MCHA Players of the Week
Plenty of storylines remain in place as the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association enters the final month of the regular season. In the Southern Division, Adrian College and MSOE both swept weekend series to remain deadlocked heading down the stretch. The Bulldogs (6-1 and 9-2 winners over Finlandia) and Raiders (2-0 and 4-2 over Lawrence) are now tied at 12-1-1 in MCHA play and, coincidentally, 15-3-1 overall. A head-to-head series to close out the regular season looms the final weekend.
| Marian Clinches; Division Showdown Looming |
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| Written by Chris Zills |
Monday, February 14 2011 |
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The Southern Division champion - and regular season title winner - will be crowned the final weekend of the regular season, with both Adrian College and MSOE at 16-1-1 after each took care of business on the weekend. The Bulldogs head to Milwaukee, with the Raiders hosting the huge series with start times of 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Kern Center.
The Bulldogs extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1), taking to the road to post victories of 9-2 and 7-1 over Concordia University. The Raiders did the same, sweeping a home-and-home series against Lake Forest College, winning 3-0 and 5-3 to improve their own winning streak to eight-consecutive. It will be a very high-profile series for the league across the board, with both teams remaining in the top 10. In fact, Adrian comes in at No. 5 in today's USCHO.com poll, while the Raiders move up to No. 8.
Northland College also continued its best season as a member of the MCHA, sweeping a pair of games from Finlandia University to up its victory total on the season to seven in league play and eight overall. After topping the Lions, 3-2 in overtime Friday and 7-3 Saturday, the LumberJacks improved to 8-13-2 to post their highest win total since the MCHA was formed in 1998-99.
Players of the Week -Marian University Sabres sophomore forward Dakota Dubetz (Chestermore, AB) is the MCHA Player of the Week for almost single-handedly leading his team to a pair of wins on the weekend. In Friday's win, Dubetz scored a power-play goal, tallied two assists and was +2 in the contest. Then, on Saturday, he was +4 and had four assists in the 6-3 win, giving him a hand in seven of the 11 goals that Marian scored in the series. Other nominees: Mike Dahlinger (Adrian), Todd Krupa (MSOE), Daniel McIntosh (Northland)
-Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders junior goalie Connor Toomey (Burlington, Mass.) was at it again to earn MCHA Defensive Player of the Week. The construction management major is in the midst of one of the best seasons at the NCAA D-III level, posting two more victories in the sweep of Lake Forest, his fourth shutout of the season and a save percentage of .959 for the week. He is now second in the country in both goals against average at 1.68 (first is 1.59) and save percentage at .933 (first is .934). Other nominees: Quinn Waller (Adrian), Shaun Newman (Northland), Tommy Fitzpatrick (Marian)
-Northland College LumberJacks freshman forward Mike Lennon (Reedsburg, Wisconsin) is the MCHA Freshman of the Week. The business major had a strong showing for his team, helping it clinch a playoff spot Friday with two goals and one assist in the 3-2 win. In addition to scoring the first goal of the contest, he assisted the second goal shorthanded and won it when he lit the lamp in overtime. Lennon also added an assist Saturday and was +4 for the weekend. Other nominees: Michael Thompson (MSOE), Josh Cousineau (Adrian), Matt Williams (Marian) |
Marian University came into play on the weekend with a four-point lead over Lawrence University and a home-and-home series on the schedule. Two victories later, the Sabres wrapped up first place in the MCHA Northern Division with wins of 5-0 Friday and 6-3 on Saturday.
