DCU Center Defends NCAA Hockey Attendance

I have to chuckle when I read this article. Apparently, Sandra Dunn, who's part of the management team company that runs the DCU Center, thinks that the NCAA North East Regional that was held in Worcester, Massachusetts last weekend was successful. Uh, okay.  

For Finals - 62% of Seats Were Empty

Worcester’s attendance for the two games on Friday was 6,682 — just over half the seats were filled. For the regional final, despite regional favorite and national power Boston College playing, the attendance dropped from Friday to just 4,572 — 62 percent of the seats were unsold.

“This was the 14th regional held at the DCU Center. Worcester is held in high esteem with the NCAA including a variety of records like “Most Hockey Tournament Games by any Arena (2012)”, “Most Regional Games by any Arena (45)” and “Largest Crowd for a Session (1999)”. In fact, we hold 4 of the top 5 most attended Regionals in NCAA history,” said Dunn.

Actually, if you think about it, Ms. Dunn is probably right. The NCAA loves to play in listless, empty buildings. This regional championship had more fans attend it than the West Regional Championship that was held at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. So, I guess we can look at this as being successful.

Honestly, I think it's funny. Boston College is a 45-minute bus ride from DCU Center in Worcester, MA. Can't they fill up the DCU Center? Apparently not.

Edit: NCAA Hockey Tourney: Where are we Going?

Looking at the USCHO Brackets from Jason Moy. Most years, Moy nails it, so I would imagine that UND is heading to Cincinnati to play the Northeastern Huskies. It will be interesting to see where UND goes. 

East Regional (Albany):
16 RIT vs. 1 Quinnipiac
10 Yale vs 8 Massachusetts-Lowell

Northeast Regional (Worcester):
14 Minnesota-Duluth vs. 4 Providence
11 Harvard vs. 5 Boston College

Midwest Regional (Cincinnati):
13 Northeastern vs. 3 North Dakota
12 Notre Dame vs. 7 Michigan

West Regional (St. Paul):
15 Ferris State vs. 2 St. Cloud State
9 Boston University vs. 6 Denver

Final Projections from College Hockey News

Albany
1. Quinnipiac vs. 16. RIT
8. Lowell vs. 10. Yale

St. Paul
2. St. Cloud State vs. 15. Ferris State
6. Denver vs. 9. Boston University

Cincinnati
3. North Dakota vs. 13. Northeastern
7. Michigan vs. 12. Notre Dame

Worcester
4. Providence vs. 14. Minnesota-Duluth
5. Boston College vs. 11. Harvard

Hobey Baker Award: 10 Finalist Announced

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee announced their 10 finalists for the award. You can see that the CCM line has all made the top-10. Only one players west of the Mississippi River. I suppose none of us should be shocked though.

F JT Compher, Jr., Michigan
F Kyle Connor, Jr., Michigan
G Thatcher Demko, Jr., Boston College
F Zac Lynch, Sr., Robert Morris
G Alex Lyon, Jr., Yale
F Tyler Motte, Jr., Michigan
F Alex Petan, Sr., Michigan Tech
F Andrew Poturalski, So., New Hampshire
D Ethan Prow, Sr., St. Cloud State
F Jimmy Vesey, Sr., Harvard

Its Crunch Time, Seven Weeks to Go

There are seven weeks to go before the NCAA Division I Hockey tournament starts. Looking at this week's Bracketology post by Jayson Moy, UND is going to Cinci. Most UND fans that I have talked to would like to see UND in Minneapolis. For some reason, Moy wants to keep putting UND in Cincinnati. I think that's going to be an empty regional.

This week’s brackets

East Regional (Albany):
13 Denver vs. 4 Providence
12 Massachusetts-Lowell vs. 5 Harvard

Northeast Regional (Worcester):
16 Robert Morris vs. 1 Quinnipiac
10 Yale vs. 7 Boston College

Midwest Regional (Cincinnati):
15 Minnesota State vs. 3 North Dakota
11 Boston University vs. 6 Michigan

West Regional (St. Paul):
14 Minnesota vs. 2 St. Cloud State
9 Omaha vs 8 Notre Dame

(USCHO Bracketology)

Four Year Athlete Obsolete

At the end of every Men's Division 1 NCAA Hockey season, most of the 59 teams fan bases hold their breaths and wonder one thing. Who are we going to lose early this year? It has become a common thing for athletes not staying all four years in order to be sure to sign that entry level pro contract into the NHL.

