2014 ACHA West Regionals Preview

February 21, 2014 Salt Lake City, UT Another regular season is in the books in the ACHA as the 150+ teams in Division II of the league have been whittled down to just 40 teams as we head into the postseason. Eight teams have already punched tickets to the ACHA National Tournament in Boston, MA by finishing first or second in the final polls that were released last week. As for the other 32 teams, the final eight spots to the National Championships will be fought for this weekend at Regional tournaments in Connecticut, Virginia, Illinois, and Arizona. The Utes will be heading to Flagstaff along with the best in the west for the 2014 ACHA West Regionals this weekend. The Utes come into the tournament with their highest ranking ever at number four, and will be the #2 seed at the tournament. Seven other teams in the west will compete for the final two spots at Nationals this weekend in a two-round tournament. All eight teams will play in first round games on Saturday with the winners advancing to the Regional Finals on Sunday. The winners of those two games will be the last two teams to make it to Nationals. Five teams from last year’s playoffs are back as the Utes are joined by Utah State, San Jose State, Texas A&M, and Denver in their second playoff appearances in as many seasons. New to this year’s tournament are Cal State Fullerton, Boise State, and Loyola Marymount which some are making their first ever regional tournament appearances in team histories. The teams will be battling in a tough environment in Flagstaff, as the small rink and near 7,000 foot altitude at the rink will put all eight teams through the gauntlet to make it Boston. As the teams prepare for the first round of the playoffs, here’s a look at all the teams that will be looking to win a national championship: #3 Utah State Aggies Record: 20-9-2 The perennial power that is the Aggies are the top seed at regionals this year after going straight to Nationals last year as the top seed in the West. The Aggies were able to win their pool at Nationals but lost to the eventual national champs in the semifinals. It’s been a little bit of a rough ride for USU this year, especially down the stretch as the Aggies are 5-6-1 since the winter break. But Aggies are a very dangerous team, especially with Rylee Orr and Cooper Limb at the helm. It will be interesting to see who starts in net for USU, as Bryce Scherschel and Austin Willenborg have split time in net. The Aggies are one of the favorites to get back to Nationals as they are one of the teams that won’t have a major altitude gap to conquer this weekend, being only 2,500 feet. As long as this team shows up to play, there’s no reason they shouldn’t make it to Nationals. #4 Utah Utes Record: 29-8 The other favorite to make it Nationals is the Utes, who come in as the number two seed at this year’s tournament. The Utes are in the playoffs for the third straight season, but have hit the wall at the Regional Final losing in the last game in both seasons. The Utes have an advantage over the rest of the field this year, as they were the only team to win in Flagstaff this year of the teams that played games there this year. The big hindrance for Utah again is the injury bug, as the Utes have several key injuries coming into the tournament. That won’t help an already depleted bench that has to deal with a 2,800-foot altitude change. The Utes will need to have a solid game plan if they want to get through to Nationals for the first time in club history. This team has proven it can hang with anyone this year and they will need to get to Boston this year. #5 San Jose State Spartans Record: 19-10-1 The Spartans are back at Regionals once again after making it the last three years to the postseason. It’s been a short trip though the past two years though for SJSU, losing to Utah and San Diego State in the first round the last two years. The Spartans are 9-2-1 since the winter break and have won three straight going into the tournament. Senior Sam Cimino leads the offensive charge for SJSU and Mario Retana has been solid in net with three shutouts on the year. The big hurdle for SJSU, along with the other teams from California, will be the 7,000-foot altitude change from San Jose to Flagstaff which is most certainly going to be the big talker of the weekend. The Spartans do have a big bench though and will need it to advance in the tournament. #6 Cal State Fullerton Titans Record: 23-10-2 The Titans are one of the newcomers this year to the playoffs and are the 4th seed at this year’s tournament. They’ll have to deal with the altitude as well as it’s a 7,050 foot difference in altitude for them when they get to Flagstaff. The Titans have a solid record this year, but the strength of schedule has been a weak point for them as they haven’t played a lot of top-ranked teams. The team will still be dangerous as Alec Censullo has 63 points on the year. They have a good draw in the first round but will need a solid weekend to have any chance of making it to Nationals. #7 Boise State Broncos Record: 18-5-2 The Broncos are in the playoffs for the first time in team history, thanks mostly in part to a 4-0 weekend in the Beehive Showcase with wins over #2 Northern Arizona and #4 Utah that weekend. BSU isn’t the flashiest team in the tournament, but don’t overlook them by any means. BSU will have to deal with altitude as well, but won’t have as bad a time with only a 4,300-foot difference between Boise and Flagstaff. Their first line is very dangerous in the scoring department and score goals quickly and often. If BSU has a good weekend, they could punch their first tickets Nationals this weekend as well. #8 Texas A&M Aggies Record: 23-12-1 The Aggies are making their second straight regional appearance after almost shocking top-seeded Colorado State in the first round at Regionals last year. It will be a 6,800-foot altitude change for A&M, so they will be in the same boat as the California teams. The Aggies have the same knock on them as they did last year, which is that a majority of their games this year were against teams from Texas (16 of 23 wins against Texas teams). Most of last year’s regional team is back this year, so don’t count them out of the mix either in the first round. They’ll need two upset wins though to make it to Nationals which will be tough to come by in Flagstaff. #9 Loyola Marymount Lions Record: 13-15-1 LMU is making its first ever trip to the playoffs and are the highest team with a losing record in the tournament. The Lions have played some of the top teams in the West pretty close this year, so they will not be on to be trifled with either in this tournament. They’ll have to deal with the 7,000-foot altitude as well coming from LA to Flagstaff for the tourney. LMU has a couple of goal scorers on the squad but will need solid goaltending if they want to do well this weekend (no goalie on team has GAA below 4.00). The Lions are coming off a fourth place finish in the WCHC tournament and will look to add a Nationals trip to their year of firsts this year. #10 Denver Pioneers Record: 8-12-3 The Pioneers are back in the playoffs again after losing to Weber State in the first round of Regionals last year. Denver barely snuck into this year’s playoffs though mostly in part to the overtime win at Utah State. The Pioneers almost didn’t play enough games as you need to play 16 ACHA games to qualify for the playoffs (they played 23). DU has the least amount of altitude change in only 1,500 feet and will bring a pretty full bench will help them in the long run. They have to go up against top seeded Utah State in the first round though which won’t be an easy task. Once again, DU doesn’t score a lot of goals and that will have to change if they want to make it to Nationals. First Round Schedule (Saturday, February 22): #6 Cal State Fullerton vs #7 Boise State – 11:00am #5 San Jose State vs #8 Texas A&M – 1:30pm #3 Utah State vs #10 Denver – 4:00pm #4 Utah vs #9 Loyola Marymount – 6:00pm Second Round Schedule (Sunday, February 23): Highest remaining seed vs lowest remaining seed – 12:00pm 2nd top seed remaining vs 2nd lowest seed remaining – 2:30pm