BETWEEN THE PIPES
The NCAA’s are here
Posted on Mar 14, 2009
Here we go. Game time less than an hour away.
Talked to UW-River Falls coach Joe Cranston on Thursday about the game. He had an interesting perspective of the game.
First, he said he knows the Falcons are the underdog.
“That’s right where we want to be,” he said.
Cranston also said the schedule the Falcons faced this season was tougher than that of Gustavus.
The MIAC, the conference Gustavus is in, did have a down year. The other strong team was St. Thomas, but that was it.
The NCHA did have three teams that were competitive all season. UWRF. UW-Superior and UW-Stevens Point. All three contended for the NCHA title the whole year and each O’Brien Cup game could have been won by any team.
With a tougher schedule, Cranston said the Falcons are prepared for the top teams and have the players that are capable of making a long run in the tournament.
“We are bigger and stronger than they are,” Cranston said comparing UWRF to the Gusties. “That only helps us this late in the season. We just have to make sure we don’t give them too many openings because they are a fast team.”
In their only meeting of the season Gustavus out shot the Falcons 38-14 for a 5-3 win in St. Peter, Minn.
Cranston said he would be happy if the Falcons could reach 20 shots on goal because UWRF can get the puck past the goalie when given the chances.
“I know we are going to get out shot in this game and I’m fine with that,” he said. “If we are able to get more shots on net than we did when we first played them, I know we will have six or seven really good scoring chances and we can score on this team.”
When asked who would be starting in goal, Cranston gave an answer with no hesitation at all.
“Campbell,” he said refering to Cassi Campbell. “She got a lot of rest for her knee and is ready to go.”
In closing, got a nice e-mail from Dirk Campbell, the father of Cassi Campbell. He wrote that he appreciated the coverage of women’s hockey this season by the Student Voice, especially since he and his family cannot attend many games because they live in Alaska. He said the blog has been a good read too : ) Have to let the editor know that our Web circulation is getting hits all the way to Anchorage. Dirk said reading the stories on the Web paper and blog have been the highlights of the season for the Campbell’s up in Anchorage.
Well, that is it for now. Should be a good one. The winner will have a trip to the Frozen Four in Vermont next weekend.
A game recap will be here tomorrow and possibly in the paper. Be sure to check it out.