According to USCHO.com, 30 players chose to leave their schools early, a majority of which were juniors with just one year left to play. However, there were five freshman who decided to leave after one year, including second overall pick in this year's entry draft, Jack Eichel. Now I do understand that these top NHL draft picks want to be sure that a serious injury doesn't ruin their professional dreams, but seriously. You go to college to play the sport and the university you are playing at is investing time and money in you. Now I'm not saying athletes should stay all four years, but they should spend at least three years with their school of choice.

Another interesting number found off of USCHO.com, 20 of the 59 schools were effected by early departures. Of those 20 schools, 10 of them saw more then one player leave for the NHL. Now I know that doesn't seem like a lot of players considering each of the 59 teams is allowed to roster up to 25 athletes, however top programs like North Dakota, Minnesota, and Boston University have rarely seen an entire class stick together all four seasons since the turn of the century, if at all.

For example, look at a team like North Dakota. This season saw the departures of juniors Zane McIntyre and Jordan Schmaltz to their respective pro teams. The year before, they lost Rocco Grimaldi to Florida, who was a red shirt sophomore at the time, and three seasons ago, would lose junior Derek Forbort to a pro contract. The list just goes on from there.

Maybe someday more athletes will once again decide to play all four seasons of NCAA hockey, but for now, senior classes keep getting smaller and smaller, and the sizes of the incoming freshman classes just keep growing in size.

Boston, er, Providence College Terriers (Video)

Wow! The person presenting the trophy can't even get the name of the school right.

NCHC Hockey: A Look at the Pairwise Rankings

If the NCAA playoffs started today, six-of-eight NCHC teams would make the NCAA tournament. That's the best of any of the six leagues. Also, the more NCHC teams that are number one seeds will mean that they will have to go to separate regionals and can't be double up.  Currently, three-of-four are NCHC teams.

My Early Preseason NCAA Men's Hockey Favorite

Ok, I know that the season is still two months away, but I just can't get over how this one ended, and not just for North Dakota either. In general, this past season saw a lot of  parody and I expect this season to be just the same. We saw a team with just one NHL draft pick win it all, a team beat another in .6 seconds to go to the national title game, but lose and lose badly. The end of an era in NCAA Men's Hockey with the end of one conference, and the addition to two new ones. Surprising blow-outs and spectacular overtime thrillers. Most of this could be seen within the North Dakota club alone.

Looking ahead to the season upon us, one must look at who left early, and from where, and who has the best incoming freshman. You have your usual suspects as one might imagine, with Boston College, Minnesota, and North Dakota probably being in the top 10 all season long, barring the typical first half North Dakota funk they always seem to have. Union, the defending national champs, is a team that I don't know what to think about. They proved that if you have a good core of players, and believe in your coach/team, great things can happen.

Michigan looks like they are back on the upswing once again, but their usual Big 10 football rival,

Ohio State, they too look as if they could become a team to look at when it comes to tourney time. The Buckeyes are off of a Big 10 tournament runner-up finish, losing an overtime heartbreaker to Wisconsin.

One also has to wonder about Boston University and if they will crawl back up the rankings again, or if they will stay out of the tournament picture like last season. Only time will tell.

Once again, the NCHC looks to be the powerhouse conference, with the possibility of sending at least five teams to the tournament once again. Miami has their top players returning this season, and are once again among the favorites to win the conference in preseason polls. However, they said that last season too and you saw how that ended up.

Minnesota, the College Hockey News number one team coming into this coming season in their very preseason poll release, looks to gain revenge after their national title game flop against Union. The always tough Golden Gophers

should be in the top five of the rankings for much of, if not the entire season. Being lead by goalie Adam Wilcox, and Kyle Rau, Minnesota is looking for banner number six to hang up in their barn once the season is over.

Finally, a team I know much more about, North Dakota. With three of five incoming freshman being drafted at this years NHL Draft, they return a line-up that has a lot of options.

If you thought last year's freshman class was impressive, wait until you see this one. You have a stud goalie, a first round draft pick, and good core team guys leaving a game day spot hard to come by this year. Between Minnesota and North Dakota this year, you don't find much deeper line-ups in the entire country, and I know UND is looking for revenge after how their, dare I say Cinderella, season ended.

If you asked me to pick a national champion right now, I'd have to flip a coin between North Dakota and Minnesota, but the season is very long and a lot can happen. Ask me this question at the start of the second half and I might have a different answer for you.

