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PNCLL week 4

Submitted by walax on Tue, 2006-04-11 00:25.
THE PNCLL WEEKLY BEAT April 3-April 9, 2006 by Douglas Muffinigan
SCOREBOARD
PNCLL-A
7-Apr 
Oregon 14, UVSC 0
8-Apr
 
 
Oregon State 17, Linfield 1
Boise State 10, Gonzaga 11
Oregon 5, BYU 13
9-Apr
Boise State 14, Idaho 7
PNCLL-B
8-Apr
 
 
 
PLU 18, Whitman 6
UPS 6, CWU 14
SOU 13, Willamette 3
Montana State 8, WWU 9
9-Apr
 
 
 
WWU 6, Montana 13
PLU 21, CWU 5
SOU 9, WOU 5
Montana State 8, Montana 13
 POWER RANKINGS

PNCLL-A
Overall W/L
Oregon
12-4
Oregon State
8-6
Simon Fraser
6-4
Gonzaga
4-8
Boise State
6-5
Washington
2-7
Idaho
0-4

PNCLL-B
Overall W/L
Montana
9-1
Southern Oregon
7-2
WWU
7-4
Pacific Lutheran
7-6
Whitman
4-3
Western Oregon
3-3
Linfield
4-9
Puget Sound
2-5
Central Washington
2-5
Albertson
2-5
Lewis and Clark
0-7
Willamette
0-8
*To view the most current and complete Computer Rankings, visit LaxPower
RECAPS
 PNCLL-A
**Oregon represented the A side of the nation very well on Friday with a decisive 14-0 win over UVSC. Oregon is ranked #7 in the nation and UVSC is ranked #4 in the B polls. There really is not much to say, a shutout is a shutout. Both Nate Cordova and Paul Swanson did not let in any of the six shots that UVSC had on goal all game. Oregon scored 8 goals in the first quarter and never looked back. Passing the ball around and giving everyone an opportunity, there were 13 Ducks that had either a goal or an assist.
**After Oregon dismantled UVSC, they might have been a little overconfident pitting against the #6 BYU squad. BYU got their revenge from the last game of the previous year. Last time Oregon was the victor by one goal, but this time it wouldn’t be so close. Both BYU goalies averaged over 80% in their saves and the Ducks were no where to be found in the second half. Although the halftime score was tied at 2-2, BYU came out with fire in the second half. Before the Ducks could steal another one, BYU put this game quickly out of reach.
 **The Oregon State Beavers also represented themselves and the MDIA-A very well. Holding Linfield to a single goal, this game was not the least bit competitive. Tipton and Provancher had 5 goals apiece, but the notable stat was the unselfish play by Jordan Phillips. Racking up 7 assists, Jordan showed his ability to see the field and make the appropriate passes. The final score was 17-1
**Boise State and Gonzaga played a very important game this week. Boise State after inching by Washington in the previous week had to beat Gonzaga by only a single goal to insure their spot in the PNCLL playoffs in their very first year in the league. Instead, the game finished with Boise State losing by a single goal. The Gonzaga defense played an overall great game. After a very slow start and a 4-1 deficit, the Bulldogs came back with an amazing second quarter, scoring 6 goals and letting in only one. A 7-5 lead at halftime was anything but a comfortable lead. With The Bulldogs pouring on the shots in the second half, their relentless offense was giving no room for the Broncos to breathe. With a strong 6-goal performance from Benjamin Stein, the Bulldogs were able to hold on for the 11-10 win. Read later on in the Playoff Picture what this game means.
PNCLL-B
**PLU played Whitman this week, and the Lutes ended up scoring more in the first quarter than Whitman did all game. Lead by strong performances by Tkachuk, Brown, and Hushagen, the Lutes wanted to send the B division a clear message. Its nice to see that a devastating early season injury did not entirely immobilize this PLU team. The way they have been playing recently, they could make a late run heading into the playoffs. 
**PLU also played CWU this week and showed again that their team is running on all its pistons. Absolutely dismantling CWU and scoring 6 goals in the first quarter, the PLU’s offense is a force to be reckoned with. Killing CWU 21-5, the Lutes show that they could go very far in the playoffs. If the offense can keep up this kind of production in the playoffs, it will be nearly impossible to eliminate this team.
**Montana State played Western Washington in a thriller this week. Though this did not have any bearing on the playoff situation, it was important for both teams when considering the confidence necessary threading into the postseason. Though there were strong performances on the offense, its hard not to credit this win to Noah Symington. With 22 saves and only 8 allowed, this keeper took the game into his own hands. Playing a Top Ten team, WWU showed that maybe they should be higher than 16th in the polls.
**#16 WWU tried their luck against the #7 Montana team. The game was over before it started. With the Grizzlies jumping out to a 10-2 halftime lead, WWU were left scratching their heads looking for answers. Though WWU won the second half 4-3, it was too little too late. As the buzzer sounded, the board read 13-6 in Montanas favor.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
PNCLL-A
