In the five games after the Union win yesterday, the higher ranked team won them all, except for North Dakota’s upset of Ferris State.

Second note:  I did not count an entry in our pool that I didn’t realize I had received.  We actually have a total of forty entrants in the pool this year, the most we have ever had.

#3 Boston College Slams #17 Denver

Boston College got on the board twenty-five seconds into the game, and then scored two more to make it 3-0 in the first ten minutes of play, en route to building a 6-0 lead before the second period was over.  #17 Denver scored late in the second and late in the third, but #3 Boston College was in total command of this one, taking it 6-2.  Johnny Gaudreau (the favorite for this year’s Hobey Baker Award for good reason) notched a hat trick, and added two assists, as all six goals were scored by the line of Gaudreau/Hayes/Arnold, which has collectively scored 68 goals and added 108 assists this season.  Boston College advanced to face UMass-Lowell today at 2:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU, for a berth in the Frozen Four.

Boston College was chosen to win this game by 37 of 40 entries in the pool.

#2 Minnesota Dispatches #22 Robert Morris University

Minnesota likewise made quick work of #22 Robert Morris yesterday, building a 4-0 lead by the middle of the second.  But Robert Morris clearly came to play, and scored with six minutes left in the second and again with one minute left in the second to make it 4-2.  Minnesota added a goal with six minutes left in the third to make it 5-2, and Robert Morris again scored a minute later to make it 5-3.

With time running out, Robert Morris added an extra attacker, and with two minutes left, Minnesota found the empty net to make it 6-3, and then scored again with a minute remaining to make the final score 7-3.  Minnesota advanced to play St. Cloud State today at 4:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.

Well, out of 40 entries, we did have one who picked Robert Morris, but for the other 39 who chose Minnesota, this was not an upset.

#13 North Dakota Stops #6 Ferris State In Double Overtime Win

This one was really a battle of attrition.  These two teams held each other in check until eight minutes into the second, when North Dakota scored to take a 1-0 lead, but then Ferris State score three minutes later to tie it up 1-1.  The two teams played the balance of the second, all of the third, and all of the first OT holding each other off.  Wow, that’s forty-nine minutes.  North Dakota found the net two minutes into the second OT to win the game, 2-1.  North Dakota became the second team to advance to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia, and will play the winner of today’s game between Minnesota and St. Cloud State, on Thursday, April 10.

North Dakota is an upset surprise in our pool as only seven out of forty took them to beat Wisconsin in the first round, and of those seven, only four took them to make it to the Frozen Four, with twenty-nine having picked Wisconsin to make it to this point.

#5 UMass-Lowell Stifles #11 Mankato State

This was another grinding battle of two teams holding each other off.  Fourteen minutes into the first, UMass-Lowell picked up a rebound on a power-play shot by Mankato, broke away down the ice, and scored to go up 1-0.  And that would really be it.  The teams held each other off with brilliant goalie play, as UMass-Lowell’s Hellebuyck stopped thirty-five of thirty-six shots on goal by Mankato, and Mankato’s Huggins stopped thrity-three of thirty-four shots on goal he faced by Mass-Lowell.  Very late in the game Mankato added an extra attacker, but Lowell found the empty net to go up 2-0.  With an extra attacker, and on a power play, Mankato’s two man advantage paid off for a goal, but with only ten seconds remaining in the game, as Lowell took it, 2-1.

UMass-Lowell was picked by twenty-three of forty entries in our pool to win this game.

Best For Last?  #8 St. Cloud State Outlasts #9 Notre Dame

This game was a killer.  What a great game by both teams.  And at the same time it was sort of bizarre.  Two teams that established themselves as fast-paced offenses met up to decide the last of the first round games.  And Notre Dame certainly had an agenda after losing in the first round last year to St. Cloud.  St. Cloud got on the board first, seven minutes into the game, scoring on their first shot — note that, that’s important in this game.  Four minutes later, Notre Dame scored to tie it up, 1-1.  Nine minutes later, with time running out, the Huskies scored to take the lead again, 2-1 and that’s how the first ended — but in the first, Notre Dame out-shot St. Cloud 9-6.  In the second, Notre Dame got in the net to tie it up 2-2.  And eleven minutes later, with time running out in the period again, St. Cloud scored to take the lead again, 3-2 — but in the second, Notre Dame out-shot St. Cloud 18-4.  In the third, Notre Dame scored to tie it again, 3-3 — Notre Dame out-shot St. Cloud 9-2 in the third.

Going into OT, Notre Dame had out-shot St. Cloud 36-12.  St. Cloud’s goalie, Ryan Farragher, had certainly done his part to help!  In overtime all the rules changed drastically, as St. Cloud came out as a team possessed. In seventeen minutes, they shot sixteen times, comepared to twelve in the previous sixty.  St. Cloud seemed to be constantly at the net, constantly charging down the ice, and they met the deft goal-tending of Notre Dame’s Steven Summerhays.  And Farragher once again stood up for St. Cloud on a breakaway by Notre Dame that seemed almost certain to win the game, but Farragher prevailed on the assault and the game went on.  Late in the OT period another charging rush to the net, a slick pass, a quick shot, and St. Cloud took home the win, 4-3.  St. Cloud State plays #2 Minnesota at 4:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU today for a berth in the Frozen Four.

In our pool, twenty-three of forty entries picked St. Cloud State to win this game.

Game Schedule Today

• #3 Boston College vs. #5 UMass-Lowell at 2:00pm PT on ESPNU, for Frozen Four
• #2 Minnesota vs. #8 St. Cloud State at 4:30 PT on ESPNU, for Frozen Four

Should be great!

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

— Tom