NCAA Hockey: New Rules

The NCAA Ice Hockey Rules committee has been meeting this week, and these are the rules changes that they came up with.

Hand Pass by Faceoff Player – The players taking a faceoff are not allowed to use their hand to play the puck. A violation of this rule will result in a minor penalty, similar to the NHL rule.

Faceoff Procedure – The defending team’s faceoff player shall be required to put the stick down first. Previously, the attacking team was required to do so. Center ice faceoffs will continue to require the visiting team to put the stick down first.

Goal pegs – Ten-inch goal pegs that are anchored into the ice or floor must be in place at all NCAA levels by the 2016-17 season.

Faceoff Location – Offensive Scoring Opportunity: If the offensive team is attempting to score and the puck goes out of play – the faceoff will remain in the attacking zone.

Faceoff Location – High stick/hand pass: In these cases, the ensuing faceoff will be one zone closer to offending team’s goal.

Video Replay – Several changes were made to the criteria and process:

• It is reviewable to determine if a goal was scored before a penalty occurred.

• If an offsides or too many men on the ice penalty is missed and a goal is scored, it is reviewable until the puck leaves the offensive zone. This replaces the previous wording that only allowed the review to occur if the missed play directly led to a goal.

• It was clarified that video review may be used without the restriction of games that are being broadcast on television.

Penalty Shot/Shootout – During a shootout or penalty shot, if the goal becomes dislodged by the goalkeeper, the referee shall either award a goal (if intentional or if the goal was obvious and imminent) or allow the team to shoot again.

Penalty Shot – If a player that is awarded a penalty shot is injured and unable to take the shot, one of the players on the ice at the time of the infraction shall be chosen to shoot.

Look-Up Line – The committee approved the use of a warning-track style line intended to positively impact safety near the boards. The use of this line will not be mandatory, but is permissible.

One of the new rule changes that I like is the new rule where if the net becomes dislodged during a penalty shot or shootout, the referee “shall” award a goal or another shot to the shooter. Last season, when Minnesota was playing Michigan State the game was tied and the two teams went to a shootout. With the game tied 2-2, Michigan State forward Joe Cox appeared to have scored a good goal during the shootout. However, after further review, the referee ruled that Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox knocked the net off its' moorings before Cox scored. (Video below).  

Union takes home the title

Wow! What a game last night. IMHO, this was one of the better Frozen Four championship games that I have seen. Some might say that the improbable happened last night. Union College with one NHL draft choice, and no scholarships, beat the mighty Golden Gophers 7-4. Just for the record, the Gophers have 14 NHL draft choices on their roster.

Junior defenseman Shane Gostisbehere is the only player on the Dutchmen’s roster that is drafted by an NHL team (Philadelphia 2012). After his play this past weekend, there’s also a good chance that the Flyers will want Gostisbehere to sign a professional contract, soon.

If you’re a regular college hockey fan, you will know that this wasn’t a fluke. Union came into last night’s game on a 16-0-1 run, and the Dutchmen hadn’t lost since January 31, 2014. Union has a knack for beating the big-time, high-profile teams. Over the last two seasons, the Dutchmen have ended the Boston College Eagles season. This year only reinforces that the ECAC is becoming the premiere, power-house conference in college hockey. That's two titles, in two seasons, not too shabby.

Union has a very veteran lineup with five seniors on their roster. The average age of their senior class is 23 years old. I have seen some making an issue of the Dutchmen’s age, but I don’t see a problem with it.

Just for the record, the average age of the Union is 21years and 11 months old. The average of the Minnesota Gophers is 21 years and two months old. There’s not too much difference in age.

Union will lose five seniors, Daniel Carr (22g-28a—50pts), Mat Bodie (8g-31a—39pts), Kevin Sullivan (9g-29a—38pts), Matt Hatch (13g-9a—22pts), Cole Ikkala (2g-2a—4pts).

Congrats to the Gophers and the Dutchmen on a great season.

All-American teams announced

Sunday afternoon Pontifications

I am surprised at after all of these years, four to be exact, this hit is still a topic discussion on message boards. This check in question happened on March 13, 2010. Yep, no doubt it, this was a bad,and dangerous hit, but Frattin is no Matt Cooke and he was given a one-game suspension for this hit. I laugh at the suggestions that he should be thrown out of hockey for life.

Also, contrary to public opinion, North Dakota is no longer a bunch of knuckle dragging  Neanderthal  goons, as some opposition fans like to call them. They're not angels either. UND is ranked 18 out of 59 teams in Penalty Minutes, and averages 12.9 minutes per game. Compared to team of the past, that's not very high.

