Sports

10 Alaskans in hunt for NCAA hockey titles (D-I women, D-III men and women)

The fields for the NCAA Division I women's tournament, and the Division III men's and women's tournaments, have been revealed, and Alaskans are in the mix in all three tournaments.

Let's start with the Division I women and catch up on the two Anchorage women whose teams are among the eight that get a shot at a national title.

Anchorage's Tori Hickel is a senior defenseman/forward for Northeastern, which plays at No. 1-seeded Boston College in a Saturday quarterfinal. Hickel owns 0-8--8 totals in 37 games this season and 5-32--37 totals in 139 career games.

Anchorage's Kaitlyn Harding is a senior forward for No. 2-seeded Wisconsin, which entertains Mercyhurst on Saturday. Harding in 38 games this season has posted 1-5--6 totals. She's 5-11--16 in 131 career games.

At the Division III men's level, six Alaskans are in the 11-team field.

Brothers Ryan and Brandon Cole of Anchorage are junior forwards for Trinity, which opens against UMass-Boston. Ryan Cole owns 10-12--22 totals in 27 games and 46-63--109 career totals in 82 games. Brandon Cole this season is 8-7--15 in 27 games, and in 60 career games is 9-14--23. UMass-Boston includes freshman defenseman John Regnant of Anchorage, who has played in two games this season.

Erik Cooper of Anchorage is the senior captain of St. Norbert and leads it in scoring with 12-20--32 totals in 28 games. He's 45-59--104 in 112 career games. He's joined by freshman defenseman Tyler Andrews of Anchorage, who is 0-8--8 in 24 games. The Green Knights play Augsburg, which is coached by former UAA assistant Chris Brown.

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Anchorage's Trace Strahle is a junior defenseman for Wisconsin-Steven's Point, which opens against Adrian. Strahle owns 2-10--12 totals in 28 games this season and 6-24--30 totals in 73 career games.

On the women's D-III side, Plattsburgh State includes freshman forward Mackenzie Millen of Anchorage, who is 2-6--8 in 24 games. Plattsburgh opens against Amherst.

Middlebury, which opens against UMass-Boston, includes freshman goaltender Kiana Verplancke of Wasilla. She's 3-0-1 with a 0.49 goals-against average and .875 save percentage, plus two shutouts.

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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