UWS hockey teams seek playoff titles

The University of Wisconsin-Superior men's and women's hockey teams take its shows on the road this weekend with national tournament berths within grasp.

The Yellowjacket men face the St. Norbert Green Knights in the Peters Cup championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday in Green Bay. The winner will get the NCHA's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Play-in games are scheduled for Wednesday and the Frozen Four will be played at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

The Lady Yellowjackets will take on the Adrian (Mich.) Bulldogs in one semifinal game of the O'Brien's Cup tournament at UW-River Falls. The host Falcons and Concordia play at 2 p.m., followed by UWS and Adrian at 7 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.

UWS vs. SNC

The Green Knights (21-4-1) and the Yellowjackets (16-11-1) meet once again in the NCHA Peters Cup championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Cornerstone Community Center in Green Bay.

SNC, ranked No. 1 in the latest USCHO.com Division III Poll, and UWS, No. 15, have combined two win 14 of the last 15 Peters Cup titles. Since the 1996-97 season, the Green Knights have won eight title and the Yellowjackets have won five playoff titles. The only blemish was UW-Stout winning the Peters Cup in 2008-09.

St. Norbert has won three of four meetings with UWS this season. The teams split a series Jan. 20-21 at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth. Superior took the opener 3-0 behind 33 saves from Drew Strandberg and a pair of goals from Justin Faryna.

The Green Knights salvaged a split with a 5-4 win the next day. Johan Ryd's shorthanded goal was the gamewinner and B.J. O'Brien made 21 saves for St. Norbert.

St. Norbert won the rubber match 3-0 on Feb. 4 in Green Bay. Joe Perry and Adam Hammerbeck, a former Superior Spartan, scored second period goals and Cody Keefer added a power-play marker in the third. O'Brien made 19 saves for St. Norbert and Strandberg turned away 30 shots for the Yellowjackets.

St. Norbert leads the hotly contested series with UWS 28-21-11. The two have met 34 times in the past nine-plus seasons, with St. Norbert holding a 17-8-9 edge. The Green Knights are 15-5-7 against Superior since a 2002 loss in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in Green Bay. At home in the series, St. Norbert holds a 19-11-3 mark - including a 11-1-2 mark in the last 14 meetings at the Cornerstone.

Ryd is St. Norbert's points leader is Johan Ryd, who has posted 23 points in 21 total games (including playoffs).

Sophomore forward Cody Keefer has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points. Junior forward Seth Soley has seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points while sophomore forward Kyle Stroh has 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points.

O'Brien, a senior goaltender and the NCHA Player of the Year, owns an 18-2-1 record with 1.65 goals against average and .927 save percentage.

The Yellowjackets have won four of their last five games since a five-game losing streak, with the other three wins coming against St. Scholastica.

Senior forward Talon Berlando leads Superior in scoring with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points. Sophomore forward Justin Faryna had 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points, including five power-play and four game-winning goals. Freshman forward Pat Dalbec owns eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points, while freshman defenseman has eight goals and nine assists for 17 points.

Strandberg is 10-8-1 in goal with a 2.25 goals against average and .916 save percentage. Sophomore Garrett Tinkham is 6-3 with a 2.57 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

Coaches

St. Norbert coach Tim Coghlin is 386-108-40 in his 18th season. The Green Knights are 242-39-23 in the last nine-plus seasons. Coghlin's 376 wins as a coach in the NCHA has passed Bemidji State's Bob Peters' previous record of 370 (St. Norbert did not play in the NCHA in Coghlin's first year).

Peters, who went 370-134-36 in 1982 and 1984-99, is the namesake of the NCHA's post-season championship trophy -- the Peters Cup.

UWS coach Dan Stauber (UWS, 1988) is 208-74-42 in his 11th season in Superior.

Only five other coaches have at least 200 wins while coaching in the NCHA: River Falls' Steve Freeman is third at 276-135-31, former UW-Stevens Point coach Joe Baldarotta is fourth at 265-171-38, Superior's Steve Nelson is fifth at 249-168-21,while his successor, Stauber, recently joined the 200-win club and is 208-74-42 in 11 seasons. Mankato State's Don Brose is seventh at 200-110-34.