If you haven't been paying attention to UND hockey, they've changed the way they play. Gone are the big thumpers, UND is now more of a skating team, they play a smart tenacious checking game. Defensively, UND is the top scoring defensive teams in the nation, averaging  2.76 points per game.

Since NCAA went to current format in 2003, Minnesota & BC are 19-1 in regionals in their home state, 7-8 in regionals out of state.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) April 6, 2014

Gophers have played in 4 Twin Cities regionals, made Frozen Four all 4 times (8-0). They've played in 5 elsewhere, made 0 FFs (2-5).
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) April 6, 2014

This kind of piggy backs Brad's tweet. I always liked the argument that the Xcel Energy Center is not a home game for the Minnesota Gophers. Yep, and Worcester isn't a home game for the Eagles either right?  The Xcel Energy Center is about seven miles from the University of Minnesota's campus.

Breaking it down further, after winning the 2014 NCAA West Regional, the Minnesota Golden Gophers are now 23-13-0 all-time at the Xcel Energy Center. That's a .639 winning percentage. The Gophers had a (3-1-1, .700) record this season, their only loss, was to the Ohio State Buckeyes (3-1)in the Big Ten Hockey Tourney.

Related articles

• College Hockey: The NCAA Playoffs Take Center Stage

Porter Wraparound or Gaarder 2OT Winner?

Ok UND fans, I need your help on this one. Which game winning goal was bigger in your opinion?

First we have the 2007 West Regional championship goal scored by Chris Porter. Porter scored the goal at 11:43 of the first overtime against none other then the hated Minnesota Golden Gophers. This would send the Sioux to the Frozen Four to face Boston College.

Now we have the most recent Connor Gaarder 2OT winner against Ferris State last weekend. This goal sent UND to their 20th Frozen Four in school history and the sixth one for head coach Dave Hakstol. Gaarder took the loose puck out front and shoved it five hole on the Hobey Baker finalist Motte to win the game for the good guys.

Let me hear your vote UND fans. Either comment your response here or send them to my Twitter handle @siouxhockey33. I know you all will have an opinion on this.

What does your brackets look like?

I picked three-of-four Frozen Four teams right.

NCAA Hockey: What does your bracket look like this morning?

What does your bracket look like this morning... I picked the Quinnipiac and Providence game wrong.

Related articles

• Return Of The Cawlidge Hawkey Brackets

UND Hockey: A few Things on game day

Series history: There’s definitely a history between the two teams. Coming into this weekend, the University of North Dakota has never lost to Wisconsin during the NCAA playoffs. Historically, UND is 2-0 against the Badgers in the NCAA tournament.

First meeting: UND beat Wisconsin 5-2 during the 1982 NCAA Championship game. Second meeting: UND beat Wisconsin 3-2 in overtime in the 2008 Midwest Regional Championship game.  Andrew Kozek scored the game winning goal at the 1:47 mark of the first overtime to give UND the regional Championship.

All-time: The Badgers have an 86-65-12 record against UND. UND is 5-3-2 in the last 10 games against the Badgers. 

Here’s the video clip of the last time UND played against Wisconsin in the NCAA playoffs.

Breaking down the numbers

As most of you know, numbers mean nothing this time of year. You can throw records out the window. All of the teams that are in the NCAA tournament have a chance of winning. We found that out last season when Yale made their run through the NCAA playoffs. Yale was the last at-large bid to make the NCAA tournament. We also saw that when fourth seeded RIT knocked off number one seeded Denver 2-1 in the 2010 East regional. 

North Dakota (23-13-3) vs. Wisconsin (24-10-2)

UND didn’t play against Wisconsin this season. The two teams will resume the rivalry next season in Madison.

Common opponents (3)

Wisconsin split with the Miami RedHawks (0-2 L, 3-2W)

UND was 3-2 against the Miami RedHawks (4-2 W, 2-6 L, 3-2 W, 9-2 W, and 0-3 L)

Wisconsin swept the Colorado College Tigers (4-1 W, 4-3 W O.T.)

UND was 4-1-0 against the Colorado College Tigers (5-3 W, 3-2 W, 4-2 W, 2-3 L O.T. and 4-3 W)

Wisconsin was 2-0 against Northern Michigan (5-2 W, 2-1 W)

UND was 2-0 against Northern Michigan (3-2 W, 3-1 W)

Breaking down the Records

Wisconsin was 17-2-1 at home and 5-8-1 on the road. Neutral site 2-0. 

