PNCLL Week 10 Preview
PNCLL Schedule for Wednesday, April 2nd – Tuesday, April 8th
Saturday, April 5th
Oregon at Simon Fraser 1:00pm
Oregon State at Washington 1:00pm
Washington State at Montana 1:00pm
Idaho at Gonzaga 1:00
Pacific Lutheran at Western Oregon 1:00pm
Puget Sound at Willamette 1:00pm
Sunday, April 6th
Oregon State at Simon Fraser 12:00pm
Washington State at Gonzaga 12:00pm
Idaho at Montana 12:00pm
Puget Sound at Western Oregon 12:00pm
Pacific Lutheran at Willamette 12:00pm
Oregon at Washington 12:30pm
Division I Preview by Dr. Jason Stockton
Week 10 in the PNCLL begins with the most anticipated game in the conference in several years. For the first time in league history, two top-10 teams will go head-to-head in a regular season conference game as No. 5 Oregon (6-0, 10-1) travels north to face No. 7 Simon Fraser (3-0, 8-1). For many years Simon Fraser dominated the PNCLL and really had very little competition within the conference. In 2004, that all changed as the Oregon Ducks knocked SFU off of their pedestal – with a one-goal regular season win over the Clan, followed by a dominating 19-9 victory in the conference championships that year which signaled a “changing of the guard” in the PNCLL. SFU won the regular season match-up in 2005, but again were dominated in the finals by the Ducks that season. Oregon has not lost a PNCLL contest since.
Ranked in the pre-season at No. 24, Simon Fraser started the 2008 season with a young team full of potential that was off the radar in the national championship picture. With an ambitious schedule and wins against perennial powerhouses in Sonoma State and Lindenwood, the Clan again has climbed to No. 7 in the Lax World poll and has captured the attention of the MCLA. SFU is certainly relevant again on the National scene, and this is a game they’ve had circled on their calendar for a very long time.
Oregon opened up the 2008 season with 10 dominating wins, with only No. 12 Colorado playing the Ducks within an 8-goal margin. That streak ended abruptly last week as Colorado State exacted revenge on the Ducks for their National semifinal defeat in 2007. The Ducks will certainly want to start a new win streak, and will need no extra motivation for this rivalry game against the Clan. There is certainly little love between these two teams, and the Ducks want to send a clear message that they still own this conference. Oregon will take on the Huskies on Sunday.
While most of the Northwest will be engrossed in the big game North of the border, there is a game with larger playoff implications 130 miles down Interstate 5. Oregon State (2-2, 4-6) travels to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies (3-1, 5-3) in a game with huge playoff implications. If UW can win this game and go on to defeat WSU and Idaho, they are guaranteed no worse than the #3 seed in the PNCLL Championships. If the Beavers can win this contest, they are right back in the playoff hunt. The PNCLL D1 playoffs include only 4 teams this season, so if OSU wins and all other games hold to form, there could be a 3-way tie for third in the conference. There is a strong possibility that a team could finish at 5-3 and not make the playoffs this season. If that is in fact the case, Oregon State needs not only to win this game, it is critical they do so by 3 or more goals.
The other team that could find itself in a logjam in the playoff race is the University of Montana (4-3, 2-3). Montana controls their own destiny, and with wins over WSU and Idaho this weekend only Boise State will stand in the way of the Grizzlies playing at home in the playoffs come May. On Saturday Washington State (0-2) makes the trip to Missoula in search of their first win of the season. On Sunday Grizzly alum Ryan Hanavan will bring his surging Idaho Vandals (0-2, 1-4) into Missoula as Idaho looks to build on the program’s first victory over Nevada Reno three weeks ago.
On Saturday Idaho will face Gonzaga (2-6, 1-4). This is a must win for the Bulldogs as they need to “win out” to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Gonzaga also hosts the Cougars over the weekend.
Division II Preview by Dan Wishengrad
While the game between SFU and UO in B.C. offers us a potential preview of the PNCLL D1 title game, week ten also could give the Northwest an advance “sneak peek” at the D2 finals to be played in May, as UPS (6-0) and WOU (4-1; 6-2) go at it in Salem this Sunday. There is really not much on the line besides bragging rights as “top dog” in this game. Both teams are playoff bound and both are likely to end up with one of the division’s top two seeds. But everyone will be watching with great interest, nevertheless, as the well-rested Loggers put their undefeated record on the line against well-tested Wolves.
A pair of Seniors, Brad Karr (20g, 12a) and Reid Petit (16g, 7a), lead the UPS offense. Petit fought a bout with mono at the beginning of the season and was not at 100% strength when he did return to competition. Karr has been stellar from the start, however, and Junior Goalie Brian Wilbur has saved 61% of the shots he has faced while leading a UPS defense which surrenders a paltry 6.67 goals per game. The Loggers have not played in almost a month, though, which could prove to be both a blessing and a curse. While the long layoff gave Coach Berggren’s team a chance to heal some injured players and practice intensively, it also stemmed any momentum that the Loggers had built during the first five weeks of conference play. UPS does get an opportunity to shake off any “rust” on Saturday with a game at Willamette (2-3; 4-5) before the showdown at WOU. The Loggers have to be careful not to look past the improved Bearcats, once a perennial doormat but now a program on the rise and a team to be reckoned with.
After a 21-11 rout of the preseason #1 team, WOU suffered a shocking upset at then-unranked CWU, and then lost it’s leading scorer who dropped out of school. But almost everything else has gone perfectly for Coach Homma’s Wolves since then, as WOU marched through March routing five D2 opponents by an average of more than 16 goals per game. Most recently WOU traveled down to sunny Southern California, where the team easily dispatched ranked Pepperdine, lost a competitive game to quality upper-division opponent and then finished up the road-trip with an 18-3 throttling of the WCLL’s Fullerton State. The starting attack of Calvin Davis (29g, 23a), Nick Addington (21g, 8a) and Josh Butterwegge (18g, 14a) averages more than 14 goals per game combined. If those numbers aren’t scary enough, Middies Kyle McWhirter (23g, 19a) and Ian Bohince (24g, 1a) pose an additional nightmare for opposing defenses by adding another 8+ goals per game. Senior netminder Steven Blair allows just over seven goals per game while stopping 60% of opposing shots. First up for WOU on Saturday is PLU (2-4; 5-5), a young, rebuilding team which looks to be overmatched but must can’t be taken lightly, either.
The Lutes won a pair of close OOC games in California last week to gain some confidence and momentum, but a 15-3 loss at SOU preceded those wins and doesn’t bode well for Saturday’s contest at WOU. This is a must win for PLU, as is Sunday’s game at Willamette, if the Lutes hope to continue as a playoff team. Nick Tkahcuk’s (49g, 15a) 64 points leads both the Lutes and the PNCLL. Nick Kummert (23g, 6a) is an emerging star for the Bearcats. While most eyes will be focused on the WOU-UPS game, this contest between PLU and WU could be of great importance should either team pull of a Saturday upset, keeping alive it’s post-season chances.
