Colorado Springs – With its 1-0 loss to Michigan Tech on Sunday night, Colorado College officially joined the University of Denver on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble and with little hope of receiving a stay of execution.
Michael-Lee Teslak was solid when he had to be in an 18-save performance, and Ryan Bunger’s first-period stuff-in beside the net held up as the winner in the deciding Game 3 of the first-round Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series at the World Arena.
Teslak allowed just three goals in the series, stopping 70-of-73 shots, and will lead Michigan Tech (18-16-5) into this weekend’s WCHA Final Five at St. Paul, Minn.
The No. 6-seeded Huskies were the second team to advance to St. Paul by winning on the road. No. 7 Wisconsin swept No. 4 Denver, winning 3-2 and 2-1 at Magness Arena.
Sunday’s loss was tough for the young Tigers (18-17-4), who forced Game 3 with a 2-0 victory Saturday. A year ago they also lost a Game 3 at home, to St. Cloud State.
“It’s disappointing for this team, a very close, good team,” CC coach Scott Owens said. “It was a good year but it really would have been something special to get to (St. Paul).”
CC entered Sunday tied with DU for 15th in the Pairwise Rankings with the all-important .003 bonus structure. The Tigers fell to 18th and the Pioneers slipped to 16th, tied with Dartmouth.
Once automatic bids are delivered to the six tournament champions, only the top 14 teams could get at-large berths for the 16-team national field.
Air Force has the best chance to represent Colorado in the national tournament. The Falcons play Sacred Heart on Friday in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament. The relatively weak AHA is one of six conferences that will send its playoff champion to the NCAAs.
There was speculation that DU would receive favoritism in getting in because it is the West Regional host at the Pepsi Center, but WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod quashed those rumors Sunday.
“It’s strictly by the book,” he said of creating the 16-team field. “No favoritism whatsoever.”
Still, DU will resume practice today and hang onto slim hopes that it will get in Sunday. DU coach George Gwozdecky said final exams are scheduled to begin Wednesday. If the team had advanced to St. Paul, players would have had to take makeup tests between practices and games.
“If there is a silver lining, it’s that,” Gwozdecky said. “We’ll continue to practice every day and we know there’s no games this weekend, so they can concentrate on their exams.”
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
