all areas, bearing down would help out.

Inside the stats:
--New Hampshire had the faceoff edge, 39-32. For CC, Chad Rau won 12/20 faceoffs and Vlassopoulos earned 11/22 wins.
--CC scored on two of seven power plays, as did the Wildcats, but had 16 shots to New Hampshire's seven on the man-advantage.
--In the first and second period, Bachman faced just seven shots from the slot. By contrast, in the third period, eight of UNH's 12 shots came from the slot.

***
Tiger Tracks:
Tonight's American Hockey League showdown between the Lake Erie Monsters and the Iowa Stars was a CC-studded affair. Defenseman Brandon Straub helped the Monsters to a 3-2 win, in which Stars captain Toby Petersen had a goal and Stars alternate captain Marty Sertich was held to a single shot.

Game day: CC 1, New Hampshire 1 (end of 2nd period)

Goals: Colorado College 0, New Hampshire 1:Matt Fornataro (James vanRiemsdyk, Brad Flaishans), 2:50, pp.
On New Hampshire's second power play of the game, Flaishans unleashed a slap shot from the top of the left circle just wide of the left side of the goal. The puck bounced into the no-man's land on top of the crease, out of reach of goaltender Richard Bachman. An attempt by vanRiemsdyk was finished by Fornataro under Bachman's blocker.
"I thought the first one was just an unlucky bounce off the backboards that came right back into the crease," Bachman said. "I was trying to reach but just couldn’t quite get it."

Colorado College 1, New Hampshire 1: Bill Sweatt (Jack Hillen, Chad Rau), 13:10, pp.
Two New Hampshire penalties put CC in a 5-on-3 situation for 55 seconds. With one second left in the two-man advantage, Jack Hillen ripped a shot from the top of the slot that was tipped by Bill Sweatt and bounced off of goaltender Brian Foster's left pad and up into the net.

--CC is outshooting UNH 24-13.
--The Tigers failed to cash in on two power plays to close the second period.
--A slight fog has developed about two feet off the ice.

Game day: CC 0, New Hampshire 0 (end of the 1st period)

Goals:
No scoring.

Shots/power plays:
CC has a 12-6 advantage in shots on goal and has two power plays to New Hampshire's one.

First period analysis:
A muggy night in Durham has perhaps contributed to the soft ice at Whittemore Arena tonight. Players are sliding everywhere and are having trouble making quick changes of direction and stopping on a dime. Both goalies have made some clutch saves to keep the game scoreless.

CC's goaltender Richard Bachman made a point-blank save with less than five minute left in the period on a shot from center Peter LeBlanc. New Hampshire backup Peter Foster shut down a three-on-two rush by the McCulloch-Johnson-Walsky line after Walsky created a neutral-zone turnover.

The Tigers are doing a much better job of possessing the puck out of their defensive zone tonight and aside from LeBlanc's shot, have limited the Wildcats to outside shots.

Game day: CC at New Hampshire

Notes:
1. Colorado College RW Jimmy Kilpatrick is in the lineup again tonight.
2. G Richard Bachman will start as the Tigers try to salvage the sweep.
--Entering Saturday's game, Bachman is third in the nation for his 0.98 goals against average and .968 save percentage.
3. D Ryan Lowery, RW Mike Testwuide and F Matt Overman are healthy scratches.
4. I forgot to mention in today's game story or in yesterday's blog notes that New Hampshire's power-play goal (PPG) with less than three minutes to go was the first PPG CC has given up this season. The Tigers have killed 13 of 14 power plays this season.

Lines:

Colorado College
10 Thauwald--14 Rau--23 Kilpatrick
21 Sweatt--19 Vlassopoulos--16 Patrosso
26 McCulloch--17 Johnson--22 Walsky
5 DeBoer--9 McMillin--2 Lampl

8 Hillen--15 Prosser
7 Fredheim--4 Gannon
27 Wysopal--11 Connelly

30 Bachman
31 O'Connell
1 O'Brien

New Hampshire
21 vanRiemsdyk--22 Radja--39 Fornataro
11 Pollastrone--9 LeBlanc--12 Butler
8 Collins--17 Fortney--14 Sislo
15 Dries--23 DeSimone--20 Thompson

