Green Knights Claim Ninth NCHA Peters Cup Championship

From Sports Information Director, March 5, 2011 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - St. Norbert College captured its ninth Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Peters Cup championship with a hard-fought 2-1 win over UW-Superior at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (22-4-1), ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, earned the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. Pairings for the tournament will be announced at 8 a.m. Monday and tickets for their first game hosting will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. Superior fell to 16-12-1.

St. Norbert controlled about the first 10 minutes of the game and ended up taking a 1-0 lead. Superior's Derek Stauber was fingered for a slashing penalty at the 6 minutes 20 seconds mark, a foul that led to a power-play goal. Nick Tabisz's hard wrister from a tough angle near the goal line got past Superior goaltender Drew Strandberg at 7:18.

Superior enjoyed prolonged stretches of control, especially in the second period. However, most of the Yellowjackets' shots on St. Norbert netminder B.J. O'Brien came from near the blue line and minimized quality scoring chances. The Green Knights caught a break at 15:41 when Scott Pulak's shot was stopped but rebounded right to Johan Ryd for a 2-0 lead. The goal ended up as Ryd's seventh game-winning goal of the year, which currently leads Division III skaters and is a new St. Norbert season record.

The Yellowjackets couldn't get on the scoreboard until 45 seconds remained when Stauber scored with the extra attacker. Superior couldn't get Strandberg pulled again until there was 25 seconds left, and the visitors did not get a good look at the equalizer during that time.

Superior outshot St. Norbert 31-22, including 22-14 in the final two periods. O'Brien made 30 stops, while Strandberg turned away 20 shots. Both teams committed three minor penalties. St. Norbert was 1-for-3 on the power play and Superior was 0-for-3.