ACHA West Regionals Preview

After 794 games in seven months out here in the west alone, the season has culminated to the next three weeks. Of the 182 teams that participate in Division II of the ACHA, 40 teams remain as we head into the postseason. Eight of those 40 teams have already punched their ticket to St. Louis for Nationals, but the other 32 will fight for the other eight spots this weekend at the ACHA Regionals in Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and right here in Salt Lake City.

The ACHA West Regionals are here in Salt Lake as eight of the top ten teams in the division will meet to decide who will join top seeds Utah State and Arizona State in St Louis for Nationals. The tournament is simple. Single elimination, two rounds. Win and you advance. Lose and you go home. This year’s edition has familiar faces but some new ones as well. CSU, NAU, Utah, SJSU, and SDSU are all back after making Regionals last year, with Denver, Weber State and Texas A&M joining the party this time around.

As the teams get ready for this weekend’s big matchups, here’s a look at each team you’ll see in action on the ice.

#3 Colorado State Rams
Record: 18-15-3
The Colorado State Rams are the top seed at this year’s regional tournament and it will be their last, as the team heads to D1 country next year. The Rams made it to Nationals last year as the top seed at regionals, defeating Washington and UNLV to make it to Florida. This year, the Rams started off slow losing 3 of their first four games and finished the first semester with a 9-6-1 record. CSU stayed around .500 in the second semester, going 7-4-1. But despite the almost even record, this team is battle tested and very dangerous. Of the 26 ACHA games the Rams have played this year, 21 were against teams that have advanced to the ACHA’s postseason, the most of any team here in the west. Leading the charge on the stat sheet for the Rams is freshman Jamison Wicks, who has 17 goals and 18 assists on the team for a team-leading 35 points on the year. Eight different players have more than 20 points this year as well. In goal, tenders Corson Cramer and Alex Steidler have split time between the pipes, and both have been outstanding posting GAA’s around 3.10 and save percentages at 90%. The Rams are the favorite to make it out of this tournament and be the west’s third team at Nationals.

#4 Weber State Wildcats
Record: 23-11-3
The Wildcats are one of the many surprises out west this year and come into Regionals as the number two seed. After going 8-21 last year, Weber is back posting the fifth most wins in the west with 23 and picking up several wins against top teams. Despite all the wins, the cats are just 4-10-3 against the top 10 and have lost their last five games against those teams. The team is loaded on offense, which makes them a threat in every game. Leading scorers Dax Hobbs and Braxton Green are tops on the team with 69 points. EACH. They both finished in the top ten in the nation for points (tied for 7th) and if you add Jeremiah Holmes in the mix, those three cats have 198 points between them alone. In goal, tenders Ian Frank and Craig Peterson have played almost an even amount of games, but it’s Peterson’s team now as he’s played every game for Weber State this semester. Peterson has a GAA of 3.34 and a save percentage of 89%. Weber State is one of the question marks of this year’s Regional tournament. They have the talent to make it Nationals, but with injuries as of late the Wildcats could have their season cut shorter than they’d like if they’re not careful.

#5 San Jose State Spartans
Record: 23-7-2
San Jose once again finds themselves at Regionals after hosting last year and hosting Nationals the year before, so they’re no strangers to the postseason. Their time in the playoffs didn’t last long last year, as SJSU was ousted in the first round by Utah 6-3. It’s been a solid year for the Spartans, going an even 5-5-2 against teams in the top ten. But if you look closer three of those wins came against Utah. For the second year in a row the Spartans are led by senior Kyle Dutra, who has 57 points on the year. Right behind him is fellow senior Sam Cimino who has 56 points along with eight others who have more than 20 points this year. In goal this year is Mario Retana, who has a stellar GAA of 2.88 and a save percentage of 91%. San Jose is another one of those question mark teams at this year’s tournament. If you take away the three wins against Utah, the record against the top ten isn’t very impressive. They’ll also have to deal with the altitude in Salt Lake, which hasn’t been good for the California teams (CA teams are 3-7-1 in the state of Utah this year).But with a recent win over #1 Utah State, they’ve shown that this team is still very dangerous and can still make a run for Nationals.

