Tigers Make Final Four in Great Post-Season Run
By DAVE MOROSS
Sports Information Director
olorado College's young hockey team stunned everyone with an incredible post-season run,
advancing all the way to the NCAA semifinals in Milwaukee, Wis., before seeing its season come to an end in a 6-2 loss to the University of North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux went on to win the national title with a 6-4 victory over Boston University in the championship game.
CC went 6-2 in eight playoff games overall, including a 3-2 victory over the University of New Hampshire and a 5-4 triumph over Clarkson at the NCAA East Regional in Worcester, Mass., the weekend of March 21-22.
After finishing in a fourth-place tie in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the Tigers started their run by sweeping Wisconsin in their best-of-three, first-round WCHA playoff series. Colorado College won the series opener, 9-3, without team scoring leader and Hobey Baker Award finalist Brian Swanson, then eliminated the Badgers, 1-0, in quadruple overtime the following night in the longest men's college hockey game ever played.
At the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., a week later, CC beat arch-rival Denver 5-2 in the play-in game before dropping a 5-1 decision to North Dakota in the semifinals. The Tigers earned their third consecutive NCAA invitation the next day, beating St. Cloud State 6-0 in the third-place contest as senior goalie Judd Lambert posted his school-record sixth career shutout.
Lambert was one of four seniors who played their final collegiate game on March 27 and capped outstanding careers that established them as the winningest class in 59 seasons of Tiger Hockey. Defensemen Eric Rud and Bob Needham, along with forward Chad Hartnell, were the other three. Rud, a two-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and All-WCHA selection, scored a goal against North Dakota to wind up with 112 career points (22g,90a). He never missed a game the last four seasons, playing in a school-record 168 consecutive outings.
Lambert, who had won 10 playoff decisions in a row before the NCAA semifinal loss to North Dakota, was 11-2 in 13 post-season starts overall including a 6-1 mark with a 2.1 goals-against average and .935 saves percentage this campaign. He ended up with a career playoff GAA of 2.02 and saves percentage of .919, and owns the only three post-season shutouts in Colorado College history. His 53 victories tie a school record he now shares with 1996 graduate Ryan Bach.