Upstart Colorado College used 35 saves from Joe Howe tonight to rack a 2-0 WCHA Final Five semifinal win over Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn., setting up a Saturday championship game between CC and Wisconsin that has nothing less at stake than an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Neither the Tigers nor Badgers are in position to win an at-large berth -- both are outside the top 16 in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the formula used for at-large berths in the 16-team NCAAs -- so the title game is huge for both.
CC, by the way, features four Alaskans -- senior captain William Rapuzzi, sophomore winger Scott Wamsganz and freshmen forwards Hunter Fejes and Jared Hanson.
Minnesota is an absolute lock for an at-large berth and could still get a No. 1 seed in a regional.