#6 Northern Arizona Icejacks
Record: 15-10-4
The WCHC champions are another team that is at Regionals again this year, after advancing through the tourney last year to Nationals with a 3-1 win over Utah. They’ll look to get back to Nattys and redeem themselves after losing all three games in Florida last year. NAU had one of the lighter schedules this year (27 games, 2nd fewest of Regional teams), but they’ve made up for it by playing top teams. In their 14 games against the top ten, the Icejacks are 5-5-4 with most of the games coming against Arizona State and San Diego State. Mix in some D1 games that were competitive and this team is dangerous as well. At the top of the leaderboard for NAU is sophomore Vinny Eck who has 32 points on the year. Junior Gregory Park is up there as well with 30 points. In goal, Quinn Mason has seen the most time with a 3.55 GAA and 91% save percentage. NAU doesn’t seem as strong as last year’s Nationals squad, and have only played four teams that are in the top ten this year. It’ll be interesting to see how they end up playing against the rest of the elite teams.

#7 Utah Utes
Record: 28-7-1
Utah is back at Regionals after making their first trip to the playoffs last year, and they are also the host this time around. Last year, the Utes made it through the first round but fell to NAU 3-1 and missed Nationals by one game. The resume against the top ten isn’t great at 5-6, but the Utes do have wins over the top two seeds at this year’s tournament and have only lost by more than two goals once all season (4-1 loss to ASU). Leading the PAC-8 Champions is freshman Chase McDonald, who finished tied for fourth in the nation in points with 75. 10 different Utes have more than 20 points on the year, with Mike Monument and Ben Seastrand being above 40. In goal Pete Gibb has been solid with a 2.33 GAA and save percentage of 92%, both numbers being the best of the goaltenders at Regionals. The question for Utah will be their scoring output as the Utes have averaged 54.6 shots per game recently with only scoring an average of 4.75 goals a game. The Utes were one period away from making it Nationals last year, and with them playing in front of their home crowd this could be the year they make it.

#8 San Diego State Aztecs
Record: 13-15-1
The Aztecs are back again as well as the same exact seed they were last year in San Jose. The Aztecs lost a heartbreaker in overtime to NAU in the first round last year to end their season. San Diego started the year off great with a win over Colorado State, but they haven’t done well against the top ten since, going 2-12-1 in those games. Junior Kevin Vaughn leads the team with 56 points and five players have more than 20 points on the year. Alex Corbin has played well in net with a 4.92 GAA but an impressive 87% save percentage. San Diego is the highest ranked team with a losing record but take on a San Jose State team that they’ve drawn and lost to by one. They could show up and pull a big upset with some good play in Utah.

#9 Denver Pioneers
Record: 9-12-1
The Pioneers are back at Regionals after just missing out last year (finished 11th). They come in with the worst record of the Regional teams and have played the least amount of games of the eight as well. But believe it or not, the Pioneers are the dark horse to win the whole thing. The record against the top ten isn’t pretty to look at at 3-9-1 but with their play as of late against the top teams, this DU team could be an eye-opener. Senior Kevin Brooks has the team lead in points with 31 with freshman Taylor Jay right behind him with 29 points. In goal Kyle Underriner has a GAA of 3.39 and a save percentage of 89% and Connor Beaupre has a 3.77 GAA and 91% save percentage. Denver is mostly a defensive team that lacks a lot of scoring prowess (2.29 goals a game, worst of eight teams), and that’ll have to change if they want to advance.

#10 Texas A&M Aggies
Record: 31-9
The Aggies are at Regionals for the first time since 2008, and have the best record and most wins in the west with 31. They’ve been the kings of Texas, going 27-1 against teams from the Lone Star State, but outside of Texas they’re 4-8. The wins against Denver and Colorado this year got them here as they were able to hold on to the 10 spot after the last ranking. Junior Peter Galasso leads the team with 47 points and eight different players have more than 20 points on the year. Tony Girard has done well with a GAA of 3.38 and save percentage of 90%. A&M has had a great season, and now they’ll be put to the test against the elite as they’ll try to prove the state of Texas belongs near the top of the ACHA.

First Round:
Game 1: #3 Colorado State vs #10 Texas A&M
This is CSU’s last time at Regionals in Division II so they’ll be out to make a statement that they deserve to move up to the next level. On the same note, the Aggies are trying to prove that they belong among the elite out west. These two teams have met once this season, with the Rams picking up a 7-1 win in Fort Collins. It’ll take a near perfect game for the Aggies to pull off the upset, but crazier things have happened in this tournament before.

Game 2: #4 Weber State vs #9 Denver
This game is probably the most exciting of the four and I believe has the best chance at seeing an upset. It’ll pit Weber’s high-powered offense versus DU’s solid defense. The season series between these two is 1-1-1, so someone will win the series along with a ticket to the second round. Denver has played some good hockey recently and after a shaky performance by Weber at home against the other Colorado teams, this one should be very exciting.

Game 3: #5 San Jose State vs #8 San Diego State
NoCal meets SoCal in this one as the California teams go at it in the high altitude (that’ll be fun to watch too). San Jose has the edge in the season series going 1-0-1 against the Aztecs, but this one is a complete toss up. Both games were very closely contested with not a lot of goals scored (2-2 and 2-1). With the olympic-sized rink and the altitude, this matchup will come down to who has the endurance to make it to the end.

Game 4: #6 Northern Arizona vs #7 Utah
The night cap will be a dandy as well as we get a rematch from last year’s Regional final. These two teams haven’t seen each other since that fateful day and you know Utah is chomping at the bit for a rematch. NAU hasn’t played in Utah at all this year, so altitude may play a factor in this one which gives Utah a slight advantage especially in front of the home crowd.

Predictions:
CSU vs TAMU: CSU was a win or two over Utah State away from punching a straight ticket to Nationals but came up just short. They’ll be ready to play and that doesn’t bode well for the Aggies. Of the four games, this one I’m the most sure about. CSU 8, TAMU 2

WSU vs DU: I like this game a lot, actually. With this being the fourth matchup between these two, it’ll be interesting to see where the strategy comes into play here. Like I said above, this one has the best chance for an upset. Weber has struggled as of late and DU is peaking at the right time. But the game is in Weber’s backyard, so I give them the slight edge. This one may even go extra frames. WSU 5, DU 3

SJSU vs SDSU: The battle of California is a hard one to pick. Both teams have played up here already this year, so they both know what it will be like come game time. San Jose has more offense, but i give San Diego the advantage on defense. This one will be a nail biter as well, and this is where I’m picking my upset. Third time’s the charm for the Aztecs? SDSU 4, SJSU 3

NAU vs UTAH: This one’s hard to pick as well, as these two teams haven’t met this year. Utah has the home ice advantage but will it be enough to get them the win? Most of Utah’s team remembers last year’s loss to the Icejacks so they’ll be ready to play. Expect another close one with Utah getting their revenge. UTAH 4, NAU 2

Second Round:
These predictions are coming off my picks for the first round. Second round format is highest seed left vs lowest seed left, with the other two facing each other. Winners advance to Nationals.

CSU vs SDSU: Again it’s very hard to pick against the Rams, especially against a California team in high altitude. CSU should handle this one and get back to Nationals. CSU 9, SDSU 3

WSU vs UTAH: How fitting that the two teams from Utah would duke it out for the spot at Nattys. This one should be sold out and will be interesting as it would decide this season series as well (both teams won on each other’s rink). Both teams are completely different than when these two met last in September, and I think it slightly benefits Utah. I know I’m a homer for this but I’m picking the Utes to go to Nationals. UTAH 6, WSU 3