North Dakota was 14-7-1 at home and 8-5-2 on the road. Neutral site 1-1.

Badgers record when…

14-1-1 when they lead after one period

2-6-1 when they trail after one period

8-3-1 when tied after one period

18-0-1 when leading after two periods

2-8-1 when trailing after two periods

North Dakota’s record when…

13-1-1 when they lead after one period

5-9-0 when they trail after one period

5-3-2 when tied after one period

19-1-0 when leading after two periods

1-10-1 when trailing after two periods

 

NCAA Hockey: Under the old Pairwise Rankings

Jim Dahl has what the old Pairwise rankings would have looked like, if the NCAA used the Pairwise Ranking from last season. To be honest with you, I don't like the new Pairwise formula. I think it was an over reaction to the smaller schools whining about the big schools not traveling to the smaller schools home arenas. 

West (St Paul)
1. Minnesota vs 16. Robert Morris
8. Wisconsin vs 9. Ferris St

Northeast (Worcester)
3. Boston College vs 14. Cornell
6. Providence vs 11. Notre Dame

East (Bridgeport)
2. Union vs 15. Denver
7. St Cloud St vs 10. North Dakota

Midwest (Cincinnati)
4. Mass-Lowell vs 13. Mankato
5. Quinnipiac vs 12. Colgate

Related articles

• Mens NCAA Tourney is Set
• College Hockey: The NCAA Playoffs Take Center Stage

NCHC Awards.

Tonight, the NCHC handed out their individual awards for the leagues most outstanding players and a coach of the year. There were a couple of surprising choices and I would have chosen some others different, but hey they can't make everyone happy.

First lets start with the NCHC Player of the Year, Josh Archibald. Archibald would lead the NCHC in goals with 23 and win the league scoring title with 32 points in 24 league games. The Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick also would record two hat tricks this season, one coming against North Dakota at the Ralph in UNO's 6-3 Saturday night victory over North Dakota. Along with Player of the Year, Archibald would also be named Forward of the Year for these same reasons. It's a shame UNO will not make the NCAA tournament because Archibald would be a lot of fun to watch leading his team towards the Frozen Four in Philly come April.

Also taking home two individual awards in this inaugural NCHC season would be Nic Dowd of St. Cloud State. The senior, and LA Kings prospect, would land him the Scholar Athlete of the Year and the league's top defensive forward honors. Dowd would finish sixth in league scoring with 25 points in 24 league games played. The SCSU forward would also finish at a +12 this season and block 19 shots during conference play.

Another player with double the fun for awards this year would be Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia. He would earn himself Offensive Defenseman of the year and Defenseman of the year. He finished tied for the conference lead in goals scored by a defenseman with six and started off his season with a three game goal scoring streak. LaLeggia would finish the season with 13 points in conference play and would block 23 shots in 19 league games played out of 24 possible.

The Goalie of the Year honors went to Denver's Sam Brittain. He would lead the NCHC with an outstanding .931 save percentage and would claim two of his four shutouts in NCHC play, which would also lead all league goalies. Brittain was named goalie of the week a record six times this season and his 686 saves in league play would be an amazing 81 more saves then any other NCHC goalie would make.

This year's Rookie of the Year, and much deserving Rookie of the Year, was awarded to Colorado College defenseman Jacob Slavin. The Freshman would tie the league best in defenseman scoring with 19 points, and would rank third in all freshman scoring. He would also lead all defenseman with 14 assists, and that would also be good for second among all league freshman. A 2014 World Junior representative, Slavin would show that he is going to be a top blue liner in this conference in his next few years at CC.

Finally, the last major award was the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year. SCSU's Bob Motzko would win the award, leading St. Cloud to the very first Penrose Cup this year. The Huskies would earn 15 conference wins,six non conference wins, and were scoring just under four goals a game this season. Although the Huskies would have a slumpish run towards the end of the regular season, and get swept by Miami in the first round of playoffs, this SCSU team could very well see play in the Frozen Four once again this season, especially with the week off to rest, get healthy, and have some good practice time before the NCAA tournament begins next weekend.

Now for who missed out. The only big one in my mind that missed out is North Dakota defenseman Dillon Simpson. Simpson was a lot of peoples choice for defenseman of the year, especially since he rarely made a defensive error that would cost North Dakota. In last weekend's series, Simpson and his d partner Jordan Schmaltz would combine for 21 blocked shots in the three games. If there was anyone left out it is for sure the North Dakota senior captain.

