WCHA: Gophers' two closest pursuers have rough weekend

The Gophers were off this weekend. And their two closest pursurers, UMD and Denver, had a chance to close within one and three points of them, res[pectively, but couldn't.

Minnesota Duluth lost to Alaska Anchorage 3-2 on Saturday to split their series with the Seawolves up north. So UMD, with eight games left, has 27 points, the Gophers 30.

UMD won Friday's game in Anchorage 4-1 on sophomore winger J.T. Brown's four goals. He also had the Bulldogs' first goal Saturday. But UMD was behind 3-1 when coach Scott Sanelin pulled his goalie with 5:07 left for an extra attacker.

Mike Seidel scored with 4:03 left to bring UMD within one goal at 3-2. The Duluth News-Tribune story is here.

The Seawolves, last in the WCHA, broke an eight-game losing streak with the victory. Sophomore forward Matt Bailey had two goals and one assist. The Anchorage Daily News story is here.

DENVER LOSES GOLD PAN

After losing 2-0 on Friday at home, Denver took a 2-0 lead on Colorado College on Saturday but the Tigers rallied for two goals in the second period and the game ended in a 2-2, overtime tie.

" As disappointed as I am not to get the win, I am probably more pleased and I am focusing on how our team played, the improvement from [Friday] night to tonight, our ability to play together better and staying within our system."

DU's Drew Shore scored his NCAA-best 10th power-play goal in the opening period.

So CC got the Gold Pan Trophy, which goes to the winner of this series, for the first time in three years. The Tigers won the series 2-1-1. The Denver Post story is here.

The Gophers play at Magness Arena in Denver on Friday and Saturday.

The Colorado Springs Gazette stories are here and here. Two CC players, center Nick Dineen and goalie Josh Thorimbert, were hurt in the game. Backup goalie Joe Howe saved all 17 shots he faced.

St. Cloud State edged Wisconsin 2-1 on Saturday as goalie Mike Lee made 41 stops and Nic Dowd and Jarrod Rabey scored goals in the first 10 minutes of the third period. The victory gave SCSU its first series sweep of the season.

Lee had 31 saves Friday as the Huskies won 5-1.

The Wisconsin State Journal story is here.

BEMIDJI STATE AT HOME IN OMAHA

Some scores are hard to explain. Bemidji State, for example beat Nebraska Omaha 6-4 on Saturday to improve its record there to 4-0-2 in the last six games.

The Omaha World Herald story is here.

PURPLE MAVS SPLIT AGAIN

For the fifth WCHA series in a row, Minnesota State Mankato split last weekend. The Mavericks won the first game with Michigan Tech 5-3, but lost the second game to the visitors 7-3. MSU took a 1-0 lead in the opening period on Saturday, but before it was over the Huskies had a 6-1 lead.