Lakers vs. WMU
Road to the Joe starts with a trip to Kalamazoo
SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State didn't have to wait long for its rematch with Western Michigan.
After splitting their regular-season series two weeks ago in Sault Ste. Marie, the Lakers (10-18-8 overall, 7-15-6-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) are heading to Kalamazoo for the first round of the CCHA Playoffs. No. 10 seed LSSU plays No. 7 seed WMU (12-17-7 overall, 9-13-6-2 CCHA) in a best-of-three series at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if-necessary).
Friday's game will be televised live on FSN Plus, and Saturday's contest will be televised live on Comcast Local. Satellite and cable channel numbers for FSN Plus are listed below. Both games will also be broadcast on Rock 101 with audio streaming on www.rock101.net.
The LSSU Alumni Association is sponsoring a pre-game social for alumni and fans from 5-7 p.m. Saturday in the Endzone Room of Gallagher's Eatery & Pub, which is located at 4210 Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo. Tickets to the game are $33 for bench seats for the three-game series or $16 per game and can be purchased online (www.wmubroncos.com) or by calling 888-4WMU-TIX.
LSSU won the first game of its Feb. 20-21 series against WMU, 7-4, but the Broncos came back to win the second game, 4-1. Junior forward Zac MacVoy scored a goal in both games. MacVoy, who leads the Lakers in goals scored with 14, also tallied two goals at Northern Michigan last weekend. He has five goals in the Lakers' last seven games and is tied for seventh in the CCHA in goals scored.
Junior forward Nathan Perkovich and freshman forward Dan Barczuk both had a goal and two assists during the Lakers' 7-4 victory over WMU. LSSU stormed to a 6-0 lead during the first 24:12 of that game. WMU turned the tables on the Lakers and took a 3-0 lead in the second game of the series. NMU picked up where the Broncos left off and built early three-goal leads in both games of last weekend's 7-3 and 4-3 sweep. Barczuk did not play in the NMU series.
Lake Superior State and Western Michigan last met in the CCHA Playoffs in 2005-06 during a first-round series played in Sault Ste. Marie. The Broncos won 3-2 in overtime and 1-0. LSSU has an all-time CCHA Playoffs record of 5-2 against the Broncos dating back to the 1973-74 season, which was the second year of the league tournament.
Last year, LSSU was eliminated by Bowling Green State in three games during the first round, while WMU was swept by Ferris State, 4-3 in overtime and 6-3.
Senior forward Patrick Galivan leads the Broncos in playoff points with 1-2-3. Junior defenseman Kevin O'Connor, sophomore forward Travis Paeth and junior forward Cam Watson are the only other WMU players who have scored a goal in the playoffs.
Senior forward Troy Schwab is LSSU's points leader in the playoffs with 1-10-11, followed by Perkovich at 5-4-9 and junior defenseman Simon Gysbers at 4-4-8.
Other first-round matchups include Bowling Green at Ohio State, Ferris State at Nebraska-Omaha and Michigan State at Northern Michigan.
