April 12, 2007

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Lake Superior State senior goaltender Jeff Jakaitis was part of the winning West Team at the Pontiac Skills Challenge held last Friday during the NCAA Frozen Four.

The West team won the final event -- the penalty shot contest -- by a 6-2 score to secure the skills challenge title. The West turned an 8-7 deficit into a 13-10 victory.

"I struggled a bit in the rapid fire, but did well with the penalty shots," said Jakaitis via email. "The entire weekend was a great time. The group from Nike/Bauer was amazing. They loaded us down with a whole bunch of free stuff and pretty much anywhere we went to eat or hang out, they picked up the tab. They were really a great bunch of people.

"We went to all three games, which were all good games. We also had to work a clinic on Saturday morning, which was only about three hours, and was a good time as well. St. Louis is a really nice city, and the location couldn't have been better. All in all, it was a great experience, and something I will remember for a long time."

The West women were vital in the late turnaround, scoring four times on six penalty shot chances, while goaltenders Riitta Schaublin of Minnesota-Duluth and Erika Vanderveer of Ohio State held the East scoreless.

Other competitions included the fastest skater, hardest shot, accuracy shooting and rapid fire.

Ferris State's Joe Van Culin recorded the best time in the fastest skater competition and beat Air Force's Andrew Ramsey in the individual showdown.