Ferris State's run ends in regional final

By Tom Morelli/Ferris State Beat Writer

Ferris State's chance of completing their unfinished business from two years ago was nixed on Saturday night after losing a 2-1 double-overtime thriller to North Dakota at the Midwest Regional Championship in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Both teams mirrored each other from the beginning, with neither one able to find the back of the net in the first period.

The Bulldogs grabbed the initial lead at the 7:31 mark of the second, thanks to senior Cory Kane's 14th goal of the campaign from between the faceoff circles. Fellow classmate Andy Huff and junior netminder C.J. Motte were both credited with assists on that play.

Just over three minutes later, North Dakota was able to even-up matters while on the man-advantage. Nick Mattson fed a one-timer to Paul LaDue at the blue line, which was subsequently deflected in by Stephane Pattyn from just outside the crease.

The contest remained deadlocked at one goal apiece until Connor Gaarder of North Dakota netted the game-winner off a back-handed redirect in front with 1:28 elapsed in the second overtime session. On a play that was eerily similar to the previous goal, North Dakota's Mattson and LaDue both picked-up their second helpers of the evening.

Despite the loss, Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels was very supportive of his team after the game.

"First of all, I want congratulate North Dakota in winning tonight and playing a great game," said Daniels. "[But] I want to congratulate our players as well. They really played well, and, more importantly, it's been a great ride. I'm exceedingly proud and realize that we're going to look back and be appreciative of this year. Its a little painful right now, but I am very appreciative of the efforts of our team."

The Bulldogs outshot their opposition 45-26, increasing their shot production gradually as the game wore on.

Motte had 24 saves to finish his second season as a starter with a 28-9-3 ledger. At the other end of the ice, Zane Gothberg made 44 stops to notch his 20th win of the season.

Senior captain Scott Czarnowczan, Kane and Motte were named to the All-Midwest Regional Tournament Team, where they were joined by North Dakota's Rocco Grimaldi, Gaarder and LaDue.

Ferris State finishes the 2013-2014 season with an overall record of 29-11-3.

Ferris State 1, Colgate 0: In Friday's opening round of 16, freshman Gerald Mayhew knocked in a loose puck at 10:01 in the first period to advance the Bulldogs to the Midwest Regional Championship. Motte stopped all 35 shots to secure his fifth shutout of the season.

Grand Rapids tabbed for 2013 regional

Courtesy of the NCAA

The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee has selected the four regional sites for the 2013 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

The four sites and regionals, being held between March 29-31, include: East Regional in Providence, R.I.; Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H.; Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio; and the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Brown will serve as hosts for the East Regional and New Hampshire will host the Northeast Regional. Bowling Green will host the Midwest Regional and Michigan will host the West Regional.

"The committee has placed an emphasis in the regional rounds on neutral-site buildings with NHL-size ice surfaces," said Sean Frazier, chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and associate athletic director at Wisconsin. "All of these facilities meet those standards, and we feel the arenas and hosts will be able to provide a tremendous championship opportunity for the student-athletes."

The 2013 Men's Frozen Four will be held in Pittsburgh at the Consol Energy Center, April 11 and 13. The 2012 championship will be held at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., April 5 and 7.

Michigan tops UNO, off to regional final

By Bob Miller/Michigan Beat Writer

They waited and waited. And waited some more.

After what seemed an interminable delay, Michigan won their first round NCAA Regional opener over Nebraska-Omaha, 3-2, in overtime Friday night in St. Louis as they sat on the ice. Or on the bench. Or stood or kneeled on the ice.

The odd victory was presented to them by a referee's ruling that a shot taken by Greg Pateryn from the right point had deflected under Nebraska-Omaha's goaltender and barely found its way over the goal line.

The peculiar nature of the win partially obscured the fact that the Woverines had rallied from a 2-0 early deficit to gamely come back and tie the game in regulation time on goals by Louie Caporusso and Kevin Lynch. Lynch was also credited with game-winner at 2:35 into overtime.

