ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Sioux goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Sr., Grand Forks, N.D.) made 33 saves to lead the UND men's hockey team to a 4-2 win over Colorado College on Saturday in the WCHA Final Five third-place game at the Xcel Energy Center.
The win allowed North Dakota (26-10-4 overall) to surpass Colorado College (28-11-1 overall) in the PairWise rankings, which mimic the NCAA selection process. After the game, with other games around the country still to be played, the Fighting Sioux were ranked third nationally in the PairWise.
UND's PairWise ranking seemingly means the Sioux could be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, although the actual tournament seedings and pairings will be announced Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on ESPN2.
In a tightly contested contest that saw each team fire 35 shots on goal, the Sioux led 3-2 after two periods.
Colorado College put on heavy pressure throughout the third period, outshooting UND 14-5, but were unable to solve Lamoureux. Also impressive in the game was Tigers' freshman goaltender Richard Bachman, the WCHA player of the year and rookie of the year, who stopped 31 shots.
UND upped its lead to 4-2 at 10:02 of the third period when forward Darcy Zajac (So., Winnipeg, Manitoba) fired a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Bachman.
Colorado College pulled Bachman with 1:38 to play, but UND held on for the win.
After the teams finished the first period tied 1-1, UND took control of the game in the second period, outscoring CC 2-1.
Sioux forward Chris VandeVelde (So., Moorhead, Minn.) scored his 15th goal of the season at 5:01 of the second on a tip-in of a Taylor Chorney (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) shot while UND was on the power play.
UND defenseman Chay Genoway (So., Morden, Manitoba) gave the Sioux a 3-1 lead at 10:27 with UND's third power play goal of the game. Genoway rushed the puck into the Colorado College zone and beat Bachman with a backhand shot.
The Tigers cut the Sioux lead to 3-2 at 16:36 when Jimmy Kilpatrick picked up a rebound from in close and fired it past Lamoureux for a power-play goal.
UND outshot CC 12-8 in the second period.
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie, with UND outshooting the Tigers 18-13.
Colorado College got on board first on a breakaway goal by Chad Rau. Tigers defenseman Mike Testwuide sent a long pass up the middle to spring Rau, and Rau made a move on Lamoureux and then slid a backhand shot that beat the UND goalie 5-hole. It was Rau's 28th goal of the season.
UND tied it with 40 seconds to play in the period when T.J. Oshie (Jr., Warroad, Minn.) banged in his 18th goal of the season on a rebound of a Chorney shot while UND was on the power play.
Oshie and VandeVelde each had an assist in the game, and defenseman Jake Marto (Fr., Grand Forks, N.D.) had two assists. Marto also had an assist in Friday's loss to Denver, giving him three assists on the weekend.
Chorney also had a three-point weekend, with two assists against CC, and a goal against Denver.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Following Saturday night's championship game, which Denver won 2-1, the following players were named to the Final Five All-Tournament team:
MVP--Alex Kangas, G, Minnesota
G--Peter Mannino, Denver
D--Chris Butler, Denver
D--Taylor Chorney, North Dakota
F--T.J. Oshie, North Dakota
F--Mike Hoeffel, Minnesota
F--Tom May, Denver
NOTES: Attendance at the game was 15,981 ... UND has made two appearances in the WCHA Final Five third-place game, winning both ... The Sioux also won in 2005, defeating Minnesota 4-2.