Women's NCAA Frozen Four is Set

Well the field is now set for the 2014 NCAA division 1 women's ice hockey Frozen Four, and there are no surprises except for the upset of Mercyhurst over Cornell yesterday.

Perhaps what everyone involved with NCAA women's hockey will call the true NCAA title game, Minnesota vs. Wisconsin, will be the most anticipated match-up in this tournament. Minnesota, who has been the outright number 1 for most of the last three seasons now, will look to punch their ticket to a third straight national title, but Wisconsin looks to say otherwise.

Wisconsin, who has four national championships and most recent in 2011, was runner-up to Minnesota in the 2012 title game and looks for a little revenge against the Golden Gophers. They are the four seed, in what many called a flawed pairwise ranking system, placing them on the same side of the bracket, avoiding a possible national title game rematch.

The winner of this years national championship will most likely come from this highly anticipated match-up next weekend and a big thing that will help in favor of the Wisconsin Badgers is that the game is being played at a neutral site in Hamden, Conn. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin were nearly unbeatable at home this season, with Minnesota just losing once at home to North Dakota, and Wisconsin with only four home losses, two to Minnesota, and one each to North Dakota and Minnesota State.

This match-up will be a hard fought game and I don't see it being decided by more then one goal, unless an empty netter is scored by either team. I am going to have to pick Minnesota to come out on top of this one, winning 2-1 and advancing them to their third straight national championship game.

On the other side of the bracket we have number 3 Clarkson vs. Mercyhurst, who upset Cornell to advance to the Frozen Four this season. Clarkson is looking to advance to their very first women's National Championship game in team history as Mercyhurst is looking to return for only the second time in school history.

The two schools would have an early season non conference series all the way back in October and Mercyhurst would allow just one goal against a very tough Clarkson squad. Getting shutout in game one, and skating to a tie in game two, Clarkson is looking for some revenge against a Mercyhurst team who is riding a lot of momentum coming into this weekend's Frozen Four.

Since the holiday break was over, Clarkson went a very impressive 15-1-3, showing what you have to do to get things done down the stretch run. Some victories one should note during this time is a 3-1 victory at home against Cornell, and a 2-1 road victory against Harvard.

I am still pondering on how Mercyhurst would make the NCAA tournament this season if they didn't win their regular season conference title, and even be seeded higher then a very good Boston University squad. Mercyhurst comes from a very weak CHA conference and would lose the conference tournament championship to RIT in double overtime. Mercyhurst's only win of note would be their 2-0 road victory against Clarkson and are looking to keep this Cinderella story alive for just two more games.

With Mercyhurst riding a lot of momentum after their huge upset of Cornell, there is always that chance that they could do the same against Clarkson, but this would be very highly unlikely. Clarkson wins this one 4-1 and advances to the title game to meet up with a very tough Minnesota who is looking to win their third straight title.

NCAA Tourney Bid on the Line for UND

After their loss in overtime last night, UND would fall to 15th in the pairwise putting their NCAA tournament bid in jeopardy. However, depending on how some of the other conference tournaments end up next weekend, they quite possibly could be out already for the first time in 12 seasons.

Much like Friday night, UND would find themselves in a hole and having to make their way out of it once again. With an early second period goal for Colorado College, they looked to put North Dakota away and extend this to a third game Sunday night. However, about two and a half minutes after CC would go up 2-0, UND sophomore Drake Caggiula would find the twine and put North Dakota on the board.

As the clock would become the enemy of North Dakota in the third, coach Dave Hakstol would look for a late spark in his team, and who better to look to then your top line, the "Funky Bunch" line as I like to call them, of Drake Caggiula, Mark MacMillian, and Michael Parks. The line would combine for five points in the series opener, and with Caggiula already on the board in this one, why not?

With just under four minutes remaining in the third, MacMillian and Caggiula would factor in on Jordan Schmaltz's game tying goal and the Ralph would erupt. With the late goal, the fans, and the guys sitting on the bench would hope that momentum would shift in their favor heading into the overtime period.

Exactly seven minutes into the first overtime, the game would be over when CC freshman Alex Roos would find a hole and fire the puck past Zane Gothberg. This game would be just the second time in Gothberg's last 18 starts that he would allow three or more goals.

Tonight is a must win for UND if they look to make the tournament for a 12th straight season, and want to fight for the inaugural NCHC Frozen Face-Off championship.