Kale Bennett is a defenseman on the ice for WMU and a 3.99 GPA student in the classroom (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).
With aspirations of becoming an orthopedic surgeon, Western Michigan senior defenseman Kale Bennett has been selected the recipient of the 2021 NCHC postgraduate scholarship.
Bennett becomes the second Bronco to earn the scholarship in its six-year history, along with Aaron Hadley in 2016-17.
Also named the NCHC’s senior scholar-athlete award winner for 2020-21 earlier in March, Bennett becomes the third student-athlete to win both that award and the NCHC postgraduate scholarship, along with Omaha’s Joel Messner (2017-18) and Denver’s Gabe Levin (2015-16).
Bennett is set to graduate from WMU in April with his bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences, while compiling a near-perfect 3.99 grade-point average. He will also complete minors in chemistry, psychology and sociology. After finishing his undergraduate degree, Bennett will take the MCAT this spring and plans to attend medical school where he’ll put his scholarship to use.
“We are honored to present the NCHC Postgraduate Scholarship to Kale Bennett of Western Michigan,” said NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton in a statement. “Kale’s success in the classroom is impressive, as he was awarded our 2021 senior scholar-athlete recognition as well. Kale’s pursuit of being a medical doctor is inspiring and we are proud to have him a part of the NCHC family.”
Bennett is a four-time member of the NCHC academic all-conference team and a four-time NCHC distinguished scholar-athlete, as well as a three-time AHCA All-American scholar. He also garnered WMU’s Peter Ellis academic player of the year honor each of the last three seasons (2018-20).
Bennett served as an alternate captain for the Broncos this season, playing in 23 of 25 games on the WMU blue line. He finishes his career with 113 games played for Western Michigan, recording 17 points on three goals and 14 assists, including one helper this season.
“My world is constantly surrounded by broken bones and torn ligaments, which have always intrigued me and influenced my life goals,” Bennett wrote in his scholarship nomination. “Attending medical school is not only an important step in becoming a doctor, but a necessary and required one. I am excited to further my education, as understanding the human body, how it works, and how to aid in the healing process has always fascinated me.”
The NCHC’s postgraduate scholarship is funded by a grant from the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs, which has also supported the NCHC by providing its office headquarters on the grounds of the Penrose House and helping cover the cost of the Penrose Cup.
Bennett’s scholarship award amount will be $7,500.
“The NCHC membership and board of directors are thankful for the support of Mr. Kyle Hybl and the El Pomar Foundation Board of Directors.” Fenton said. “Celebrating our student’s success is a cornerstone of our conference and we are proud to share in this honor with El Pomar.”
To be eligible for the NCHC’s postgraduate scholarship, the student-athlete must be a senior on the official NCAA hockey roster with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, who plans to continue his academic studies beyond his undergraduate degree. The recipient must enroll in a postgraduate degree program within three years of receiving the scholarship to collect the financial aid. The winner is chosen by a vote of the NCHC’s faculty athletics representatives (FARs) from among the nominees submitted by each school’s FAR.
Layton Ahac played on the Ohio State back end from 2019 to 2021.
The Vegas Golden Knights have signed Ohio State sophomore defenseman Layton Ahac to a three-year, entry-level contract.
In signing Ahac gives up his last two seasons of NCAA eligibility.
Ahac, who also signed an AHL contract with the Henderson Silver Knights for the remainder of this season, collected nine points (goal, eight assists) in 27 games during his sophomore season, the second highest point total among all Buckeye defensemen.
As a freshman last year, the North Vancouver, B.C., native appeared in each of the team’s 36 games and recorded three assists.
Ahac was originally selected by the Golden Knights in the third round (86th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
Worcester State University announced Tuesday afternoon that women’s hockey will be added as an NCAA Division III sport for the 2021-22 season.
The team will play its home games in downtown Worcester at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center, also home to the Worcester State men’s hockey team and will have its own locker room and reserved ice times for games and practices, similar to the men’s hockey team.
The university will begin the process of applying for conference membership in the coming weeks, and is expected to have a full schedule compiled by this summer.
Worcester State men’s team is part of the MASCAC.
Worcester State’s first head coach will be Eliza Kelley, who joins the team after serving as head coach at Becker for the past six seasons. She also served as the NCAA compliance officer at Becker. Prior to Becker, she was a full-time assistant coach at Utica, her alma mater, for four seasons. She graduated from Utica with a Bachelor’s degree in management in 2011, and received her MBA from Utica in 2014.
”We are fortunate to have the opportunity to add varsity women’s ice hockey at Worcester State University,” said Worcester State director of athletics Michael Mudd in a statement. “When I arrived to campus almost seven years ago, one of my goals was to eventually add a varsity women’s ice hockey program to our list of athletic offerings. The sport is growing rapidly in popularity in our region and, with the tremendous academic opportunities that we offer here at Worcester State University, I feel we can create a great program.
“It has taken the collaboration of a lot of people to make this day happen, and for that our athletics department is grateful. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Cliff Rucker and his facility. In addition, the athletics department is appreciative of the strong support from the Worcester State administration, which shared in the belief that women’s ice hockey would be a tremendous opportunity to showcase our university to a different audience and also to provide a great experience for some outstanding female student-athletes.”
“I am very excited to welcome these outstanding student-athletes to Worcester State University,” added university president Barry Maloney. “Coach Kelley comes to us highly recommended and is a welcome addition to our University. I have no doubt she will do a great job providing a great student-athlete experience for her players and that the team will represent our University in a positive manner.”
KELLEY
Kelley can’t wait to get started.
“I am excited to lead the women’s ice hockey team at Worcester State University,” said Kelley. “First and foremost I would like to thank Michael Mudd, President Maloney, and all other administrators that have played a role in this process. I am continuously impressed and grateful for their support of both bringing women’s hockey to the institution and their faith in my leadership. They have built an extremely competitive athletics department and I am truly confident that women’s ice hockey will find success here as well.
“The City of Worcester is a community that I love and call home. Hockey has deep roots here and I am looking forward to contributing to that legacy at Worcester State. I am thrilled to get to work on building this program.”
Becker will no longer play its home games at the Fidelity Back Worcester Ice Center.
“It is very disappointing to lose Becker College, which has been such a loyal partner to the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center,” said Worcester Railers HC and Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center owner Cliff Rucker. “I wish their faculty, staff, and students nothing but the best of luck. I am thrilled, however, that Worcester State, another strong founding partner of ours, has the opportunity to add a varsity women’s ice hockey program to their university. Combined with the men’s varsity ice hockey program, Worcester State will create an even stronger relationship with our facility. Hopefully this will afford some of the Becker student-athletes the opportunity to remain in Worcester and compete for the Lancers.”
Saint Mary’s senior captain Delaney Wolf is a Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist for the second straight season (photo: Saint Mary’s Sports Information Office).
Volunteerism has taken on a different look during the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing hasn’t changed for Saint Mary’s women’s hockey coach Sarah Murray: She doesn’t know how her captain gets enough sleep.
It’s no surprise that Cardinals senior defenseman Delaney Wolf is a Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist for the second year running.
A Michigan native who grew up in her parents’ hometown of Bismarck, N.D., Wolf doesn’t broadcast all the extracurricular work she does, but her work is also hard to miss.
“She never talks about it,” Murray said of Wolf, known as D.D. in Saint Mary’s dressing room. A teammate started calling Wolf that during her sophomore season, and the nickname stuck.
“She’s very humble, and when I nominated her last year, I knew D.D. helps out with youth hockey, tutors her teammates and always helps out at the humane society, so I knew there were little things here and there that she did,” Murray continued. “Then we started the application for Hockey Humanitarian, and I looked through it, and I basically told her, ‘Do you even sleep? How do you have time to do all these things?’