Boise State losing to Gonzaga opened up a realm of possibilities for the fourth spot in playoff contention. Boise State ends with two division wins after their victory over Idaho. That matches the two wins that Gonzaga currently has. Although Idaho is eliminated from the race with not a single division win, the hope has been rekindled for the Washington Huskies. If the Huskies can win against Gonzaga and Idaho, that would put 3 teams, Boise State, Gonzaga, and UW at 2-4 records within the division. In this case, a goal differential is the tie breaker. Boise State only beat UW by one goal, but lost to Gonzaga by one as well. This puts them at +0, or even. Gonzaga currently is +1 (one goal win against Boise State). At this point, the UW Huskies are -1 with the loss to the Broncos. Gonzaga can clinch the playoffs with a win over UW. Yet, if UW wins by two or more, They go to the Playoffs (assuming a win against Idaho). Either way, Boise state is nearly out of luck. They only thing that Boise state can hope for is for the Huskies to beat the Bulldogs by exactly one goal. In this case, even the goal differential Tie-breaker would be even, and any of these three teams could make the playoffs based on the next tie breaker. Quite an exciting race that will determine who gets to face the league Tyrant Oregon in the first round.
PNCLL-B
Montana, Western Washington, and Southern Oregon have qualified for the 2006 playoffs. Again, Montana and WWU have all but secured the #1 and #2 spots. This will advance them straight to the second round. Yet, Southern Oregon will have to play the #6 team to advance. Whitman, WOU and PLU each have good chances to make it into the playoffs, and currently lead the board with their division records. CWU’s tough loss to PLU added another loss to their record, and they seem to slowly be fading off the radar that is the postseason.
Top 10 League Leaders
PNCLL-A
            Name                           Team         P/G
1.
Christians, Mike
Sr
SFU
5.30
2.
Misner, Jake
Jr
Boise
5.20
3.
Tipton, Tyler
Jr
Oregon St
4.08
4.
Phillips, Jordan
So
Oregon St
4.08
5.
Corrigan, Patrick
So
SFU
4.00
6.
Manning, Curtis
Fr
SFU
4.00
7.
Coffman, Julian
Jr
Oregon
3.93
8.
Reynolds, Zach
So
Boise
3.89
9.
Stein, Benjamin
Sr
Gonzaga
3.17
10.
Clayton, Richard
Jr
Oregon St
3.00
PNCLL-B
        Name                               Team                  P/G
1.
Hart, Cody
Jr
Albertson
7.29
2.
Butterwegge, Joshua
Jr
W Oregon
6.17
3.
Tkachuk, Nicholas
Fr
PLU
5.38
4.
Whitehead, Jamison
Jr
S Oregon
5.33
5.
Hushagen, Aaron
Sr
PLU
5.08
6.
Ault, Zander
So
Montana
5.00
7.
Healy, John
So
W. Washington
4.64
8.
Hall, Townsend
So
Montana
4.56
9.
Olsen, Kristofer
Sr
PLU
4.54
10.
Schuit, Jake
So
W. Washington
4.09
TOP PERFORMERS
CLAY KNOPE, FR, Attack, OREGON…From not even a blip on the radar to leading the team in points, this freshman had a great game against the #4B UVSC. It’s too bad that his production wasn’t enough the lift the Ducks past a superior BYU team.
JORDAN PHILLIPS, SO, Attack, OREGON STATE...Unselfish play does not go unrewarded. In a sound win over Linfield, Jordan displayed his passing skills with an outstanding seven-assist performance.
BENJAMIN STEIN, SR, Attack, GONZAGA… Scoring more than half of his teams’ goals, Stein shook the net six times and also added an assist. If Gonzaga is going to beat UW to make it into playoffs, they are going to need good production out of Stein.
GAMES TO WATCH
4/13 PLU @ UPS… Another important division game here. PLU would be wise to give it their all going into this one. With their recent offensive production, they shouldn’t have a problem.
4/15 WWU @ Whitman…WWU is playing another division game against Whitman. Whitman needs to win this if they can hope for a good run into the playoffs.
4/15 Western Oregon @ Linfield… A match-up between the #6 and #7 teams, this is crucial because only the top 6 get to make it to the playoffs.
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