The University of Wyoming club hockey team fell one victory shy of qualifying for the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division III National Tournament.
Dordt College of Iowa ended the Cowboys' quest to return to nationals
with a 4-0 win late Saturday night at the ACHA Division III Pacific
Regional Tournament in Oakland, Calif. The Blades scored three
third-period goals to break open a tight game and defeat UW for the
second time this season.
The Cowboys (12-8) put themselves in position to reach nationals with a
dramatic 3-2 shootout victory Friday night in their regional opener
against the U.S. Air Force Academy club squad.
Seniors Graham Barrett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Elliott Bauder
(Douglas) scored for UW in regulation play, which ended in a 2-2 tie.
Barrett scored on the Cowboys' first chance in the shootout, but the Falcons responded
with a goal of their own.
Six shooters later, UW junior forward David Wells (Rock Springs) found
the back of the net to break a 1-1 tie. Then, Cowboy senior goalkeeper
Kenny Ainsworth (Casper) stopped Air Force's seventh shooter to clinch
the UW victory.
"It was an awesome game, just a really awesome game," says Barrett.
Northern Arizona University (17-5) and Dordt College (22-8), the top two
seeds in the eight-team regional, each won a pair of games to advance
to the ACHA National Tournament, March 12-15 in Rochester, Minn.
The Pacific Regional's top two teams during the regular season, the
University of Northern Colorado (26-0) and San Diego State University
(23-1), earned automatic bids to nationals.
The Cowboys, who won the ACHA Division III national championship in
2000-01, have missed qualifying for nationals in three of the past four
seasons.
UW plays four of its final six games this season in Wyoming, beginning
with a pair of games this weekend against ACHA Division II Montana State
University (5-17). The teams meet Friday at the new indoor arena at the
Wyoming State Fairgrounds in Douglas and Saturday at the Casper Ice
Arena. Both games start at 7 p.m.