Special teams

Superior is 20-for-125 (16.0 percent) on the power play and is 92-for-107 (86.0 percent) on the penalty kill.

St. Norbert is 24-for-103 (23.3 percent) on the power play and is 89-for-101 (88.1 percent) on the penalty kill.

Broadcast

Coverage is on KUWS 91.3 FM with Jon Garver on the call. A Webcast will be available at http://wwwsnc.edu/athletics/hockey/webcast/html .

'JACKET JOTTINGS: Four Yellowjackets --Berlando, Faryna, Jeff Forsythe and Strandberg received first team all-WIAC. Derek Stauber and Tyler Klein received honorable mention. ... The Yellowjackets are on their way to the Peters Cup finals for the seventh time in Stauber's 11 years as head coach. The Yellowjackets are 3-3 in the previous six trips. ... With his assist on the second goal of the game last Saturday, Stauber broke a 14-game stretch where he didn't record a point. ... Berlando has goals in three straight games. ... Tyler Klein's goal on Saturday night was his first since he scored against Stout on Jan. 15, a stretch of 10 games without lighting the lamp. ... Joey Massingham now has four points in four career games against Stevens Point after picking up an assist on Saturday. ... The Yellowjackets and the Green Knights have met in the playoffs 11 times previously, playing 16 games, not including mini-games. St. Norbert holds a slight edge, going 8-7-1 against the Yellowjackets in the post-season. The most recent meeting was in the NCHA semifinals in 2009. The Yellowjackets won the game 3-0 at Wessman Arena. ... Faryna has enjoyed success against St. Norbert, scoring four goals in six games, including two in the Yellowjackets' 3-0 win over the Green Knights earlier this season.

UWS vs. Adrian

Adrian finished second in the NCHA with records of 17-7-3 and 13-4-3. UWS was third at 13-7-7 and 10-3-7.

The Lady Yellowjackets and Bulldogs met twice this season, Nov. 19-20 at Wessman Arena. The first game was played to a 1-1 tie and Adrian won game two 4-3.

"It was early in the season and most of our team were either freshmen or first-year players," UWS coach Dan Laughlin said. "We have a totally different team now, are a lot more older and experienced. We were also nursing a number of injuries, including Ashlee Martin, who was out.

"We feel confident and feel we match up well with them. We've grown over the season, but we know we have to play three periods of hockey. If we can do that we know we can beat anyone."

Chelsey Wiershem is Superior's leading scorer with 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points. Kaylay Chilstrom is next with 7-11--18, followed by Alison Schrift (10-7-17) and Shana Katz (6-11-17). Former Superior Spartans' Ashlee Olson (7-4-11) and Ashley Martin (4-7-11) are also in double figures.

The Yellowjackets have rotated two goaltenders all season and coach Dan Laughlin plans to continue that this weekend.

Junior Amy Togerson has a 7-2-4 record and Shanley Peters is 6-5-3.

"Both have outstanding all season long, they're both deserve the opportunity to play," Laughlin said. "Each player has only had one bad period all year, so I feel confident either one of them out there."

The winner of the UWS-Adrian game will play the winner of the UW-Rivers and Concordia-Wis., game in the championship game Saturday afternoon.

The host Falcons begin the weekend with a 23-0-4 record while Concorida, which finished fifth in the regular season, is 13-10-4.

"River Falls is tough and definitely the team to beat," Laughlin said. "We tied them at home late in the season and had the lead and had opportunities to score goals. Obviously we have to play great hockey to beat them, if you don't you can get chewed up. But we know if we play our game we can play with them and beat them."

'JACKET JOTTINGS: Tickets go on sale one hour before each game. Prices are $8 for adults, $4 for students and senior citizens. Children four and under will be admitted free. ... Live stats and live video of each game can be found on the UW-River Falls Web site at www.uwrfsports.com/sports