San Diego Colleges : Hockey Format Bolsters USIU NCAA Chances
The NCAA expanded its Division I hockey tournament from eight to 12 teams this season. And USIU Coach Brad Buetow wants in.
“It’s such a crucial year for us because we have an opportunity to get into the NCAA’s,” Buetow said.
“We have come a long way, but we have to get over the hump. We have to get into the NCAA’s.”
Under the tournament format, the top-ranked independent is guaranteed a playoff spot. USIU was the No. 1 independent in 1986 and was the No. 2 independent behind Alaska-Anchorage last season.
USIU returns 13 lettermen from last season’s 17-17-1 team that finished the year ranked No. 15 in the nation. Joining the returners are nine newcomers.
The Gulls, who won their two matches at Arizona, 9-2, 9-0, have 18 skaters on the roster and 13 are freshmen or sophomores. But Buetow said his recruits should make an immediate impact.
“Time will tell how good they are,” Buetow said. “On paper they look good.”
Leading the Gulls will be forward Jim Hau, who had 18 goals and 18 assists as a freshman last season. Senior David Nash returns after finishing fourth on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 34 assists.
Seniors Mike McGrath and Matt Shaw will anchor the USIU defense. McGrath was the Gulls’ fifth leading scorer last season from his defensive position with 10 goals and 22 assists.
Buetow said the goalie spot is still wide open with senior Dana Orent and freshmen Matt Atkinson and Tony Couture competing.
After playing host to Arizona at the San Diego Ice Arena for two exhibition games Friday and Saturday, the Gulls will play 12 straight matches on the road. Included in the trip are games against No. 2 Maine Dec. 8 and No. 4 Lowell (Mass.) Dec. 5.
USIU opens the regular season against Alaska-Anchorage, which Buetow said is one of the teams the Gulls will battle for the top independent spot in the NCAA playoffs.
Plans for the proposed California Athletic Conference, which would include UC San Diego, suffered a serious setback when two schools said they would not join the conference.
Athletic directors from the six schools that had originally shown interest in forming the NCAA Division III conference met recently to view the proposed bylaws.
But Cal State San Bernardino officials said they would not join the conference at the current time. Also, the College of Notre Dame representative said that the school had applied for NCAA Division II status.
With Cal State San Bernardino and College of Notre Dame dropping out, only four schools remained--UCSD, Menlo College, UC Santa Cruz and Dominican. A conference must have six teams to be sanctioned by the NCAA.
Reg Price, athletic director for Cal State San Bernardino, said his school was concerned about travel costs associated with joining the conference. Only UCSD and San Bernardino are located in Southern California.
“We have been playing a conference schedule,” Price said. “We’ll have a much better handle on what it will cost after this season. I sent our soccer team up north for two days and it cost $4,000. I think that (the cost) was the point the administration was concerned about.”
Mike Hipp, UCSD assistant athletic director, said that the schools still interested in starting a Division III conference are contacting schools in Oregon to find out if there is any interest.
“Right now we’re in major limbo,” Hipp said. “We haven’t totally dropped the idea.”
Point Loma Nazarene College runners Denis Kiely and Cam Matson will try to advance to the NAIA national championships for the third consecutive year when the Crusaders participate in the NAIA District III championships at UC Santa Barbara Saturday.
Kiely, from Cork, Ireland, and Matson, from Adak, Alaska, are both seniors. Matson is the defending District III champion and Kiely was third in last year’s race.
The Grossmont Community College men’s cross-country team won its 18th straight conference title last Friday with dual-meet victories over San Diego City and San Diego Mesa at Balboa Park. Grossmont’s Marc Dani won the race, finishing the four-mile course in 20:35.2 and teammate Andy Davis was second in 20:53.9.
Grossmont defeated San Diego City, 22-36, and San Diego Mesa, 23-39. With the sweep, Grossmont has won 65 consecutive dual meets.
The San Diego State men’s cross-country team, ranked MO. 13 in the nation, will travel to the NCAA District 7 championships at Salt Lake City Nov. 13.
The Aztecs were favored to win the Western Athletic Conference championship, but finished a distant third as Wyoming won its second straight title. Brigham Young finished second.
The top two teams advance from the district meet to the NCAA national championships. Also, the top three runners not on one of the first two teams will advance to the national meet.
Notes
The San Diego State men’s soccer team, ranked No. 8 in the nation, plays hosts to UCLA Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Aztecs, ranked No. 1 in the West, can virtually assure themselves a berth in the NCAA West Regional with a victory . . . Charles Redding, who played at Point Loma High, has been named team captain for the USIU men’s basketball team . . . The NCAA will release the Division III women’s volleyball tournament pairings Nov. 13. UCSD, the defending national champion, is ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Tritons are expected to play host to the West Regional . . . Chuck Cecil, who played football at Helix High, had four interceptions for Arizona in a 23-13 victory over Stanford. Cecil tied Pac-10 records for interceptions in a game and career (20). Cecil intercepted his fourth pass on the last play of the game . . . The Grossmont College women’s volleyball team, ranked No. 1 in the state, is undefeated in the Pacific Coast Conference. Grossmont, the defending PCC champions, is 27-5-2 overall and 7-0 in conference.