4 Switzer--19 Flaishans
2 Fritsch--7 Charlebois
18 Krates--5 Kapstad

29 Foster
32 Regan

***
Tiger Tracks:
Goaltender Matt Zaba was promoted to the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack.

Gameday: CC 3, New Hampshire 5

Goals:
First period
Colorado College 1, New Hampshire 0: Eric Walsky (Tyler Johnson), 2:12. Johnson put the puck on net from the left circle, making goaltender Kevin Regan stop it with his body first. Walsky slid the puck under Regan as he tried to smother it with his body.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 0: Jimmy Kilpatrick (Chad Rau), 9:40. Less than 30 seconds into a four-on-four situation, Rau wins the puck in the neutral zone and Kilpatrick joins for a two-on-one rush. Kilpatrick catches Rau's pass in the slot and slings the puck over Regan's blocker, just inside the left post, to score on his first shot of the season.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 1: Bobby Butler (Brad Flaishans, Mike Radja), 9:48. On the subsequent face-off, won by Mike Radja, Flaishans collected the puck and passed to Butler, who caught O'Connell moving and finished with a low wrist shot. The announcer had not finished saying the previous scoring line, marking the second time this season the Tigers have given up a goal within a minute of scoring.

Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 1: Jack Hillen (Bill Sweatt), 15:10, pp. CC earned its second power play of the game when New Hampshire defenseman Craig Switzer flipped Kilpatrick, who was posted up in front of the Wildcats' net. Just 32 seconds into the man-advantage, Sweatt passed to Hillen on the point. Hillen leaned as if he would make a pass to Nate Prosser at the left circle, but got the New Hampshire penalty kill to shift and ripped a wrist shot past Regan.

Second period
Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 2: Matt Fornataro (James vanRiemsdyk, Flaishans), 0:15. Flaishans created a turnover at the blue line, passed to vanRiemsdyk who found Fornatero in the right circle. On the first shot of the second period, Fornatero had plenty of time to pick his spot. His wrist shot sailed in over O'Connell's glove hand to draw the Wildcats within a goal.

Third period
Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 3: Jerry Pollastrone (Butler, Peter LeBlanc), 9:45. Walsky's pass out of the defensive zone went straight to Pollastrone, who ripped a shot through traffic from the top of the slot to tie the score.

Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 4: Pollastrone (LeBlanc, Butler), 17:29, pp. With 21 seconds left in the Wildcats' third power play of the night, LeBlanc banged the puck hard off of the back wall and Pollastrone backhanded it through O'Connell's legs. The puck hit the left post and bounced out, prompting a video review, but it was ruled it crossed the goal line, upholding the original call.

Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 5: Fornataro (unassisted), 19:50, en. CC was only able to pull O'Connell for the last 20 seconds because the Wildcats had pinned them in so well with their forecheck. Fornataro created a turnover and finished in the empty net.

Inside the stats:
--The Wildcats did not allow a shot over the final 10 minutes.
--CC had the edge in face-off wins, 34-32. Chad Rau led the Tigers, winning 15 of 25 attempts.
--UNH goaltender Kevin Regan, who will be replaced tomorrow with sophomore Brian Foster, coach Dick Umile said, allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period.

Gameday: CC at New Hampshire

Notes:
1. G Drew O'Connell gets his first start of the season.
2. RW Jimmy Kilpatrick returns to action after an August hip surgery, a full week before scheduled.
3. D Ryan Lowery makes his CC debut.
4. W Addison DeBoer and W Matt Overman are healthy scratches.
5. Sell-out home-opener crowd at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.

Lines:

Colorado College

10 Thauwald--14 Rau--23 Kilpatrick
21 Sweatt--19 Vlassopoulos--16 Patrosso
26 McCulloch--17 Johnson--22 Walsky
2 Lampl--9 McMillin--25 Testwuide

8 Hillen--15 Prosser
7 Fredheim--4 Gannon
11 Connelly--24 Lowery

31 O'Connell
30 Bachman
1 O'Brien

New Hampshire
21 vanRiemsdyk--22 Radja--39 Fornatero
11 Pollastrone--9 LeBlanc--12 Butler
8 Collins--17 Forney--14 Sislo
15 Dries--23 DeSimone--20 Thompson

4 Switzer--19 Flaishans
2 Fritsch--7 Charlebois
18 Krates--5 Kapstad

32 Regan
29 Foster