Local Star Morrison Lifts Colorado College

The majority of Justin Morrison’s friends and family in Los Angeles have never seen him play hockey. The Colorado College sophomore wants that to change.

Morrison scored two goals Saturday and the Tigers moved a step closer to this week’s Frozen Four at the Arrowhead Pond with a 5-2 victory over St. Lawrence (N.Y.) in the first round of the NCAA Division I West Regional at Madison, Wis.

The Tigers will play third-ranked Michigan State today for a trip to Anaheim.

Two teams from the East--Maine and New Hampshire--won quarterfinal games Saturday, earning berths in the Frozen Four.

Morrison, drafted in the third round last year by the Vancouver Canucks, is a rare enough find in hockey as a player who hails from Southern California. But the Tigers have another, winger Berk Nelson.

“Out of any season we’ve played in our lives,” Morrison told U.S. College Hockey, “it would be the biggest thing to us to actually play in front of our friends and family.”

Morrison, who scored only four goals last season, scored his 22nd in the second period and 23rd on an empty-netter late in the third.

In the other game at Madison, Boston College defeated Northern Michigan, 2-1. The Eagles will play top-ranked North Dakota today.

In the East, there was no stopping Steve Kariya’s desire to play at the Pond, the home ice of his brother, Duck star Paul Kariya. The Maine senior had three goals and three assists in the Black Bears’ 7-2 rout of Clarkson (N.Y.) at Worcester, Mass.

Kariya scored a goal in each period. His six points set a single-game regional tournament record.

New Hampshire earned a trip west by beating defending champion Michigan, 2-1, in overtime.