College Hockey Update:  In the last opening round game of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, in Allentown, PA., at the Midwest Regional, Joe O’Connor put Quinnipiac on the board for the 1-0 lead over Arizona State only four minutes into the first period.  Quinnpiac had a slight first period shots advantage, 11-8, taking the 1-0 lead into the first break.  Arizona State continued to hold Quinnipiac scoreless seven minutes into a blistering second period in which Quinnpiac had an 18-2 shots advantage, until Quinnipiac freshman forward William Fällström, of Stockholm, Sweden, scored the game-winning goal, and extended the Quinnipiac lead to 2-0.  But Arizona State again managed to survive the Quinnipiac onslaught for the remainder of the second, and that score held going into the second break.  With their backs against the wall in the third, Quinnipiac rallied to a narrow 11-9 shots advantage, held Quinnpiac scoreless, and got on the board when Brinson Pasichnuk scored and trimmed the lead to 2-1.  But then it was Quinnipiac holding on and holding Arizona State back for the rest of the game, taking the win, 2-1.  Quinnipiac advanced to play Minnesota-Duluth in the Midwest Regional Final on Sunday, March 31st, at 4:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN3, in Allentown, PA.

This outcome would not be an upset in our pool, as 48 of 58 entries picked Quinnipiac to win this game, vs. only ten for Arizona State.  This was Arizona State’s first time ever in the NCAA Tournament, following only their third season ever of full-time DI play.  Seems like quite an accomplishment, and a pretty good playoff game performance against the #8 ranked team in the country.

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

— Tom