Whirlwind
Intensity heats up as UMSL Rivermen move into Friday afternoon's quarterfinal
GPCIHL April 6th, 2007 at 6:48PM April 6th, 2007 7:04PMThe UMSL Rivermen advanced to the NCRHA Div. II national quarterfinals with a 10-3 win over the Albany Great Danes Friday morning at the Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships at Matteson Square Garden Triplex in St. Peters, Mo.
James Wetton scored three goals to notch his second straight hat trick, Jake Shepard had his first hat trick of the season, and Zach Stacy scored a pair of goals and added an assist, as the UMSL stars shined brightly in making quick work of the Great Danes.
The Rivermen will face the Nevada Wolf Pack this afternoon at 3:15 pm.
The quarterfinal will be a rematch of the teams' much-anticipated round-robin meeting last year in Morrisville, N.C. UMSL's dominant power play paced a 10-3 blowout victory over the Wolf Pack, who were the defending national champions.
Nevada dresses just six skaters, but features a marquee top line. Devon Hume, Chris Jones, Tony Luiten, and former national MVP Corey Jones make up one of the elite top-fours in Div. II. Nevada, the 2005 NCRHA DII national champion, has reached the national final four the last three years in a row.
The winner will face the winner of the Stony Brook-West Chester quarterfinal. The semifinals will take place tonight at 8:45.
The other quarterfinal matchups are Neumann-UC San Diego and Long Beach State-Saint Louis.
Follow the tournament at http://www.ncrha.org/championships.
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James Lambert