2005-06 WIAC Men's Ice Hockey Headlines

2005-06 WIAC Men's Ice Hockey Headlines

UW-River Falls' Salmela Named to Academic All-District At-Large Men's Team

RELEASED: Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Madison, Wis.--Six Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) student-athletes have been named to the 2006 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Five College Division Men's At-Large Team. UW-Oshkosh's Aaron Burg, UW-River Falls' Mike Salmela and UW-Stevens Point's Mike Hayes and Garth Newport were first team selections, while UW-La Crosse's Jason Lulloff and UW-Whitewater's Jordan Shilts claimed second team recognition.

The team is comprised of all NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA student-athletes from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota and is voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It includes the sports of golf, ice hockey, rifle, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.

Burg, a senior swimmer from New London, Wis., boasts a 4.00 grade point average and is majoring in secondary education with a minor in biology. He finished seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and eighth in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard freestyle at the 2006 WIAC championships.

Salmela, a senior ice hockey player from Duluth, Minn., is majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry and maintains a 3.72 grade point average. He was named the WIAC Max Sparger Men's Ice Hockey Scholar-Athlete earlier this year. Salmela secured all-WIAC first team honors this season after compiling three goals and 13 assists for 16 points.

Hayes, a senior wrestler from Beaver Dam, Wis., claimed the WIAC Max Sparger Wrestling Scholar-Athlete honor earlier this year. He is majoring in biology with a pre-med emphasis and a minor in chemistry. Hayes completed the 2006 season with a 28-4 overall record in the 285-pound division and finished third at the NCAA Division III championships.

Newport, a senior swimmer from Berlin, Wis., carries a 3.94 grade point average and is majoring in economics and business administration. He was named the conference's swimming and diving scholar-athlete this season. Newport is a four-time individual conference champion and member of six conference champion relays. He had secured All-America status three times and All-America honorable mention recognition on seven occasions.

Burg, Salmela, Hayes and Newport are now eligible for the Academic All-America team, which will be announced on June 13.

Lulloff, a junior wrestler from Kiel, Wis., is an exercise and sports science major with a 3.78 grade point average. He finished third at the national championships in the 184-pound division and compiled a 40-6 overall record during the 2006 campaign.

Shilts, a senior tennis player from Janesville, Wis. (Craig H.S.), is majoring in management computer systems and carries a 3.63 grade point average. He has compiled a 19-13 record at No. 1 singles and 24-6 mark at No. 1 doubles this season.

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Seven Claim All-USCHO.com Honors

RELEASED: Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Madison, Wis.--Seven Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men's ice hockey players have been recognized by USCHO.com for their efforts during the 2006 season.

UW-River Falls' Tyler Dahl, Derek Hansberry and Mike Salmela and UW-Stevens Point's Sean Fish were named to the West Region Honorable Mention Team.

Hansberry and teammate A.J. Bucchino were also named to the West Rookie Team, while the Falcons' Chris Nathe, UW-Stevens Point's Fish and UW-Stout's Jack Wolgemuth received honorable mention honors to the West Rookie Team.

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UW-Superior Falls in NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Quarterfinals

RELEASED: Saturday, March 11, 2006

Green Bay, Wis.--St. Norbert College advanced to its third NCAA Division III Frozen Four with an 8-2 victory over UW-Superior in a NCAA Division III quarterfinal game at the Cornerstone Community Center on March 11. The Green Knights, who are in their third Frozen Four in four years, are now 24-4-2. UW-Superior ends its season at 18-10-3.

The Green Knights cashed in six times on 12 power plays to roll to the win and outshot the Yellowjackets 38-22. Ryan Petersen scored a pair of goals and six other St. Norbert skaters tallied one marker each as St. Norbert broke open a 3-1 game.

St. Norbert took a 3-0 lead after one period. Petersen scored just 1:36 into the game when he fired a slapshot from the high slot past UW-Superior goaltender Mathieu Bonnelly. Sheldon Wing scored on the power play at 6:19 of the first on a shot from the right circle, and Andy Cote tallied a marker at 10:51 of the period when a shot from the red line got past Bonnelly.

