PNCLL Week 7 Preview
PNCLL Schedule for Wednesday, March 12th – Tuesday, March 18th
Wednesday, March 12th
Idaho at St. Mary’s 4:00pm
Thursday, March 13th
Idaho at UC Davis 6:00pm
Friday, March 14th
Idaho at Nevada 8:00pm
Saturday, March 15th
PLU vs Southern Oregon (at Willamette) 12:00pm
Boise State at Oregon 1:00pm
College of Idaho at Willamette 3:30pm
Sunday, March 16th
College of Idaho at Western Oregon 12:00pm
Division 1 Preview by Dr. Jason Stockton
The only division game being played this week in the PNCLL finds Boise State University (1-3) traveling to Eugene to face the “Green Monster” in the No. 5 Oregon Ducks (7-0). Oregon is undefeated in division games in 2008 and really has not been challenged by any opponent this season. Boise State needs to win this game to keep their slim hopes of back-to-back playoff appearances alive.
Boise State has only one league win this season, but they continue to get solid play at both ends of the field from senior midfielder Dan Burgolz (3g, 1a). All-League goaltender Shawn Carman (55% sv.) is likely to be very busy in this game, as Oregon’s potent offense is averaging 19.4 goals per game in 2008.
Week 7 in the PNCLL gets an early start tonight when the Idaho Vandals (0-2) make their first out-of-conference trip in the program’s history. Despite their two early losses, freshman goaltender Gary Jurado (59% sv.) has played very well for the Vandals. Sophomores Chance Townsend (3g, 1a) and Krieger Shaw (2g, 2a) lead the way offensively for Idaho.
Tonight the Vandals will play St. Mary’s College (0-5). Idaho is still searching for the program’s first win, and hope to find it this week in California. In this game, something has to give as both teams are hoping to find their first victory of 2008. For the Gaels, senior Chris Burns (5g, 11a) leads all scorers with 3.2 ppg.
On Thursday the Vandals head across Interstate 80 to take on U.C. Davis (2-5). The Aggies are coming off a tough one-goal loss to their rival Chico State. Sophomore Zach Bluth (8g, 7a) leads UCD in scoring with 2.14 ppg in ’08.
The inaugural OOC journey for the Vandals ends in Reno, where they face the Wolf Pack of the University of Nevada Reno (4-1). UNR won their first four games against D2 and non-MCLA opponents, but played their first game against a top WCLL D1 team last week and fell 21-2 to No. 10 Sonoma State. For the Pack, senior Anders Moberg (14g4a) leads a very strong attack with 3.6 ppg.
Division 2 Preview by Dan Wishengrad
With Final Exams and Spring Break taking over PNCLL campuses, the week is lighter on Division 2 action with only three games scheduled, and all down in the State of Oregon.
The biggest game of the week is a neutral-site contest between PLU (2-3; 3-4) and SOU (2-2; 3-3) on Saturday in Salem. Six teams will qualify for the PNCLL post-season in DII, and this Raiders vs Lutes affair could well prove to be a “loser out” game. It’s a safe bet now that UPS, WWU and CWU will qualify for the playoffs, as each team has at least five conference victories and therefore are assured of a winning record in games which count towards the postseason. WOU appears to be another sure bet, even with only three conference victories to date. The Wolves have games remaining against College of Idaho and Willamette, in which they will be heavily favored to prevail. So this leaves only the Raiders, Lutes and Whitman Missionaries (2-3) to battle it out for the two remaining post-season seeds.
Southern Oregon desperately needs to generate some offense, which the Raiders have only done against the weaker teams it has played to date. SOU managed only 8 combined goals in losses to UPS and WOU in 2008. VanEgdom (20g, 4a), White (13g, 9a) and Arneson (8g, 8a) must produce on Attack against a young Lute defense. SOU also needs to play with more discipline and seriously cut down on the minutes the team sits in the penalty box to have any chance. Taking another 20+ penalties against the Lutes spells big trouble for the guys from Ashland.
Pacific Lutheran will likely have to rely on it’s stud, Tkachuck (37g, 13a), one more time to win this game. The Soph Attackman will surely draw perennial All-PNCLL D-Man Dan Snell of SOU, and who gets the best of this one-on-one matchup might determine the game’s outcome.
Like the Raiders, the Lutes also have a thin bench. Tupper (13g, 5a), Hansen (14g, 6a) and Rose (10g, 9a) will have to produce some goals from the midfield for PLU to take some pressure off Tkachuck.
Also on Saturday, Willamette (1-2; 2-4) hosts College of Idaho (0-5) after the completion of the SOU-PLU game on the Bearcats’ home field. WU ended a three-year conference drought by nipping Lewis & Clark on the road last week, and will likely be sky-high to start a divisional winning streak. Unlike the Yotes, Willamette still has a chance to qualify for the post-season in ’08, so a win in this game is essential to keep playoff hopes alive. Daniel Ulshafer (52% saves) will need to have a solid game in goal, while Nick Kummert (10g, 0a) and his fellow middies will have to lead the offense. Kummert has outscored the entire Willamette attackmen combined through the first six games, and tallied eight of WU’s eleven goals last week in a game that the listed Bearcat Attackmen failed to score even one goal.
College of Idaho, meanwhile, has had the tougher early schedule and has fallen to five D2 teams that are in the top-half of the standings. The Yotes will need another stellar performance from Colin Burke (20g, 9a) to lead the offense. Having lost a close game to PLU (13-11) earlier and holding down WWU’s high-powered offense somewhat in a 14-7 loss last weekend, the Yotes look to be the favorite in this game at Salem.
The Yotes will likely have a much tougher game on Sunday, when they travel to Multnomah for a game at Western Oregon (3-1). The Wolves have been very impressive in ’08, with the lone loss coming at CWU the day after the blowout ten-goal victory at WWU. Even without their now-departed leading scorer, WOU looks to have too much offense for CofI to contend with. But in this unpredicatable season the one valuable lesson that the Wolves –and everyone else – have learned is to never overlook a conference opponent.