“She must be sleeping two hours a night or not at all. She just has more hours in the day than the rest of us.”
Wolf’s time on and off the ice with the Cardinals, and carrying a 4.0 GPA as a double-major (biochemistry and Spanish) and double-minor (psychology and physics) student, seem demanding enough. She spent around 30 hours volunteering during her junior year, though, and she hasn’t been far off that mark this season.
“It’s been a little less busy, just because it’s hard to get out and do a lot of different things,” Wolf said. “With social distancing and everything, we want to keep people safe so a lot of events aren’t going on, and there’s less ways to get out in the community.
“That’s been a little slower, but I’ve been looking at any opportunities I can find.”
Some of those opportunities have come through virtual means, including Spanish tutoring for local elementary students who hadn’t received as much foreign-language immersion through distance learning. Additionally, at the start of the Saint Mary’s fall 2020 semester, Wolf began volunteering with 7 Cups, an organization offering online mental health therapy and free counseling.
Wolf’s work as a volunteer listener with 7 Cups checks out for anyone who knows her. Since she was 16 years old, she has been a certified nursing assistant at Lakewood Landing, an assisted living community in Mandan, North Dakota, across the Missouri River from Bismarck. She can still be found there when Saint Mary’s students are away on breaks.
“I always spent a little extra time with my residents whenever I could, just because they couldn’t see their families, and it was getting hard for them,” Wolf said. “They felt like they were being trapped sometimes in their rooms sometimes in quarantine for weeks on end (amid the pandemic), so I tried to give them as much interaction as I could.
“Whenever I’m back for Christmas, Thanksgiving, whatever, I pick up a decent number of shifts. My parents get mad because I’m never home because I’m there.”
Back at the Saint Mary’s campus in Winona, Minnesota, Wolf has made a point in her senior year to give back to the Lasallian Brothers, members of a Roman Catholic religious teaching organization that has been associated with the university since the 1930s.
This season, Wolf capped off her senior year playing in all 10 games for the Cardinals (photo: Saint Mary’s Sports Information Office).
Members of the group live on campus, and while they normally have an active involvement with Saint Mary’s sports teams, that arrangement has taken on a different look during the pandemic. Wolf took an active role there, coming up with an idea for her team to take socially-distanced, masked-up walks with the Brothers.
“They’ve been struggling to get in contact with students because most of (the Brothers) are older, so they’re at high-risk for COVID, so it’s been difficult to get them involved, but over breaks and stuff, we would invite them out,” Wolf said. “We want to keep them involved on campus, because we know (the pandemic has) been hard on them.”
The Lasallian Brothers had been known to host the Cardinals sports teams for meals and other on-campus activities. Now, Wolf and her teammates are returning the favor.
“(The Brothers) were kind of trapped in their house and weren’t allowed to interact with the students because they were at-risk, but D.D. thought of taking them for walks,” Murray said. “Nobody thought of taking team walks outside, wearing masks, but she just thinks of other people first. Her mind thinks differently.”
Once Wolf’s time at Saint Mary’s is complete, she plans to take a gap year before she begins med school. She hopes the gap year will help her decide where she wants to focus with regards to patient care and research.
Her dream job, though, is with Médecins Sans Frontières, an international health organization best known for its efforts in conflict zones as well as countries affected by endemic diseases.
“Their work is usually overseas, but I really love to travel, so that’s something I’ve been interested in since high school,” Wolf said. “It’s very long-term because I have to get through med school first, become a doctor of whatever type and then figure out what to do with that, but I think it’s a great organization that I’ve always had a lot of interest in.
“Being able to go over and experience different cultures, especially in times of hardship and to be able to help, I think that’s one of the best things that you can do.”
She has already shown willingness to experience life far from home, but no matter where she ends up, she’ll miss Saint Mary’s and the Winona community.
“I’ve definitely learned how to fall in love with a place based on the people here,” Wolf said. “I was never super-attached to Bismarck in particular growing up, so coming to Saint Mary’s was not really a big jump.
“It’s going to be really hard to leave, because I’ve fallen in love with my professors, my best friends are here and all of my favorite people, other than my family, are here. It’s where I’ve learned how to love and be very, very happy.”
At the same time, others have learned plenty from her.
“It’s not like she’s doing all these things and putting in 50 percent,” Murray said. “She’s doing all these things and she’s excellent at everything.
“She’s going to accomplish whatever she wants to do. She’s incredible.”
Carson Gicewicz and Oliver Chau celebrate after a goal in UMass’ regional championship win Saturday over Bemidji State (photo: Matt Dewkett).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. NOTE: This is our final TMQ of the 2020-21 season.
Jim: Well, Paula, the Frozen Four field is set and a pretty unique field it is.
You have three teams looking for their first title in Massachusetts, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State. The fourth team is looking for just the second other three-peat, that’s Minnesota Duluth.
The state of Minnesota has three teams in the field, something that happened only once before in 1992.
But something that stands out to me is that of the 10 Hobey Baker finalists that were playing when the tournament began only one, Dryden McKay is the only one left standing.
Nine very talented players took very talented teams into the tournament and came away empty, while three teams without Hobey finalists are headed onto Pittsburgh.
Which leads me to my question: are we learning that high-end talent doesn’t translate well in the national tournament? That sometimes it’s more about grit, determination and experience?
Paula: I think your question about high-end talent and the national tournament is an interesting one.
I’m reminded of interviewing 1997 Hobey Baker winner, Brendan Morrison, and how devastated he was that Michigan had lost its semifinal game to Boston University the night before the Hobey ceremony. Morrison said, “We had a successful year, and we did all the little things along the way, and sometimes the best team doesn’t win.”
Morrison took a lot of heat for that comment, and anyone who knew him then knew he meant no disrespect to the Terriers. Also, Morrison knew how talented that group of Wolverines was. Michigan won the championship both the year prior and the year after.
College hockey has changed so much since then.
It’s increasingly more difficult to retain top talent beyond a couple of years, so programs loaded with elite, drafted or draft-eligible players are having to reconfigure nearly annually, seeing an even higher turnover of players than what’s common among all teams. That is something that may favor teams that can’t compete for those high-end players. Beyond keeping a core of players together longer, teams like Mankato and St. Cloud also recruit guys that are super-specific to their programs and their schools.
It’s not that high-end players aren’t committed to the schools they attend, but there is something to be said for players who aren’t thinking about leaving early, who know that they’re committing for their full eligibility when they sign their letters of intent.
There may be something to the grit and determination you mention, especially for programs that perceive that they’re not given the respect they deserve. As for experience, we saw that with the Bulldogs – and maybe we see it with teams that have experience playing together, regardless of their experience in the national tournament.
I do think it’s too difficult to answer your question completely, though, Jim. We’ve talked a lot about how COVID has affected teams this season and readers may be weary of hearing it, but it’s impossible for me to think of this season as anything but unique unless subsequent seasons bear out the same results.
That having been said, there is an interesting trend in the Frozen Four field in the last decade or so. This year, Minnesota State becomes the 12th team since 2008 to make its first Frozen Four appearance. It’s been six years since the last time we saw a newcomer to the field – Omaha in 2015 – but this overall trend may help answer your question better.
Looking at the last 13 years, Jimmy, it has to be more than just grit and determination that’s helped so many newcomers advance to the Frozen Four, right? Although, I don’t want to discount those qualities – plus experience – in a season when there was so much else going on.
Jim: One thing that I often point to when we see programs that have not had a long track record of success suddenly succeed is institutional commitment.