"I thought their defense was playing us hard," said Lynch of the overtime scenario. "I wasn't sure if it went in or not. I know it went in off of a defenseman. I wasn't sure if it crossed the line. I figured the longer they reviewed the better it was for us. Coach just had us stay focused and keep our heads in the game while we had to wait. I was pretty confident that it was going to go our way."

Michigan advances to play Colorado College, surprise winners over number one-seeded Boston College, late Saturday night for a spot in the Frozen Four.

"We have to put this game behind us between now and when we go to bed, and start refocusing'" Michigan coach Red Berenson warned post-game on Friday. "The whole weekend comes down to tomorrow night. We want to be a Saturday night team."

MTU to host regionals in 2011, 2012

MTU Press Release

The NCAA recently announced the hosts and sites of the 2012 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Regionals and Michigan Technological University has been given the Midwest Regional to host at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.

The announcement from the NCAA is the first regarding Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship sites since September 2008, when Tech and the Resch Center were given the 2011 Midwest Regional.

The 2011 and 2012 regionals will be the second and third time Michigan Tech and the Resch Center have combined up to host NCAA Hockey Tournament events. The pair hosted the 2006 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Midwest Regional, which featured three sellout games and saw Wisconsin defeat Cornell, 2-1, in three overtimes in the championship.

The dates for the regionals are March 26-27 in 2011 and March 24-25 in 2012.

Michigan and Miami play instant classic

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan Beat Writer

It was one of those games where it was a shame someone had to lose.

After regulation time, Michigan and Miami were deadlocked at two goals apiece in their Midwest Regional final Sunday night in Fort Wayne.

After 20 minutes of sudden death overtime, same story.

But just 1:54 into the second overtime, Alden Hirschfeld's snap shot eluded Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick just before midnight on the East Coast.

"I didn't really know it went in until everyone started skating out," said Hirschfeld. "We fought hard all night. Coach kept telling us every chance we got to get the puck on net. The puck just kind of popped out, and I picked it up around the top of the circle and I just shot it through on net and it went in. I know it went under his arm. I think it went through the legs of the guy who tried to block the shot first."

The RedHawks, who went into the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, will now play Boston College in the Frozen Four semifinals on Thursday, April 8. It's the second straight trip to the Frozen Four for Miami, who lost in overtime in last year's championship game to Boston University.

Michigan, meanwhile, ends their run on a sour note.

Kevin Lynch had a goal waved off early in the third period when he parked himself at the top of the crease in front of MU goalie Connor Knapp and banged in a rebound of a Carl Hagelin shot. The ref had blown the whistle, presumably because he lost sight of the puck, but then a penalty was called on Miami.

Michigan coach Red Berenson was none too thrilled after the game.

"That's a tough one to swallow," said Berenson. "The referee blew the whistle because he was calling a penalty on them, but we had control and Lynch put it in the net a split second after he blew the whistle. You can't win on those calls. Even if he didn't blow the whistle, he could have said he meant to blow the whistle. He was so intent on calling the penalty that they couldn't see that the puck was loose, and we were putting it in the net."

Even so, both teams had chances in the third period and overtime sessions, with Matt Rust coming close with a shot off the post in overtime.

"You're so close," added Berenson. "If we would have gotten (to the Frozen Four), this team was really making believers out of everyone that wouldn't have given us a hope in heck of making that Frozen Four appearance. It was great, but it's not as good."

Michigan captain Chris Summers, after playing his last NCAA game, was emotional.

"The last four years, every year is different obviously with different guys," said Summers. "It's a new team every year. I can honestly say this is the most proud I've ever been of Michigan hockey team. It's tough with two injuries. Timely goal scoring couldn't have come at a better time. It's kind of sad to say the season's over, but I'm so proud of the guys sitting in the locker room right now."

Pat Cannone scored Miami's first two goals, while David Wohlberg (pictured) and Chad Langlais replied for the Wolverines.

Knapp finished with 55 saves and at the other end, Hunwick, nicknamed "Rudy" by Berenson, made 32 stops.

"Like I said yesterday, we have two No. 1 goalies (CCHA Player of the Year Cody Reichard is the other)," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. "Tonight was Connor's night, and we knew he would go in there and do exactly what he did. We reminded him that Michigan shoots from everywhere and to be ready. He was great all night long."