The score stayed that way until UW-Superior scored on a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 17:15 of the first when Derek Miller beat Kyle Jones. It was the only goal UW-Superior would score during a five-minute power-play opportunity after Troy Boisjoli was whistled for a check from behind. St. Norbert would score a pair of power-play goals in the last minute of the second period though to respond, getting scored from Marc Belanger at 19:17 and Kurtis Peterson at 19:40. Belanger knocked his goal home from the near post while Peterson's score caught UW-Superior goaltender Chad Bieswenger's paddle and trickled in.

St. Norbert boosted its advantage to 7-1 with a couple more power-play goals late in the third period. Tyler Gow tallied at 13:45 and Spencer Carbery at 15:37 before Nate Rien scored a 4-on-4 goal at 17:22. Petersen's power-play goal with 10 seconds left was the final goal.

Jones made 20 saves for St. Norbert to improve to 23-3-2 on the year, while Bonnelly had four saves in just 10:51 of work before Bieswenger finished up with 26 saves.

UW-Superior was whistled for 19 penalties for 65 minutes, included two 10-minute misconducts and one game disqualification to David Moncur. St. Norbert had 12 penalties for 43 minutes, including a game misconduct to Boisjoli for his check from behind.

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UW-Superior Defeats St. Olaf in NCAA Men's Hockey First Round

RELEASED: Thursday, March 9, 2006

Superior, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Superior defeated St. Olaf College (Minn.), 2-1, in a NCAA Division III Tournament Men's Ice Hockey First Round contest at Wessman Arena on March 8.

With the victory, UW-Superior (18-9-3) advances to the quarterfinals of the national tournament on March 11 at St. Norbert College (23-4-2). Game time is set for 7 p.m. The Yellowjackets and Green Knights are 1-1-1 against each other this season.

In the win against St. Olaf, the Yellowjackets' Seth Reda broke a scoreless tie with a goal at the 8:39 mark of the third period. Jay Dardis and David Moncur assisted on the goal.

Nate Rein gave UW-Superior a 2-0 lead with 2:45 to play as Andrew Mckenzie and B.J. Radovich assisted on the goal.

St. Olaf's Joel Ihrie scored 30 seconds later to cut the deficit to 2-1 and pulled their goalie for the final 29 seconds of the game, but were unable to tally a goal.

Mathieu Bonnelly recorded 14 saves for the Yellowjackets to improve to 13-4-2 on the season, while St. Olaf's Dan Kehler made 25 saves.

UW-Superior was 0-1 in power play attempts, while St. Olaf was 0-4.

The Yellowjackets have gone 6-0-1 in their last seven games and have won five of those contests by one goal.

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UW-Superior to Host St. Olaf in NCAA Men's Ice Hockey First Round

RELEASED: Monday, March 6, 2006

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Superior will host St. Olaf College (Minn.) in a NCAA Division III Tournament First Round game on Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.

The Yellowjackets (17-9-3) earned an automatic bid into the 10-team tournament after winning the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) tournament title.

St. Olaf (12-9-5) claimed the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) tournament crown to secure an automatic bid into the national field.

The winner of the UW-Superior/St. Olaf game will travel to St. Norbert College for a quarterfinal contest on March 11 at 7 p.m.

UW-Superior will be making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and first since 2002. The Yellowjackets claimed the national championship in 2002.

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UW-River Falls' Salmela Named Men's Ice Hockey Scholar-Athlete

RELEASED: Monday, February 27, 2006

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-River Falls' Mike Salmela has been named the recipient of the 2006 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Max Sparger Men's Ice Hockey Scholar-Athlete Award.

Salmela, a senior from Duluth, Minn., is majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry and maintains a 3.72 grade point average. He was awarded a National Science Foundation Research Experience for undergraduates in neuroscience in 2004 and has presented cell biology and neuroscience research for a national conference the last two years. Salmela has been named to UW-River Falls' Dean's List seven semesters and is a two-time selection on the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll.

Salmela helped the Falcons to their second straight WIAC championship this season and registered three goals and 13 assists for 16 points. He secured all-WIAC first team honors after claiming honorable mention status during the 2003 campaign. He also received all-NCHA honorable mention accolades during 2003 season.

