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.
| MCHA Wraps Up Full Weekend of League Games |
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| Written by Chris Zills |
Monday, November 07 2011 |
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The Raiders swept past Finlandia, 8-1 and 3-2, while the Bulldogs took a pair from Northland with scores of 13-3 and 8-2. The Sabres had a much tougher go of it, winning a pair of tight contests against Lake Forest, 3-0 and 3-1. In the AC/NC series, senior Chris Stansik - who missed last season with an injury - made a splash with a goal and assist which tied him with former teammate Quinn Waller for the most points by a defenseman in MCHA history (87). In the remaining league series, Lawrence opened with a 4-2 win and then settled for a 2-2 draw against Concordia the next night.
Left to right: Dakota Dubetz (Marian) ... Josh Baker (Marian) ... Kevin Balas (Adrian)
Players of the Week -Marian University Sabres junior forward Dakota Dubetz (Chestermore, Alberta) is the MCHA Player of the Week for his near-single-handed offensive production in Marian's sweep of Lake Forest. On Friday, Dubetz scored a pair of goals and assisted the other in a 3-0 win. Then, on Saturday, he tallied a power-play goal to even the game at 1-1 after the Sabres fell behind and then went on to assist the game-winner. For the weekend, he had a hand in five of the six goals and was +3. Other nominees: Zach Graham (Adrian), Brad Tierney (MSOE)
-Marian University Sabres sophomore goalkeeper Josh Baker (Canton, Mich.) gives his team a pair of weekly award winners as the MCHA Defensive Player of the Week. He started off the weekend with his first career shutout, stopping 19 shots. On Saturday, he allowed just one goal, but did record 27 more saves with his team killing all 13 Forester power plays in the series. He posted a 0.50 GAA and .979 save percentage for the week. Other nominees: Connor Toomey (MSOE), Chris Stansik (Adrian)
-Adrian CollegeBulldogs freshman forward Kevin Balas (Warkworth, Ont.) is the MCHA Freshman of the Week for his scoring prowess in the series sweep against Northland. Not only did he score his first collegiate goal Friday, but tallied a hat trick and an assist to end with four points. The next night, he added an assist to go +4 on the weekend with five (3G/2A) points. Other nominees: Peter Emery (Lawrence), Cole Gibson (MSOE), Brian Berger (Marian)
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It seemed to take longer this season than in previous years, but all eight teams in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association have officially started the 2011-12 campaign after play this past weekend. Following the third week of action, three teams jump to the front with undefeated league records - MSOE at a perfect 4-0 and Marian and Adrian, both at 2-0.
