Over the past two weekends, Stephon Williams of Fairbanks backstopped Minnesota State-Mankato to a road sweep against the nation's top-ranked Division I men's hockey team and followed that with consecutive shutouts.
The junior, a New York Islanders draft pick, is flashing the form that two seasons ago made him the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's first-team all-league masked man and its Rookie of the Year. Two weeks ago, Williams helped the Mavericks sweep at Michigan Tech, then ranked No. 1. Last weekend, he bageled Lake Superior State twice.
Williams has been named the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week two straight weeks.
After a tumultuous sophomore season in which he lost his starting job, Williams has rebounded to regain his No. 1 status with the Mavericks and go 11-1-0 with a 1.52 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. He owns the best winning percentage in Division I, ranks fourth in goals-against average, 16th in save percentage and is tied for seventh in shutouts (2). All that as helped the Mavericks reach a No. 2 ranking that is the highest in program history.
Williams is one of scores of Alaska players who populate rosters in men's and women's U.S. college hockey, both at the Division I and Division III levels.
And he's one of several Alaskans off to blistering starts this season.
Penn State's Casey Bailey, a junior winger from Anchorage, in 13 games has a team-leading nine goals and 16 points, which ranks second on the team. He's seventh in the country in goals per game (.69) and tied for 16th in points per game (1.23).
Anchorage's Zoe Hickel, a senior winger and captain for the Minnesota-Duluth women, is enjoying a career season with 15-5--16 totals in 17 games, and is tied for 12th in the nation in goals per game (.65). Vermont junior forward Dayna Colang, of Fairbanks, has delivered 8-9--17 totals in 17 games.
Also, Dartmouth junior winger Brad Schierhorn of Anchorage on Sunday delivered both goals in a 2-0 win over Boston University and owns 4-4--8 totals in eight games.
At the Division III level, Trinity sophomore winger Ryan Cole of Anchorage owns 5-4--9 totals in six games. Last season, when he furnished 19-29--48 totals in 26 games, Cole led Division III rookies in scoring and finished third in the nation among Division III scorers.
In all, 74 players from Alaska are listed on college hockey rosters this season. Thirty-seven of those -- 25 men and 12 women -- play in Division I, the highest level of college hockey. Another 37 -- 21 men and 16 women -- play in Division III.
Anchorage leads the way -- 42 players list Alaska's largest city as their hometown. Fairbanks follows with 12 players, Wasilla checks in with five, and Eagle River and Palmer with three each. Kenai, Soldotna and North Pole each have two players, and Copper Center and Kasilof have one each.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter @Jaromirblagr
ALASKANS IN COLLEGE HOCKEY
DIVISION I MEN
Atlantic Hockey
Sacred Heart – Alec Butcher, Fr. F, Anchorage.
Big Ten
Michigan State – Tanner Sorenson, Sr. F, Anchorage.
Penn State – Casey Bailey, Jr. F, Anchorage.
ECAC
Clarkson – Bryan Sinz, Soph. D, Anchorage.
Dartmouth – Brad Schierhorn, Jr. F, Anchorage.
Hockey East
Northeastern – Dax Lauwers, Sr. D, Anchorage.
Notre Dame – Austin Wuthrich, Sr. F, Anchorage.
Providence – Truman Reed, Fr. D, Anchorage.
NCHC
Colorado College – Hunter Fejes, Jr. F, Anchorage; Scott Wamsganz, Sr. F, Anchorage; Jaren Hanson, Jr. F, Palmer
Nebraska-Omaha – Brian Cooper, Jr. D, Anchorage.
WCHA
UAA – Chase Van Allen, Soph. D, Anchorage; Ben Matthews, Jr. D, Anchorage; Connor Wright, Soph. F, Anchorage; Brad Duwe, Soph. F, Soldotna; Hayden Trupp, Jr. D, Anchorage; Kory Roy, Sr. F, Anchorage.