Salmela is currently president of the Society for Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities and served as president of his institution's Premedical Society from 2003-04. He works as an Emergency Medical Technician with River Falls Ambulance Service and as an undergraduate researcher at the University of Minnesota.

Also nominated for this year's scholar-athlete award were: UW-Eau Claire's Chris Nelson, UW-Stout's Mike Kautz and UW-Superior's Mathieu Bonnelly.

The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is named after Max Sparger, who served as commissioner of the Wisconsin State University Conference from July, 1971 - July, 1993.

In order to be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.25 grade point average, be in their last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years.

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UW-River Falls Wins Third Straight Men's Ice Hockey Championship

RELEASED: Friday, February 10, 2006

Menomonie, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-River Falls won the 2006 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Ice Hockey Championship with a 4-2 victory over UW-Stout at Dunn County Ice Arena on February 10.

The conference title for the Falcons in their third straight and 12th in school history (2006, 2005, 2004, 2001, 1999, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982). The 12 league crowns are the most in the conference.

In the victory over the Blue Devils, both teams came out firing, scoring four goals in the first period, but neither team pierced the goalies until late in the third period when UW-River Falls (17-4-3, 6-0-1) scored the game-winner with 40 seconds left in the game on an unassisted goal by Tyler Kostiuk. The Falcons' Wade Harstad added an empty net goal 17 seconds later to seal the game.

The Falcons scored first in this game. After UW-Stout (12-12-0, 4-3-0) drew a penalty only six seconds into the contest, UW-River Falls' Derek Hansberry scored only 25 seconds into the power play to put the Falcons ahead.

UW-Stout answered back three minutes on a power-play goal by Mike Kautz. He was assisted by Andrew Stearns and Matt Mlynarczyk.

Stearns put UW-Stout ahead 2-1 midway through the period, getting assists from Mlynarczyk and Jack Wolgemuth.

Hansberry scored his second goal of the period at the 18:46 mark, as TJ Dahl recorded his second assist.

UW-Stout outshot UW-River Falls, 14-3, in the second period and 13-9 in the third period, but the Falcons made their final period shots count. UW-Stout outshot UW-River Falls 34-19 on the night. The Blue Devils' Matt Koenig recorded 15 saves, while the Falcons' AJ Bucchino made 32 saves.

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Strand Named Blugold Men's Hockey Coach

RELEASED: Thursday, July 21, 2005

Madison, Wis.--An Eau Claire native and a four-year Blugold letterwinner has been named the new UW-Eau Claire men's hockey coach.

Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon has announced that Luke Strand will take over as the Blugold men's coach, replacing Jean Laforest who resigned to take a pro position with the Youngstown, Ohio SteelHounds.

Strand, who played for Blugold coach Ian Perrin from 1993-97, comes to the Blugolds after a two-year stint as an assistant coach and assistant general manager with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League.
A graduate of Eau Claire North High School, Strand played his prep hockey for Tom Kuklinski and then went on to play for the Junior A North Iowa Huskies from 1991-93 before joining the Blugolds.

As a Blugold, he ranks among the top 20 all-time career scorers with 85 points (41 g, 44 a) during a 104-game career. He was given the Wally Akervik Memorial Award as the top freshman in 1994 and received the Most Dedicated Player Award as both a junior and a senior. He was a member of one of the school's most successful teams in 1994-95 when the Blugolds finished 16-11 overall.

Following his career at UWEC, Strand spent two seasons with the Madison Monsters and one season with the Madison Kodiaks of the UHL. When his playing career ended, he became an assistant coach and head JV coach with the perennially powerful St. Norbert men's hockey program under head coach Tim Coghlin. The Green Knights were 68-15-5 during his three seasons on the staff with an NCAA Frozen Four appearance in 2002-03. He recruited a 2003-04 team that finished runner-up in the NCAA Division III national tournament.

Strand had this comment about his selection as the head Blugold coach. "First of all, I am particularly grateful to Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon and the UW-Eau Claire administration for the opportunity of becoming the head coach of the men's ice hockey program. I look forward to building relationships with the players, supporters and staff at UWEC. My vision and passion for this position will help create a great environment for student-athletes to grow in."

For additional comments from Luke Strand, please call 920 621-7103.

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