UW hockey goes 1-2

The University of Wyoming hockey club finished 1-2 at the Clash in the Corn tournament last week in Sioux Center, Iowa.

The Cowboys opened the four-team, round-robin event with a 6-5 victory Thursday over University of Wisconsin-Platteville but lost their final two games, 9-1 Friday against Dordt College and 6-3 Saturday against Calvin College.

Heading into a six-week holiday break, UW is 10-6 and ranked fourth in the American Collegiate Hockey Association's (ACHA) Division III Pacific Region.

"It's a long break this year and we're going to have to try to stay in shape without practice and ice time," UW Coach Shawn Rockey says. "I am having Kerry Brown (a personal trainer at the UW Wellness Center) draw up a special program for the break to keep the guys at their best possible performance levels.

"We plan to come back strong, even though we are losing four guys at the semester break. We are going to try to pick up a few new guys, but if that doesn't work out, we'll just have to bear down and learn to become a stronger team without them."

When the Cowboys return to the ice Jan. 16 at Kansas, they will be minus forwards Tad Bernet (Katy, Texas) and David Wells (Rock Springs), both of whom graduate at the semester break, and defensemen Evan Reed and Grayson Walsh (both of Fort Collins, Colo.), both of whom are being deployed to Iraq.

UW will especially feel the loss of Bernet, who anchors the club's second line and fronts the team with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists. His linemate, Wells, has accounted for five goals and seven assists.

At the Clash in the Corn, Michael Leriger (Houston, Texas) netted a pair of goals in the opening seven minutes to spark a five-goal outburst in the first period of the Cowboys' tourney debut against the previously undefeated Pioneers.

Erik Blomberg (Parker, Colo.) added two goals, his team-leading 14th and 15th of the season, and Wells and Ryan Allred (Laramie) also scored for UW.

Bernet and Rick Comer (Gillette) each had two assists for the Cowboys. Wells, Willie Forbes (Casper), Nate Olsen (Pinedale) and Ryan Tufte (Jackson) also recorded assists.
In goal, Drew Luplow (Sheridan) made 11 saves to earn the victory.After beating UW-Platteville, the Cowboys were overwhelmed by two of the ACHA's best teams.

Dordt College, which eliminated UW from last year's Pacific Regional Tournament, scored six unanswered goals in the first two periods en route to its second win over the Cowboys this month.

The Blades (13-2), ranked No. 2 in the region behind Northern Arizona University (14-0), have outscored their opponents by a 118-50 count this season, including 19-2 against UW.

Lucas Wescoat (Idaho Falls, Idaho) scored the Cowboys' lone goal, assisted by Bernet and Graham Barrett (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

In its tourney finale, UW fell to Calvin College, the No. 3 team in the ACHA's North Regional. The Knights (10-4) won each of their three games at the Clash in the Corn, including a 5-2 triumph over Dordt College.

Olsen, Tufte and Cody Leeper (Jackson) scored the Cowboys' goals in a losing cause. Allred, Barrett and Leriger had assists for UW.