CORNELL SHOCKS MICHIGAN STATE

COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE:  Another buzz saw was let loose on Thursday, and this time it wore red.  Cornell stunned the Michigan State hockey team and Michigan State Hockey Nation with a very hard fought game, and win.  Michigan State had the momentum in the first, out-shooting Cornell 13-5, and got on the board seven minutes into the period on a goal by Gavin O’Connell.  It took some time, but with five minutes left in the period Ryan Walsh scored for Cornell to tie it at one apiece.  Then Daniel Russell scored for Michigan State with time running out in the period to retake the Michigan State lead, 2-1, only five minutes after the Cornell goal.  Again, it took some time, but Charlie Major scored for Cornell seventeen minutes into the second to tie it at 2-2.  And then only seventeen seconds later Karsen Dorwart scored for Michigan State to give Michigan State the lead, 3-2.

Michigan State again out-shot Cornell in the second, this time 17-4.  But despite the relative onslaught of Michigan shots and momentum, Cornell was hanging in there with the Spartans, down by only one goal, and this from only nine shots spread across two periods.  Certainly something would give in the third, wouldn’t one think?  Again it took a while, until thirteen minutes into the third, but Ryan Walsh again scored to tie it for Cornell at three apiece, and things had changed — Cornell now had the momentum, and out-shot Michigan State 12-7 in the third.  It culminated seven minutes later with only ten ticks left on the clock when Sullivan Mack scored to give Cornell its first lead, and the 4-3 win.  Cornell advanced to play Boston University on Saturday, March 29th, at 1:00PM Pacific Time on ESPNU.

[That game has already been played at the time of this posting.  Want to know who won?  Stay tuned!]

The outcome of this game is a massive upset in our pool, as all thirty-nine entrants picked Michigan State to win, and none picked Cornell (one entrant had picked Cornell initially but changed this pick early Thursday morning).

MASSACHUSETTS SHOCKS MINNESOTA

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COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE:  And there was a third buzz saw Thursday, wearing a darker red.  Massachusetts stunned the Minnesota hockey team and Minnesota Hockey Nation with persistence, culminating in a dramatic come from behind win.  After sniffing each other out for about thirteen minutes, a series of three penalties in a forty-six second stretch gave Minnesota a four-on-three power play advantage, and they quickly converted the opportunity on a Jimmy Snuggerud goal for the 1-0 lead.  Massachusetts immediately stepped up their pace, and on a rush Larry Keenan scored to tie it at one apiece.   Four minutes later Brody Lamb snapped off a shot from a faceoff, at the faceoff dot, slicing into the top corner of the goal, to re-establish the Minnesota lead at 2-1, and took that score into the first break.

Minnesota had a 12-9 shots advantage in the first.  Minnesota managed good pressure on the goal in the second, but Massachusetts goalie Michael Hrabal rose to the occasion with several high-end stops.  With six minutes left in the second, UMass lost track of Connor Kurth who took a pass in the slot and slipped around Hrabal to score for the 3-1 Minnesota lead, the only goal of the second in which both teams managed nine shots on goal.  UMass seemed to have the momentum in the third, and with thirteen minutes left Aydar Suniev zipped one past Minnesota goalie Liam Souliere to make it 3-2.  Souliere was briefly replaced by Nathan Airey for an equipment repair, and UMass netted their first shot on Airey, a close range redirect by Daniel Jen?ko with eleven minutes remaining.

Souliere came back, and with five minutes left, Francesco Dell’Elce scored on a shot from the point that deflected off of a gopher stick and into the net, for the first UMass lead of the game, 4-3.  Jimmy Snuggerud again found the net with a blistering shot between Hrabal’s legs to tie it at four apiece, sending the game to OT.  Massachusetts out-shot Minnesota 16-7 in the third.  Five minutes into OT, Dans Locmelis entered the Minnesota zone at the left point, skated to the right side face-off circle, and made a slick back-handed pass, feeding Aydar Suniev at the left side post, who quickly tapped it in for the game winner, making the final score 5-4, Massachusetts.  Massachusetts advanced to play Western Michigan on Saturday, March 29th, at 3:30PM Pacific Time on ESPNU.

[That game has already been played at the time of this posting.  Want to know who won?  Stay tuned!]

The outcome of this game is a huge upset in our pool, as thirty-six of the thirty nine entrants picked Minnesota to win this game, compared to only three who picked Massachusetts.

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom