2009-2010 Schedule Released

The Cardinals will hope to defend their title in the 2010 season. This years schedule brings upon the usual opponents of the MCHC and a few new challenges. SVSU will face a number of division 2 opponents to provide a new challenge to the Cardinals in preparation to repeat as National Champions.

Spring Prospects Camp April 17 and April 18

SVSU will be hosting its annual Spring Prospects Camp on April 17 and April 18. The camp is for high school juniors, seniors, college transferes, and junior players who are looking to advance their playing careers. You do not need to be accepted into the university to participate. The camp will provide you the opportunity to display your skills in front of the SVSU coaching staff, talk with players, coaches, and administrators. You will receive a two one hour ice sessions, campus tour, a jersey, lunch, and valuable information about Saginaw Valley State University.The cost of the camp will be $50 send an email to svsuhockey@gmail.com if you are interested and to receive more details.

Saginaw Valley State University
2009 ACHA Division 3 National Champions

The Cardinals defeated the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles to win their first hockey national title in school history. SVSU won the national championship in only 3 years of existence. That is the fastest any school has won the title in Division 3. The road to the finals was not easy as SVSU had to battle back from early deficits to win.

Game 1 vs Central Florida, Win 8-2: UCF got on the board early scoring on a deflection just :33 seconds into the 1st period. The teams battled back and forth for most of the period until 11:07 when UCF netted a goal on the power play SVSU came back strong and carried the play for the rest of the period. Doug Greene beat the buzzer with 2 seconds left on a mad scramble in front of the UCF net. The momentum carried throughout the rest of the game as SVSU went on to score 7 more unanswered goals. Jon Tibaudo had 3, Joe Swenders added 2, Ben Welch, and David Mendiola also tallied. The Cardinals also had Matt Fogal, Welch, Brian Jensen, and Nick Halaby all record two assists in the game. Jake Chaillier made 32 saves in net.

Game 2 vs Northern Arizona, Win 7-2: SVSU got on the board early as Brandon Clary scored just 2:32 into the 1st period. NAU answered back on the power play with a goal at 14:00. The Cardinals added some cushion to head into the first intermission on goals by Chris Tibaudo and Ben Welch. NAU scored to close the gap to 3-2, but SVSU was too strong down the stretch. Clary netted two more to complete his hat trick and Jon Tibaudo found the net with :08 left in the 2nd period. Tibaudo scored again in the 3rd to make the final score 7-2. Jake Chaillier made 41 saves to earn the victory in net.

Game 3 vs Grand Valley State, Win 2-1: SVSU fell behind early as Grand Valley scored on the first shift of the game. The Cards responded well as Doug Greene fired a shot high blocker side to tie the game at 1 with 17:52 remaining in the 1st period. The score would remain deadlocked at 1 until Brian Jensen fed Jon Tibaudo for the game winner. Tibaudo made a perfect shot to beat the goaltender glove side at the 8:21 mark of the 2nd period. SVSU then played very solid defense and had great goaltending from Chaillier to hold on to the lead and earn their spot in the National Championship game.

Game 4 vs Florida Gulf Coast, Win 3-2: Again, SVSU found themselves trailing in the 1st period as FGCU scored on an unfortunate bounce. A shot from the point hit a Cardinals defenseman and deflected directly to a wide open Eagle player for the easy power play goal at the 12:10 mark of the 1st frame. The Cardinals answered the door quickly as Doug Greene netted another huge goal for the Cards with an assist to Kaleb Grapp. The Eagles fought back hard in the 2nd and used their great team speed to catch the Cardinals off guard early scoring at 9 minutes into the period. SVSU turned it on late and began to dominate the play and the tides turned when Jon Tibaudo scored a highlight reel goal. He danced through the neutral zone, walked through one defenseman, and roofed the puck top shelf as the Eagle's defensemen were draped all over him. The momentum he gave to the Cardinals was what they needed to continue their winning ways. At the 9:13 mark of the 3rd period Chris Tibaudo scored the title winning goal on a quick breakout pass from Brian Jensen and Joe Swenders. The precise passing sent C. Tibaudo in on a breakaway where he buried the puck high over the goalie's glove. The game was not over yet, as SVSU had to hang on for 9 more minutes to secure the victory and it was not easy. Jake Chaillier made a number of phenomenal saves, the greatest coming with just over 3 minutes to go he turned aside a deke on a clean cut breakaway. Shortly after the Eagles rang a shot off of the post that nearly tied the game. SVSU held on and became the 10th different ACHA Division 3 National Champion.

All Tournament Team
Tournament MVP - Jon Tibaudo
1st Team - Steve Pelky
2nd Team - Doug Greene

SVSU Prepares for the
ACHA Division 3 National Tournament
March 4-7

The Cardinals have less than a week to prepare for their trip to Rochester, NY to take on the University of Central Florida in the national tournament. SVSU met UCF in the Seth Schupan Tournament in mid October and SVSU came out on top with a 5-4 overtime win. Follow the bracket all week and catch the action online at http://www.achachampionships.com/page.php?page_id=8123

Bracket: http://www.achachampionships.com/files/2009_m3_nationals_bracket4.pdf