MCHA Players of the Week
Plenty of storylines remain in place as the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association enters the final month of the regular season. In the Southern Division, Adrian College and MSOE both swept weekend series to remain deadlocked heading down the stretch. The Bulldogs (6-1 and 9-2 winners over Finlandia) and Raiders (2-0 and 4-2 over Lawrence) are now tied at 12-1-1 in MCHA play and, coincidentally, 15-3-1 overall. A head-to-head series to close out the regular season looms the final weekend.
| Vikings Pull Into First-Place Tie; Adrian and MSOE Hold Steady |
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| Written by Chris Zills |
Monday, February 06 2012 |
 It was an interesting week in the standings of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association, as both divisions saw things go in different directions. In the Southern Division, both Adrian College (13-2-1, 27 points) and MSOE (12-3-1, 25 points) completed weekend sweeps to remain in the same positions in the conference standings.
However, in the Northern Division, a couple of interesting developments continued and at the end of the weekend, Lawrence University pulled into a tie with Marian University at 19 points (8-5-3) after sweeping the Sabres by scores of 4-3 in overtime and then sealing the deal with a 6-2 victory game two. Not to be outdone, Finlandia University leapfrogged Northland College with a sweep of its own, claiming victories of 6-4 and 3-2 in OT to improve to 6-1-0 in its past seven games and move into the final playoff spot for now.
Players of the Week -Finlandia University Lions sophomore forward Sean Burke (Traverse City, Mich.) earns MCHA Player of the Week honors for his efforts in the Lions sweep of Northland. He started the week with a big-time display in the 6-4 win, scoring a pair of goals – including the game-winner – while adding three assists for a five-point night. Then, on Saturday, he helped Finlandia to another win when he scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the 3-2 decision. Other nominees: Matt Hughes (Lawrence), West Bauman (MSOE), Zach Graham (Adrian)
-Lawrence University Vikings freshman goaltender Peter Emery (Golena, Calif.) is the MCHA Defensive Player of the Week. Just one week removed from league freshman of the week accolades, he helped lead his team into a tie in the standings by stopping 50 of 53 shots Friday and 25 of 27 Saturday (.938 save percentage) to complete the two-game sweep of the Sabres. Other nominees: Ryan Gieseler (Adrian), Michael Thompson (MSOE), Mike Wuthrich (Finlandia)
-Adrian College Bulldogs goaltender Scott Shackell (Kanata, ONT) is the MCHA Freshman of the Week after posting a pair of victories over Lake Forest. He made 26 saves in Friday’s 4-1 win and then stopped 37 of 40 in Saturday’s 5-3 comeback victory. He now leads the MCHA in goals against average (2.09), save percentage (.934) and winning percentage (.850, 8-1-1). Other nominees: Cole Gibson (MSOE), Peter Nesper (Finlandia), Gustav Lindgren (Lawrence) |
