The University of Colorado Hockey team finished seventh nationally after a 2-1 record at the ACHA Division 2 National Tournament in Fort Myers, Florida from March 12th to the 15th.
The Davenport Panthers won the championship by beating the Indiana Hoosiers 5-2, for the school's first ever ACHA Division 2 title. The Panthers never lost a game throughout the tournament.
The Buffaloes undoubtedly played in the toughest Pool with a three way tie after pool play between Colorado, Indiana, and Michigan. All three teams finished with four points.
Indiana would win the tiebreaker on their way to the national title game by having given up the least goals against with six while Michigan gave up nine, and CU, ten.
The Buffs started off pool play a little sluggish losing to the Michigan Wolverines 7 to 1 on Wednesday night, but came back strong on Thursday, beating Indiana 6 to 1.
The number one seed in the west would continue to get their rhythm as they beat the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 4-2, but it would turn out not to be enough as the Buffs would lose the tie breaker.
The tiebreaking procedures went to the third tier since Indiana, Michigan, and Colorado all had two wins and Michigan lost to Indiana on Friday by a score of 5-0, to make the head to head win total for the three teams cancel each other out.
The Buffs did play strong throughout their stay in Florida, and had plenty of fun while enjoying all the warm sunshine that Fort Myers had to offer.
It was an emotional last game for many players on the team, as seven seniors played their final game in a CU uniform.
One of the seven, Captain
P.J. Bevan, was honored after the tournament for being nominated to the second team of The All Tournament Team.
Colorado will get ready for next season with many of the underclassman and juniors returning for another shot at the National Championship.
Stay tuned to
www.cubuffshockey.org for more information about the 2008-2009 season.
RK
Wednesday March 12, 2008
Colorado 1 - Michigan 7
Thursday March 13, 2008
Colorado 6 - Indiana 1
Friday March 14, 2008
Colorado 4 - Central Connecticut State 2
ACHA Division II Final Rankings from the west divisions (teams that went to the National Tournament)
7th place: Colorado
9th place: Colorado State
12th place: Eastern Washington
13th place: Denver
Colorado Seniors
# 7 P.J. Bevan (Captain) - Avon, CO
#23 Chad Wetzel (Alternate Captain) - Aurora, CO
#5 Eric Blumenthal - San Jose, CA
#17 David Ludwig - Culver City, CA
#16 Andrew Galucki - Buford, GA
#21 Brian Bender - Superior, CO
#20 Jon Pfeiff (Team President) - Niwot, CO
Top 5 Team Leaders in points
1) Conor Williams (Fr.) - 46 (22g, 24a)
2) Max Myers (So.) - 37 (18g, 19a)
3) Chad Wetzel (Sr.) - 37 (15g, 22a)
4) David Ludwig (Sr.) - 32 (19g, 13a)
5) Kevin Alpert (Jr.) - 30 (14g, 16a)