Playing Boston College, winners of the Northeast Regional with a 9-7 win over Yale earlier Sunday, will be a good test for Miami, but according to Blasi, his squad will be ready.

"It feels like 10 years ago, but it's hard to believe that a year has gone by," Blasi said. "We're excited. I think if you walk by our locker room you can tell. We'll get a couple days rest and then start preparing for Boston College. I keep saying everything happens for a reason."

The Wolverines finish the season 26-18-1.

Photo courtesy UM Photo Services

SCSU downs Wildcats in double overtime

St. Cloud State leads Northern Michigan, 3-2, after two periods.

Justin Florek and Ray Kaunisto with the goals.

Third period on tap.

Erik Spady sends the game to overtime with a goal at 16:11.

To sudden death we go ...

No scoring in the first OT, but Northern Michigan loses in the second OT on a goal by Tony Mosey 23 seconds in.

Full recap later tonight.

St. Cloud State-NMU line charts

West Regional starts at 5:30 p.m. today from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

St. Cloud State

FORWARDS
Jared Festler-Aaron Marvin-Ryan Lasch
Tony Mosey-Garrett Roe-David Eddy
Ben Hanowski-Drew Leblanc-Travis Novak
Jordy Christian-Nick Oslund-Brian Volpei

DEFENSEMEN
Garrett Raboin-Chris Hepp
Oliver Lauridsen-Taylor Johnson
Sam Zabkowicz-Craig Gaudet

GOALTENDERS
Mike Lee
Dan Dunn

Northern Michigan

FORWARDS
Justin Florek-Mark Olver-Andrew Cherniwchan
Gregor Hanson-Ray Kaunisto-Tyler Gron
Matt Butcher-Jared Brown-Chad Pietila
Mike Maltese-Nicholas Kosinski-Scott Macaulay
Kory Kaunisto

DEFENSEMEN
TJ Miller-Erik Gustafsson
Kyle Follmer-Alan Dorich
Andrew Fernandez-Erik Spady

GOALTENDERS
Brian Stewart
Reid Ellingson

Air Force bumps Michigan from NCAAs

By Matt Mackinder/Michigan Beat Writer

One and done - not exactly how Michigan thought its regional would go, but Air Force pulled the upset and blanked the Wolverines, 2-0, this afternoon in the first game of the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn.

Michigan (29-12-0) was the top seed in the regional (third overall in the country) and Air Force came in as the No. 4 seed and 15th overall.

"This was a disappointing loss for our team," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "We expected a tough game and got one. This was not an upset. This was a very tough Air Force team. They held on to the lead. Congratulations to them. Give their team a lot of credit. Their goalie played a tremendous game. We couldn't ask any more of our team tonight.

"We were very prepared. This was not an upset, this was not a surprise. Our team was focused and we worked very hard. I think from time to time I think they realize that this team is really good. When we did get our moments, we needed to put the puck in the goal."

Air Force goaltender Andrew Volkening made 43 saves, Greg Flynn had two assists and Hobey Baker finalist Jacques Lamoureux, with his nation-best 33rd goal, and Derrick Burnett tallied all the offense the Falcons would need.

"When you are going to build a successful team, you need a solid goalie," said Lamoureux of Volnening. "We build off his confidence and he makes those saves early and we built off it. If things don't go his way, he doesn't get rattled or anything like that. His confidence helps the team's confidence."

Bryan Hogan made just 11 saves in taking the defeat for Michigan.

The Maize and Blue failed to convert seven power-play opportunities and had more shots on the man-advantage (16) than Air Force accumulated in the entire game (13). It was also the first time in 71 NCAA Tournament games that UM had been shut out.

The Falcons (28-10-2), who earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the Atlantic Hockey champions, will play the Vermont/Yale winner tomorrow night for the right to go to the Frozen Four in two weeks in Washington, D.C.

UM graduates seniors Danny Fardig, Tim Miller, Mark Mitera, Brandon Naurato, Billy Sauer and Travis Turnbull.