Resources, specifically financial, may go further in hockey than many other sports, in particular football and basketball. In those sports, you can spend and spend and still never compete for a national championship.
But with hockey, I think it was helpful for programs like Union, Yale, Minnesota Duluth and Providence to all have success in the last decade or so. Let me look at a couple of programs I’ve been around for years – UMass Lowell and UMass. The River Hawks had some decent success in the mid 1990s but never won anything. After years of frustration, that school increased investment and resources and that finally translated to a return to the NCAA tournament in 2012 and then a Hockey East championship the following year. Lowell has now advanced to six of the last eight Hockey East title games, winning three, and reached a Frozen Four in 2013.
For UMass, part of the same system, I believe there was a hunger to replicate what their sister school accomplished. They put a lot of time and effort into bringing in the right coach in Greg Carvel and have committed more financially than in the past. It took a few years, but ultimately there was success.
That’s a microcosm of many programs in the nation. Maybe it’s a team that wants to invest so that they can be better within their conference, like AIC, or a program like Minnesota Duluth that continued to increase investment and watched it translate into three national title. And maybe four.
What resulted, though, is many new faces on a national stage. Some may think it’s not good for the overall college hockey brand. Certainly people know a lot more about, say, Minnesota than Minnesota State. But I, for one, think it’s exciting.
Paula: I’m with you.
The new faces in the tournament this past decade or so has been very exciting for college hockey fans. Those people we know who argue that seeing teams like Minnesota State in the tournament doesn’t do much to elevate college hockey may or may not be correct. The Mavericks don’t have the name recognition that the Golden Gophers do, but honestly, how much have the name brands – so to speak – heightened the profile of the game overall?
When the Big Ten formed and many college hockey fans groused about how it forced realignment, there were many others who countered that having such high-profile programs featured regularly on nationally televised games would bring new fans to the sport. I don’t have the statistics on this, but I’m pretty sure that college hockey didn’t experience a proliferation of new admirers.
We all want to grow the sport’s base, but we can’t look past one of the key things that makes college hockey so exciting – and that is seeing teams like Omaha, Union, RIT and now Minnesota State advance to the Frozen Four.
Now, I don’t have the statistics on this, either, but I think we’ve seen college hockey gain more fans because of the number of NHL players the NCAA is producing.
Jim: If there is a reason for a significant gain in reach for college hockey it is the realization that more than one-third of the NHL is comprised of former college players.
That said, I still hope there is a reason to expand this game and doing so at larger schools would be beneficial. I would really like to see the PAC-12 give serious consideration to finding enough schools to form another Power 5 conference. The SEC also has enough hockey and seriously passionate fan bases to grow in those necks of the woods.
This probably wasn’t the direction that you thought this final TMQ of the year would take. But I think it merits a lot of thought.
Paula: This definitely merits thought. This is the perfect time to begin to look ahead – maybe way ahead – beyond this season.
There is an astonishing amount of club hockey being played at colleges and universities across the U.S., and so much of it at institutions with high profiles. In Florida, the Hurricanes, Gators and Seminoles all play hockey. Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia, and Louisiana State all have club teams. The Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference is an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) league with eight teams, including Texas A&M and the University of Texas.
There are over 400 ACHA teams, including 70 playing D-I ACHA hockey. There are teams from coast to coast and corner to corner in the U.S., including a PAC-8 league.
There are kids growing up playing hockey everywhere, hockey being played everywhere, and thousands of guys playing hockey for their schools outside of the 61 NCAA D-I and 84 NCAA D-III programs. There are tens of thousands of fans of those club teams, too.
Among those tens of thousands of fans must be people willing and able to commit the money necessary to starting programs. We know that schools are willing to commit to hockey when they’re not burdened with all of the start-up costs themselves.
We used to think that it was only a matter of time before we’d see something like a PAC-12 or SEC hockey league, but certainly the pandemic and financial uncertainty that it has brought has pushed that back for a bit.
But it’s hard to deny the potential and I cannot imagine a not-so-distant future without further D-I NCAA growth. As you said, Jimmy, with more than a third of NHL players having come through the NCAA, there’s no denying that collegiate hockey can develop talent. You can’t watch an NHL game without hearing colleges being named in the way that we’ve heard schools mentioned in NBA and NFL games now for decades. That has an impact.
Beyond that, though, is just the sheer number of kids playing hockey in the U.S. and the growth of the sport among youth in just the last two decades. It’s inevitable that colleges and universities will see the potential for attracting students, fans, recognition – and donors – as hockey continues to proliferate.
As you mentioned, Jimmy, it’s the final TMQ of the season. I want to thank you for talking hockey with me all season, thank our friend and editor Matt Mackinder, thank Dan Rubin for subbing when he filled in, and thank all of our readers who have helped maintain our ongoing conversation about the sport we love.
NCHC director of communications Michael Weisman (left) and commissioner Josh Fenton (right) present Ben Holden his media excellence award in person on Saturday, March 27 at the NCAA West Regional in Loveland, Colo. (photo: NCHC).
After serving as the most recognizable voice associated with the NCHC since its inaugural season, Ben Holden has been named as the recipient of the 2021 NCHC Media Excellence Award.
Holden was behind the microphone for the NCHC’s first-ever conference game on Oct. 18, 2013 when Miami and North Dakota played in Oxford, Ohio, and served as the lead play-by-play announcer for NCHC games on CBS Sports Network in the conference’s first seven seasons.
The Holt, Mich., native was on the call for the first six Frozen Faceoffs, including Minnesota Duluth’s memorable double-overtime game-winner in 2019 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
“The NCHC’s brand has been synonymous with Ben Holden’s voice since the conference’s first season,” said NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton in a news release. “The membership and conference staff are honored to present the Media Excellence Award to Ben for all his contributions to the NCHC.”
This season, Holden worked more than 20 conference games at the NCHC pod in Omaha, Neb., in December as a play-by-play announcer for Midco Sports Network and NCHC.tv.
In addition to his announcing duties, Holden has emceed all six of the NCHC’s annual awards celebrations in Minneapolis and St. Paul (2014-19). He has also attended numerous pre-season NCHC Media Days in the Twin Cities to conduct interviews with coaches and student-athletes for CBS Sports Network.
Lastly, Holden has lent his voice for various NCHC promotions and commercials used on both radio and television over the conference’s first eight seasons.
Aside from his work with the NCHC, Holden has been calling college hockey, along with several other collegiate sports, for nearly two decades for various networks, including CBS Sports Network, ESPN, Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports Detroit and Big Ten Network.
He has also worked several men’s NCAA hockey tournaments for ESPN, including the West Regional this year. Holden previously called the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final for NHL International in 2008 and served as the voice of the Lake Erie Monsters in the AHL. He won a pair of Emmy Awards in 2007 and 2008.
Holden was presented his NCHC Media Excellence Award in person on Saturday, March 27 by NCHC staff at the NCAA West Regional in Loveland, Colo.
The award is selected by the conference’s sports information directors.
Holden is the fourth winner of the NCHC Media Excellence Award, joining Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald (2018), Mick Hatten of Forum Communications (2019), and Holden’s former broadcast partner on CBS Sports Network, Dave Starman (2020).
Quinnipiac blueliner Peter DiLiberatore skated three seasons with the Bobcats, posting solid numbers along the way (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
Quinnipiac junior defenseman Peter DiLiberatore has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, forgoing his senior year with the Bobcats.
“It’s a dream come true to sign an NHL contract and become a part of the Vegas Golden Knights organization,” DiLiberatore said in a statement. “I am so thankful for my time at Quinnipiac. I made so many memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.”
DiLiberatore, a native of Bedford, N.S., has posted back-to-back seasons with 20-plus points for the Bobcats, recording six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in 29 games as a junior this season. He led the Bobcats with a career-high 96 shots on goal.
Five of DiLiberatore’s six goals this season came on the power-play, with both serving as career-highs for him. He scored his sixth and final goal of the season in the Bobcats’ NCAA tournament loss against Minnesota State on Saturday.
He skated in all 101 games in his Quinnipiac career, playing his 100th game on March 20th in the ECAC Hockey championship against St. Lawrence. DiLiberatore scored 15 goals and added 45 assists for 60 points in his Bobcat career.
He also had a plus-34 plus/minus rating in his Quinnipiac career along with 259 shots on goal and 11 power-play goals.
In just three seasons, DiLiberatore’s 15 career goals rank 11th among defenseman in program history while his 45 assists are tied for 16th and his 60 points are 15th.
DiLiberatore was originally selected by Vegas in the sixth round (180th overall) of the 2018 Draft.
Stevenson’s Ryan Kenny has backstopped the Mustangs to the number two seed in the UCHC playoffs starting on Wednesday. (Photo by Sabina Moran)
The UCHC standings are finalizing for the playoffs beginning with quarterfinal action this Wednesday and while some non-conference teams are closing out their abbreviated season, others like Hobart, Skidmore and Trinity are finally playing games to see how they stack up competitively. Here is a recap of all the week’s action:
Non-Conference
Norwich v. New England College
On Friday, Drennen Atherton finally surrendered a goal in his fifth start of the season but made 20 saves to make goals from Michael Korol and Brett Rickett stand up in a 2-1 road win for the Cadets.
In Saturday’s re-match, Norwich’s Carter Cowlthorp, Cale List and Rickett moved the Cadets to a 3-0 lead on the way to a 4-2 win. Andrew Albano made 17saves in goal for the win as the Cadets moved to 7-1-0 on the season.
Hobart v. Skidmore
On Friday, in technically what was classified as an exhibition game, Zach Tyson’s goal just 1:15 into the game was all the scoring the Statesmen needed in a combined shutout for Garrett McGowen, Joe Halstrom and Liam Lascelle. Despite outshooting the Thoroughbreds by a 43-17 margin, Tyson was the only player to score on Skidmore’s Brian Kowolski who made 42 saves.
On Saturday, the shot margin was 56-19 for the Statesmen who again started fast with goals from Brenden Howell and Phil Satin coming in the first 4:35 of the first period. Skidmore’s Tyler Hall got the Thoroughbreds on the scoreboard in the third period of a 4-1 loss.
Trinity v. Connecticut College
On Saturday, the in-state rivals from NESCAC played the first two games of a scheduled three-game set marking Trinity’s debut on the ice this season in exhibition play against the unbeaten Camels. Kyle Shero gave Conn College a 1-0 lead after the first 20-minutes, but the Bantams got it going in the second with four unanswered goals including three on the power play to take a three-goal lead into the final period. Colin McCabe and Shero cut the lead to one goal but Trinity’s JP Melia kept the Camels from tying the score in a 4-3 win.
Sunday’s contest saw Trinity skate to a 6-2 exhibition win for the weekend sweep of the Camels.
UCHC
Utica v. Elmira
Who knew that a single period of hockey could be so exciting? In the resumed game from 3/6 that was paused due to COVID protocols, Utica took the ice for the third period to be played with a 5-2 lead that evaporated in the first 4:09 of play with Elmira scoring three quick goals including two from Bailey Krawczyk. The Pioneers settled down and Jamie Bucell scored a power play goal to give the Pioneers the lead before Brett Everson iced the win with an empty-net goal and the 7-5 win.
Neumann v. Wilkes
On Friday, Wilkes used goals from Tyler Barrow, Nick Fea, Donald Flynn and Billy Berry to earn a 4-1 win over Neumann. Michael Paterson-Jones made 28 saves to earn the victory. The win moved the Colonels to 5-3-0 in the UCHC.
Chatham v. Elmira
On Friday, Elmira bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Utica with a solid 5-1 win over Chatham. After the teams exchanged goals in the first period, Elmira scored two goals in each of the final two periods to take the win. Goals from Amedeo Mastrangeli, Jake Russo, Ryan Reifler and Janis Vizbelis broke the 1-1 tie for Elmira.
Stevenson v. Nazareth
On Saturday, the Mustangs earned their tenth win of the season coming from behind to beat Nazareth, 6-3. Six different goal scorers helped Stevenson to overcome 2-0 and 3-1 deficits as Matt Dougherty, Blake Colman and Eric Olson broke open a 3-3 tie with their third period goals.
Chatham v. Wilkes
On Saturday, the Colonels rallied from 1-0 and 3-1 deficits to take a 4-3 overtime win over the Cougars. After Carson Grainer and Tristan Samm gave Chatham a 3-1 lead early in the third period, Nick Fea and Tyler Barrow scored for Wilkes to tie the game at 3-3 and send it into overtime. Barrow was the OT hero with his game-winner coming in the final 40 seconds of the extra session.
Utica v. Neumann
The Pioneers showed off their special teams’ prowess in a 6-0 win over Neumann that featured two power play and one shorthanded goal. Jamie Bucell opened and closed the scoring for the Pioneers who scored two times in each period while cruising to their seventh win in eight games in the UCHC. The win also clinched the Pioneers’ fifth straight regular season title.
Manhattanville v. Elmira
Sunday saw Manhattanville playing only their third game of the UCHC season and Elmira jumped out quickly to a 2-0 lead on goals from Graham Denomme and Ryan Reifler. The Valiants rallied back to take a 3-2 lead in the second period before Jake Russo, Reifler again and Jared Smith finished the scoring in a 5-3 win to close out the regular season.
Three Biscuits
Tyler Barrow – Wilkes – scored the game tying and game winning goals in a 4-3 overtime win over Chatham.
Brian Kowolski – Skidmore – made 42 saves against Hobart in a 1-0 exhibition loss on Friday night that saw both teams seeing their first competitive action of the season.
Ryan Reifler – Elmira – scored twice and added an assist in a 5-3 win on Sunday over Manhattanville.
The non-conference schedule is closing out, but the excitement of playoff hockey begins on Wednesday with quarterfinal play in the UCHC. The four games see Stevenson hosting Neumann, Elmira hosting Chatham, Wilkes hosting Nazareth and Utica hosting Manhattanville. Winners advance to the semifinals scheduled for Saturday and the championship game is scheduled for Monday, April 5.
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger look back at the 2021 NCAA men’s D-I hockey regionals. They look game-by-game at the tournament and discuss what advanced UMass, Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State to the Frozen Four.
Adrian’s Alessio Luciani led the NCHA in scoring during the 2020-21 campaign (photo: Mike Dickie).
The NCHA men’s conference has announced the 2020-21 season award winners, as well as the all-conference team and all-freshman team.
The 2020-21 player of the year is Adrian sophomore Alessio Luciani, who led the league in points during the shortened eight-game conference season, recording 17 on five goals and a league-high 12 assists.
Luciani also led the league in overall scoring by nine points, finishing with 36 (14 goals, 22 assists) in the 23 games Adrian played this winter.
The league coaches also voted for freshman of the year, resulting in a tie between Adrian’s Jaden Shields and St. Scholastica’s Arkhip Ledenkov.
Shields played a big role in the AC defense leading the league with a 1.25 goals-against average and also tops in penalty kill at 97.1 percent. He finished tied for 14th in scoring overall with eight points (two goals, six assists), a number that placed second among defensemen and fourth among freshmen.
Ledenkov burst on the scene and finished fifth in the league in scoring with 11 points (eight goals, three assists), second in goals, and first in power-play goals. His point total finished second among freshmen.
The 2020-21 coach of the year is Adrian’s Adam Krug, who led the Bulldogs to an unblemished 8-0-0 league ledger, earning the Peters Cup for the second consecutive winter. The team finished 16-6-1 overall and led the NCHA in scoring offense (5.75 GPG) and scoring defense (1.25 GPG) by wide margins.
2020-21 Men’s NCHA All-Conference Team
Forward: Garrett Gintoli, MSOE, Sr.
Forward: Nick Guerra, Concordia Wisconsin, Sr.
Forward: Adam Keyes, Aurora, So.
Forward: Davis Kirkendall, Lawrence, Jr.
Forward: Arkhip Ledenkov, St. Scholastica, Fr.
Forward: Alessio Luciani, Adrian, So.
Forward: Rex Moe, Adrian, Jr.
Defense: Braydon Barker, Concordia Wisconsin, Sr.
Defense: Jack Nickels, MSOE, Jr.
Defense: Joshua Owings, Adrian, Sr.
Defense: Brayden Sampson, Aurora, Jr.
Goalie: Cameron Gray, Adrian, Sr.
Goalie: Logan Halladay, MSOE, Sr.
2020-21 Men’s NCHA All-Freshman Team
Forward: Arkhip Ledenkov, St. Scholastica
Forward: Filimon Ledenkov, St. Scholastica
Forward: Mathew Rehding, Adrian
Defense: Kyle Gierman, Lawrence
Defense: Jaden Shields, Adrian
Goalie: Liam McGarva, Concordia Wisconsin
Adrian junior Jessica VonRuden finished fourth in NCHA scoring during the abbreviated 2020-21 season (photo: Mike Dickie).
The NCHA women’s conference has announced the 2020-21 season award winners, as well as the all-conference team and all-freshman team.
The 2020-21 player of the year is Adrian junior forward Jessica VonRuden. She finished fourth in the league in points during the shortened eight-game conference season, recording 14 on seven goals and seven assists.
St. Scholastica blueliner Lisa LaRoche was named the top first-year player, while St. Scholastica’s Jackie MacMillan is the coach of the year.
LaRoche played a big role in the CSS defense finishing second in the league with a 1.12 goals-against average. She finished tied for 11th in scoring overall with 10 points (five goals, five assists), a number that placed second among defensemen, and second among freshmen. She also was tied for fifth in power-play points.
MacMillan led the Saints to a perfect 8-0-0 league ledger, earning the Kronschnabel Trophy for the first time in program history. The team finished 14-2-0 overall and led the NCHA in scoring offense (6.62 GPG) by a wide margin of over 1.5 goals per game. The Saints were runner-up in the Slaats Cup title game.
2020-21 Women’s NCHA All-Conference Team
Forward: Rachel Anderson, St. Scholastica, Sr.
Forward: Une Bjelland, Adrian, So.
Forward: Ally Hull, Concordia Wisconsin, Sr.
Forward: Olivia Matson, Aurora, Sr.
Forward: Taylor Thompson, St. Scholastica, Sr.
Forward: Jessica VonRuden, Adrian, Jr.
Defense: Lisa LaRoche, St. Scholastica, Fr.
Defense: Jordan Trapp, Lake Forest, Sr.
Defense: Sarah Tretina, Concordia Wisconsin, Jr.
Defense: Kathryn Truban, Adrian, Fr.
Goalie: Lori Huseby, St. Scholastica, Sr.
Goalie: Denisa Jandova, Adrian, Jr.
2020-21 Women’s NCHA All-Freshman Team
Forward: Allie Bussey, St. Scholastica
Forward: Hannah Cunha, Marian
Forward: Callie Wollschlager, Adrian
Defense: Lisa LaRoche, St. Scholastica
Defense: Kathryn Truban, Adrian
Goalie: Tia Glube, Aurora
Goalie: Kayla Kolpitcke, Marian
St. Cloud State is into the Frozen Four for only the second time (photo: Rich Gagnon).
For only the second time in the 16-team NCAA tournament era, the Men’s Frozen Four won’t include a No. 1 regional seed.
It’ll be No. 2 seeds UMass, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State joining No. 3 seed and two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth in the 2021 semifinals in Pittsburgh on April 8.
The only other time since the tournament expanded in 2003 that none of the No. 1 regional seeds advanced to the Frozen Four was 2007.
St. Cloud State will play Minnesota State in the 5 p.m. ET semifinal at PPG Paints Arena. UMass will face Minnesota Duluth in the 9 p.m. ET game. The winners play at 7 p.m. ET on April 10 for the national championship.
Here are four quick notes on the 2021 Men’s Frozen Four field:
Land of three Frozen Four teams
Minnesota got all five of its Division I men’s teams into the NCAA tournament for the first time this season and now it’s only the second state to advance three teams to the Frozen Four.
The other was Michigan, which had the Wolverines, Michigan State and Lake Superior State in the 1992 event. The Lakers won the championship.
A dynasty or a new champion
Minnesota State is in its first Frozen Four while it’s the second for UMass (also 2019) and St. Cloud State (also 2013, also in Pittsburgh). All three are in search of their first NCAA title.
The Bulldogs can become the first team to appear in four straight championship games and the first since Michigan (1951-53) to win three straight championships. The 2020 tournament was canceled because of the pandemic but UMD won titles in 2018 and 2019 and lost to Denver in the 2017 final.
A Frozen Four repeat
Minnesota Duluth and UMass have played only one time but it was a consequential game. The Bulldogs won the 2019 NCAA championship with a 3-0 victory against the Minutemen in Buffalo, N.Y.
The other semifinal matches a WCHA team against a former WCHA foe. St. Cloud State and Minnesota State have played 137 times including both teams pre-Division I eras, starting in the 1969-70 season. The Mavericks lead the series 72-55-10 but the Huskies are 9-3 in the last 12 meetings. As Division I teams, St. Cloud State leads the series 27-18-7.
WCHA back in play
Minnesota State is the first WCHA team to make the Frozen Four since conference reorganization in 2013.
The Mavericks lost in the first round of their first six NCAA tournament appearances, in 2003, 2015, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. They got their first tournament victory Saturday by rallying from a two-goal deficit for a 4-3 overtime triumph against Quinnipiac.
Minnesota State celebrates its first Frozen Four berth after a victory against Minnesota (photo: Ashley Potts, Minnesota State).
Minnesota State needed a first-round rally to rid itself of the cloud of being winless in the NCAA tournament.
Freed of that burden, the Mavericks made the next step — to the Frozen Four — with a solid start-to-finish effort.
Sam Morton and Ryan Sandelin scored first-period goals, and Dryden McKay made 22 saves for his 10th shutout in Minnesota State’s 4-0 victory against Minnesota in the Loveland Regional final on Sunday.
“It was no secret we got the monkey off our back [Saturday] night,” McKay said. “It seemed like we were playing much more loose, much more free tonight. That’s probably the best team game that I’ve seen since I’ve come to Mankato. Just start to finish, everybody was bought in, everyone was dialed in to what we wanted to do.”
The Mavericks, 0-6 in the NCAA tournament as a Division I team entering the weekend, will face St. Cloud State in the Frozen Four semifinals on April 8.
Morton and Sandelin scored 2:07 apart in the opening period as Minnesota State completed a reversal from a humbling, 5-1 loss to Northern Michigan at home in the WCHA semifinals on March 19.
“We weren’t feeling too good after we lost to Northern Michigan,” Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said. “And I know there were a lot of people doubting us. The group really stepped up.”
They held the Gophers to nine shots on goal over the first two periods. Minnesota brought pressure in the third but the Mavericks added on with a Nathan Smith score midway through the frame and an empty-net goal by Dallas Gerads.
Minnesota State (22-4-1) blocked 23 shots; the Gophers had only 22 shots on goal.
“I have to tip my cap to the team tonight,” McKay said. “I’ve never seen an effort like that as far as the commitment to blocking shots, the selflessness. That’s something we pride our game on. They made my life pretty easy back there.”
Minnesota (24-7), which scored seven times in a first-round victory against Omaha on Saturday, had its offense stymied for most of the regional final.
The Gophers were shut out for the first time this season.
“It was definitely a frustrating game when pucks and bounces aren’t going your way,” Minnesota forward Sammy Walker said. “I tip my hat to them. They played a great game. They shut us down. They’re a veteran team. They block shots and sacrifice, and you couldn’t really get it in there so that’s what they did well tonight.”
Sandelin scored the overtime goal against Quinnipiac on Saturday that completed Minnesota State’s rally from a 3-1 deficit. On Sunday, he added an assist to his seventh goal of the season and was named the regional’s most outstanding player.
Hastings called the line of Morton, Brendan Furry and Sandelin “difference makers.”
That was especially true in the first period when the Mavericks set the tone with long stretches of puck possession.
“We wanted to try to get to our game a lot sooner than we did the night before,” Hastings said. “I just thought we came out and we were real tight last night. Tonight, I thought the guys came out and played with some confidence.”
Minnesota State got 13 saves in the third period from McKay, the only one of 10 Hobey Baker Award finalists to make it to the Frozen Four.
McKay was a freshman in 2019 when the Mavericks lost in the first round for the sixth time. Two of the last three defeats were when they were a No. 1 regional seed, including the top overall seed in 2015.
Minnesota State’s step into the Frozen Four was just a start of the process, McKay said.
“We want to earn our respect and we knew the only way to do that was to come to the big stage and get the job done,” he said. “We’re halfway there.”
St. Cloud State players celebrate their Albany Regional victory against Boston College (photo: Rich Gagnon).
St. Cloud State is headed to the Frozen Four thanks to a couple of unlikely goal scorers coming up big against one of the top goalies in the country.
Huskies seniors Luke Jaycox and Will Hammer entered Sunday’s Albany Regional final with a combined one goal this season, but each of them scored against Boston College’s Spencer Knight in a wild three-goal second period that propelled No. 2 St. Cloud to a 4-1 win over the top-seeded Eagles and the second Frozen Four appearance in program history.
Nolan Walker and Micah Miller also scored for the Huskies, who were the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament in 2018 and 2019 but lost in the opening round each year. St. Cloud will face Minnesota State in Pittsburgh on April 8. The Huskies’ only other Frozen Four appearance was also in Pittsburgh, where St. Cloud lost to Quinnipiac in the 2013 semifinal.
“We came into this weekend not looking at the past; we were looking at this year,” Jaycox said. “Our goal was to put that behind us and focus on what we need to do here.”
David Hrenak had 26 saves for the Huskies (19-10) and was named the regional’s most outstanding player. Knight had 32 saves for BC, while Matt Boldy scored the lone goal for the Eagles. BC advanced to the regional final after Notre Dame withdrew from the NCAA tournament due to COVID-19 protocols.
It didn’t look good for St. Cloud early. The Huskies trailed 1-0 entering the second and then lost leading scorer Easton Brodzinski for the game in the opening minute of the period. The senior, who scored twice Saturday against Boston University, took a hard hit from the Eagles’ Trevor Kuntar and was on the ice for several minutes before being helped into the locker room. St. Cloud coach Brett Larson did not have an update on Brodzinski’s condition after the game.
“I could hear the boys saying ‘let’s play for Easton,’” Larson said. “He’s put his heart and soul into the program and the boys wanted to get it done for him.”
Jaycox started the scoring for the Huskies 9:21 into the second period, putting a rebound past Knight to tie the score. St. Cloud then went ahead on Hammer’s goal at 15:15. Knight made a pair of quick saves with a mass of bodies in front of the crease, but the Eagles couldn’t clear the rebound and the Huskies forward snapped a shot past Knight to make it 2-1.
“We work on a lot of things all year long and I saw [Zach Okabe] coming up the wall a little bit with the puck and he looked at me and I could tell he was going to throw it on net,” Jaycox said.
Walker capped a strong period for St. Cloud with a goal at 19:15 that was initially waved off due to goalie interference. But that call was reversed after a lengthy review, giving the Huskies a two-goal lead heading into the final period.
“I was kind of freaking out a little bit in the [penalty] box,” Walker said. “I drove the net and saw the puck go in before I thought I hit the goalie, so I thought it was a goal the whole time.”
Boston College (17-6-1) went up 1-0 on Boldy’s goal at 14:23 in the first after the Eagles’ forecheck freed the puck along the boards.
But St. Cloud shut down Boston College after that, holding the nation’s second-highest scoring offense to a combined 16 shots in the final two periods. Miller’s empty-net goal in the final minute of the third sealed the win for the Huskies. It was the junior’s second goal in as many nights after not scoring since St. Cloud’s season opener on Dec. 1.
“They are very good with the 1-2-2 defense in the neutral zone,” said Eagles coach Jerry York. “It was hard to generate any odd-man rushes. We were at our best when we chipped it in and tried to retrieve the puck.”
The Huskies’ win ensured that Minnesota will have three teams in the Frozen Four. It’s the first time a state has sent three teams to the Frozen Four since Michigan did so in 1992.
“We’re proud of our hockey there, from youth hockey all the way through high school, and into college,” said Larson, a Minnesota native who played for Minnesota Duluth. “When I grew up, I didn’t dream of playing in the NHL; I dreamed of playing college. I think that’s the way a lot of kids feel. … Most of us grew up on a rink from the day we were 4 or 5 and if you grew up with it, then you love it.”
Notre Dame junior forward Alex Steeves lead the Irish in scoring during the 2020-21 season (photo: Notre Dame Athletics).
Notre Dame junior forward and leading scorer Alex Steeves has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving up his senior season with the Fighting Irish.
During the 2020-21 season, Steeves put together career-high totals for goals (15), assists (17) and points (32) in 29 games. His 15 goals were also a team-high total, and he ended the season on a seven-game point streak (five goals, five assists) and he posted at least one point in 22 of 29 games.
Overall, the Eden Prairie, Minn., native skated in 104 career games, totaling 69 points on 33 goals and 36 assists in South Bend.
Marian capped a season played amid a pandemic with its first conference championship since 2002. (Photo courtesy of Marian athletics)
Victory had eluded the grasp of Marian’s men’s hockey team once again on a Friday night in late February. The losing streak was now at four games.
Forget about the possibility of winning a championship. The Sabres weren’t even sure if they would make the NCHA tournament.
“There wasn’t a lot of opportunity left,” Marian head coach Zach Gaynor said. “The need to salvage the season was there, but there were definitely thoughts of what the rest of the season was going to look like. Are we going to make the playoffs?”
Over the next 11 games, that question was answered, the Sabres (12-7) winning nine times during an impressive stretch of hockey that ended with them winning the Harris Cup for the first time in nearly two decades.
In a season played amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a season where Marian wasn’t even sure if it would play hockey – a lot of teams in NCAA Division III didn’t play — the Sabres found a way to navigate the challenges and capture the title with a two-game sweep of the Milwaukee School of Engineering last weekend at home.
“It was pretty 50-50,” Gaynor said about playing a season. “There was a lot of hope for it, but I think looking at the realistic side of things, we probably didn’t see it come to fruition.”
But the school found a way to make it happen.
“It was a matter of seeing what the county would let us do and what the school was willing to take on as far as responsibility goes,” Gaynor said. “We’re a pretty small school. We don’t have a lot of resources, but we were able to figure out a way to get it done. It was the best thing that could have happened for our program. We were grateful to have a year when a lot of teams didn’t.”
Turning the opportunity to have a season into a title required shifting gears during that losing streak the team endured in February.
This was supposed to be a rebuild year. The Sabres had 11 freshmen on the roster. The lone senior was transfer Andrew Frojelin out of Nazareth College.
“We were very young and I was making the mistake of coaching my team and structuring the team as if we had a lot of veterans,” Gaynor said. “Once it clicked that we were doing things the wrong way, we were able to turn the corner and have some success.”
Big changes were made, including in film sessions.
“We stopped watching video on ourselves and watched it on other teams. We took a lot of pressure off the guys,” Gaynor said. “We made everything more about teaching moments rather than a demand on expectations and being more result reliant. It was a complete overhaul and the guys had more enjoyment with it.”
One of the most interesting aspects of this team was that only two players, Parker Colley and Ty Enns, finished in the top 20 in scoring.
Colley finished with eight goals and 16 assists while Enns racked up 11 goals and 13 assists. They were among five players in the league tied for 20th in points.
“We saw more team play in the second half of the year,” Gaynor said. “The most rewarding part was seeing them play their best and play together. That ultimately led to what we got at the end of the year.”
Gaynor praised his team’s mental toughness and resiliency and reminded his players throughout the season to enjoy the time they had on the ice.
“Once we got on the ice, life was normal again. It was as if COVID wasn’t an issue,” Gaynor said. “At the end of the day, nobody could take that way from us.”
And no one can ever take away the championship either.
“To end the season with a win and and on a high note was great,” Gaynor said. “It’s been a long time coming for this group. There was a lot of learning and development. A lot of guys have come and gone and a lot of the alumni paved the way for us to be in that championship. It was really exciting for the players. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
It took five overtimes but Minnesota Duluth, which led 2-0 late in regulation, beat North Dakota, 3-2, to end the longest game in NCAA Tournament history (File photo)
FARGO, N.D. — For 40 minutes, the battle for the Fargo Regional title between old rivals North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth was deadlocked at 0-0. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in just 80 seconds in the third period, only to have the Fighting Hawks tie the game with two extra-attacker goals in 47 seconds Saturday at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.
By the time the game ended, it set a new NCAA record for longest game in tournament history at 142:13.
Luke Mylmok broke loose, skated in on goaltender Adam Scheel with a defender on him and beat him with a wrist shot 2:13 into the fifth overtime period for a 3-2 victory for the Bulldogs.
“I thought our team played great,” said Bulldogs head coach Scott Sandelin. “North Dakota again showed their resolve, come back, tie it. Then we play a marathon overtime and we get a big goal from a freshman that got some ice time later in the overtimes.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this group. I thought our guys played great.”
Sandelin started freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal over sophomore Ryan Fanti. For over 58 minutes, the move proved brilliant. Then, for 64:37 more, he shut down North Dakota 30 more times before cramping up and being replaced by Fanti, who made six saves over the next 17:36.
“We just felt he was ready to play and we felt he could do the job,” Sandelin said, “just like, going into the tournament, we felt Ryan (could be the guy). We’ve seen that all year. At the end of the year, they each got games hoping that maybe one of them would grab it and run with it. The best part for us is that we have two that can go in there and win games for us. We saw that tonight. I thought Zach played great for us tonight.”
Minnesota Duluth, the two-time defending national champion, advanced to its fourth straight Frozen Four.
Stejskal held the Fighting Hawks’ offense off the scoreboard until the 18:19 mark of the third when center Collin Adams banked a puck past him from below the goal line.
The Bulldogs (15-10-2 overall) iced the puck shortly after, giving the Fighting Hawks another faceoff in the offensive zone with Scheel again on the bench. Captain Jordan Kawaguchi set himself up in the right circle. When the puck came to him, he wasted no time burying it behind Stejskal at 19:03.
The common denominator on both Fighting Hawks (22-6-1 overall) goals to even the game was center Shane Pinto. On Adams’ goal, defenseman Jake Sanderson fed the puck over to Pinto along the left boards. Pinto one-timed the pass and Stejskal directed the rebound below the goal line, where Adams jumped on it.
On the second goal, assistant captain Matt Kiersted made a similar pass to Pinto, whose shot from almost the same place he shot from a minute earlier caromed over to Kawaguchi.
The Bulldogs broke the scoreless tie 3:21 into the third when winger Koby Bender won a puck battle in the corner to Scheel’s left. He threw the puck back to defenseman Hunter Lellig at the right point. Lellig fired a wrist shot that center Jackson Cates tipped out of the air and past Scheel.
Just 80 seconds later, assistant captain Cole Koepke blocked a shot from Fighting Hawks defenseman Ethan Frisch. The puck bounced out of the zone and Koepke drove hard past Frisch, got to the puck, skated in alone from the red line and beat Scheel with a wrist shot.
The Bulldogs appeared to score the game-winner goal 7:38 into the first overtime, but upon review, it was determined that Bender, who was driving the puck into the offensive zone, crossed the blue line without full control of the puck, negating the goal scored shortly after winger Kobe Roth.
Scheel stopped 51 for the Fighting Hawks.
Sandelin’s son, Ryan, scored an overtime goal for Minnesota State in their West Regional semifinal contest earlier in the day.
In one of college hockey’s longest NCAA Tournament game of all time, Minnesota Duluth beat North Dakota, 3-2 in five overtimes, to advance the Bulldogs to their fourth straight Frozen Four. (Photo by Russell Hons)
FARGO, N.D. — Luke Mylymok’s wrist shot at 2:13 of the fifth overtime period ended the longest game in NCAA tournament history as Minnesota Duluth defeated North Dakota, 3-2, to advance to the Frozen Four.
For 40 minutes, the battle between old rivals North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth was deadlocked at 0-0. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in just 80 seconds in the third period, only to have the Fighting Hawks tie the game with two extra-attacker goals in 47 seconds Saturday at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.
From there, the game remained 2-2 in overtime. The game is headed for a fifth overtime period. It is now the longest all-time NCAA Tournament game.
Bulldogs head coach Scott Sandelin started freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal over sophomore Ryan Fanti. For over 58 minutes, the move proved brilliant as Stejskal, who was playing in his eighth game of the season, held the Fighting Hawks offense off the scoreboard until the 18:19 mark of the third when center Collin Adams banked a puck past him from below the goal line with goaltender Adam Scheel watching from the bench.
The Bulldogs iced the puck shortly after, giving the Fighting Hawks another faceoff in the offensive zone with goaltender Adam Scheel on the bench. Captain Jordan Kawaguchi set himself up in the right circle. When the puck came to him, he wasted no time burying it behind Stejskal at 19:03.
The common denominator on both Fighting Hawks goals to even the game was center Shane Pinto. On Adams’ goal, defenseman Jake Sanderson fed the puck over to Pinto along the left boards. Pinto one-timed the pass and Stejskal directed the rebound below the goal line, where Adams jumped on it.
On the second goal, assistant captain Matt Kiersted made a similar pass to Pinto, whose shot from almost the same place he shot from earlier caromed over to Kawaguchi.
The Bulldogs had broken the scoreless tie 3:21 into the third when winger Koby Bender won a puck battle in the corner to Scheel’s left. He threw the puck back to defenseman Hunter Lellig at the right point. Lellig fired a wrist shot that center Jackson Cates tipped out of the air and past Scheel.
Just 80 seconds later, assistant captain Cole Koepke blocked a shot from Fighting Hawks defenseman Ethan Frisch. The puck bounced out of the zone and Koepke drove hard past Frisch, got to the puck, skated in alone from the red line and beat Scheel with a wrist shot.
The Bulldogs appeared to score the game-winner goal 7:38 into the first overtime, but upon review, it was determined that Bender, who was driving the puck into the offensive zone, crossed the blue line without full control of the puck, negating the goal scored shortly after winger Kobe Roth.
Jake Gaudet, Oliver Chau and Colin Felix celebrate one of UMass’ four goals Saturday night (photo: Matt Dewkett).
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — With a 4-0 win over Bemidji State – and a natural hat trick by senior Carson Gicewicz – the UMass Minutemen advance to Pittsburgh, making their second consecutive Frozen Four appearance.
“I thought that was a very dominant game, a very thorough game by our group,” said coach Greg Carvel. “We came out, we set the tone, and played very strong, defensive hockey. I don’t think we gave up a ton. There weren’t a ton of scoring chances in the game, but our first line was huge this weekend and scored most of our goals.”
The UMass top line of Oliver Chau, Jake Gaudet and Gicewicz was responsible for seven of the nine goals the Minutemen tallied in Bridgeport. In Friday’s 5-1 win over Lake Superior State, Gaudet netted two and Gicewicz scored one. In tonight’s game, Chau had the Minutemen’s fourth goal.
After expressing his displeasure with his team’s performance against the Lakers Friday, Carvel said that tonight the Minutemen responded well.
“I was not happy with the game yesterday” said Carvel. “It happens. You’re not going to get an A-plus game every night, but tonight was an A-plus game.”
There was one area of the UMass game that Carvel said was lacking, the Minutemen’s special teams.
“We took too many penalties,” said Carvel, “and I didn’t like our power play tonight, but five-on-five, a real dominant effort by our group.” Carvel was pointed specifically to an extended two-man advantage in the middle of the second period.
“I thought the only part of the game when we sank a bit was when we got the five-on-three power play,” said Carvel. “We’d gone up 3-0 and things are going our way and you get that five-on-three power play, we stopped playing as hard as we were and started cheating a little bit the last five minutes of the second period. I wasn’t happy with that.”
Gicewicz opened the scoring at 14:24 in the first, finishing a shorthanded odd-man rush with 10 seconds remaining in the Bemidji State power play and less than a minute after a two-man advantage for the Beavers had expired. Aaron Bohlinger fed Gicewicz, who passed to Chau, who dished back to Gicewicz for the goal.
“I actually thought I had a breakaway,” said Gicewicz. “Chauser’s a pretty quiet guy and I’ve never heard him yell that loud for the puck, so I dropped it to him and at that point, he’s going to make the right play. He put it right on my stick and that’s a huge goal.”
“That’s a punch to the gut,” said Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore. “You want to score in a five-on-three. If you’re not going to score, don’t give up the shorty and it’s still 1-0. It’s tough on you psychologically as well when you give up the shorthanded goal.”
Gicewicz made it even harder for the Beavers to recover when he delivered his second goal with less than a minute remaining in the first. At 6:34 in the second, Gicewicz scored his 17th of the season to give the Minutemen a 3-0 lead. Chau’s goal came at 16:56 in the third with Bemidi goaltender Zach Driscoll pulled for the extra attacker.
“We’ve come back from games before,” said Beavers’ captain Ethan Somoza. “We’ve been behind. We’re comfortable in that situation. We just weren’t able to do it tonight.”
“It was a really good hockey team we played today,” said Serratore. “It was the best hockey team we’ve seen all year. They had great speed, well balanced team. Once we got behind, we started chasing the game and it was just hard to get that first one. I felt if we’d have gotten the first goal or even when it was 2-0 we’d have answered back, that could have jumpstarted us but that just never happened.”
In net for UMass, Filip Lindberg stopped 18 in his fourth shutout of the season, the 10th of his career.
Bemidji State finishes the season with a 16-10-3 record and the Beavers’ first NCAA appearance since 2010. “This was a very difficult year, for our guys, for everybody,” said Serratore. “This has been a tough year and they’ve really battled through a lot.”
Jack Perbix and Mason Nevers celebrate one of the Gophers’ seven goals Saturday night against Omaha (photo: Kyle Cooper/University of Minnesota Athletics).
LOVELAND, Colo. — Brock Faber had four assists, Mason Nevers scored twice, and Ben Meyers, Sampo Ranta, and Ryan Johnson each had a goal and an assist as Minnesota rolled over Omaha 7-2 Saturday night to advance to the final of the West Regional, where the Gophers will play Minnesota State Sunday.
The Gophers scored two goals in a 2:01 span late in the first to take command, and never trailed in the game.
“It feels awful good, but most important I’m really pleased with how we played tonight,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko. “I give our guys an enormous amount of credit.”
Nevers opened the scoring at 5:48 of the game when he picked up a rebound outside the crease to the right of Isaiah Saville and knocked it past him. It was Nevers’ first goal of his college career.
“It’s been coming all year,” said Motzko of Nevers. “He scores at will in practice. He’s going to be an outstanding player. He was just snakebit, but the lid came off tonight, and it was awesome to see.”
Jack Perbix made it 2-0 at 15:35 when he deflected Faber’s snap shot from the top of the right circle top corner.
“Every time you get a lead early, you put yourself in a good spot,” said Ranta. “It’s big every game, especially games like this. Getting off to a good start is key.”
Scott Reedy made it 3-0 at 17:36 on a perfect setup by Blake McLaughlin, who skated it in deep to the right faceoff dot and fed Reed streaking in from the top of the slot. Reedy beat Saville low to the blocker side.
“We knew they were going to be aggressive on their forecheck, and we felt we could get some odd-man rushes, and we did using our speed and using the boards,” said Motzko. “Some of the things we drew up, it doesn’t always work, but it did tonight.”
“We had a couple chances and we didn’t capitalize there,” said Omaha coach Mike Gabinet. “They are a team that will make you pay for your mistake. Give them one mistake they put it in the back of the net, give them another mistake they put it in the back of the net. That’s what a talented roster does. They capitalized on almost all their opportunities tonight.”
Omaha got one back just 28 seconds later from Taylor Ward to send them to the first intermission with hope, but the Gophers came out firing early in the second and Johnson made it 4-1 just 41 seconds in with a snap shot from the middle of the blue line that.
“There’s parts of our game I really liked tonight,” said Gabinet. “In the first period we had that empty-netter and we missed it and they come back and score. We had a grade A chance right before they got that one in the second, and those are tough when you’re trying to get back in the game and you get a good look and it doesn’t go in and they come right back and get a goal, so kind of the story of the night.”
Meyers made it 5-1 at 7:13, finishing off a great pass by Jackson Lacombe through the crease to Meyers at the right post. That was all on the night for Saville, who was replaced in net by Austin Roden.
It didn’t help, as Nevers made it 6-1 at 16:13. Ranta set the play up, driving down the right boards and toward the back of the net before passing it to Nevers out front who ripped it inside the left post.
Ward got his second of the night at 3:04 of the third, but Ranta almost immediately got it back when Jaxon Nelson carried the puck deep and fed Ranta on the left side of the slot, who ripped it short side at 4:17.