UAF – Justin Woods, Soph. D, Fairbanks; Alec Hajdukovich, Jr. F, Fairbanks; Tayler Munson, Fr. F, Fairbanks; Jared Linnell, Soph. F, North Pole; Matt Friese, Jr. F, Wasilla; Nolan Youngmun, Sr. F, Anchorage.
Minnesota State-Mankato – Stephon Williams, Jr. G, Fairbanks.
DIVISION III MEN
ECAC WEST
Neumann – Shane Topf, Soph. F, Eagle River; Ryan Luiten, Soph. F, Anchorage.
MASCAC
Framingham State – Ryan McDonald, Sr. F, Anchorage.
UMass-Dartmouth – Zak Kroll, Jr. D, Anchorage.
MIAC
Bethel – Josh Smith, Fr. F, Eagle River; Grant Dye, Sr. F, Anchorage.
Gustavus Adolphus – Conor Deal, Fr. F, Anchorage.
Hamline – Chris Sawyer, Soph. F, Wasilla.
Saint John's – Chancie Hanson, Fr. D, Wasilla.
Saint Mary's – Jed McGlasson, Sr. F, Kenai.
St. Olaf – Matt Guerts, Sr. D, Chugiak.
St. Thomas – Bobby Murphy, Jr. F, Anchorage.
NCHA
Milwaukee School of Engineering – Gage Christianson, Soph. F, Anchorage.
St. Norbert – Erik Cooper, Jr. F, Anchorage.
NESCAC
Trinity – Brandon Cole, Soph. F, Anchorage; Ryan Cole, Soph. F, Anchorage.
SUNYAC
Potsdam – Matt Thompson, Jr. F, Anchorage.
WIAC
Wisconsin-Eau Clare – Jacob Wolters, Fr. F, Fairbanks; Colton Wolter, Fr. F, Fairbanks.
Wisconsin-River Falls – Blake Huppert, Sr. F, Wasilla.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Trace Strahle, Soph. D, Anchorage.
DIVISION I WOMEN
College Hockey America
Lindenwood – Katie Nokelby, Soph. D, Anchorage.
Robert Morris – Leah Carlson, Jr. D, Copper Center.
ECAC
Colgate – Kayla Haus, Soph. F, Kasilof.
Yale – Abby Gahm, Soph. F/D, Eagle River.
Hockey East
New Hampshire – Ashley Wilkes, Soph. G, North Pole.
Northeastern – Tori Hickel, Jr. F, Anchorage.
Vermont – Dayna Colang, Jr. F, Fairbanks.
WCHA
Bemidji State – Whitney Wivoda, Jr. F, Fairbanks; Bailey Wright, Soph. F, Anchorage.
Minnesota-Duluth – Zoe Hickel, Sr. F, Anchorage.
St. Cloud State – Jenna Redford, Soph. D/F, Soldotna.
Wisconsin – Kaitlyn Harding, Jr. F, Anchorage.
DIVISION III WOMEN
ECAC EAST
Franklin Pearce – Marisa Ketterman, Soph. F, Palmer; Sara Diltz, Fr. F, Palmer.
Holy Cross – Mackenzie Boardman, Jr. D, Anchorage.
Plymouth State – Courtney Evans, Fr. D, Fairbanks.
Saint Anselm – Marianne Kristiansen, Jr. F, Anchorage.
ECAC WEST
Chatham – McKenzie Haskins, Soph. F, Anchorage; Erika Martin, Soph. F, Fairbanks.
Cortland – Josie Fletcher, Soph. F, Wasilla.
MIAC
Augsburg – Taral Clayton, Fr. D, Anchorage.
Bethel – Karley Vohden, Soph. D, Fairbanks.
Hamline – Melanie Bartenstein, Fr. F, Anchorage.
NCHA
Concordia (Wis.) – Brandi Muller, Soph. F, Anchorage.
Finlandia – Brittney Coleman, Sr. F, Anchorage.
St. Scholastica – Lindsey Wright, Fr. F, Anchorage; Zahn Thompson, Fr. F, Fairbanks.
NESCAC
Wesleyan – Lottie Barton, Jr. D, Kenai.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing