There have been greater comebacks in the 65-year history of University of Minnesota Duluth hockey. But mark this one down as the most astonishing one of them all.
In dramatic fashion, the No. 2 seeded Bulldogs (22-12-8 overall) blitzed their way into the NCAA West Regional final with an exhilarating 5-4 win over the No. 3 seed Princeton University Tigers (22-12-1) on Friday night at Mariucci Arena. UMD will face No. 4 Miami University, a 4-2 win earlier Friday over No. 1 Denver, on Saturday at 8 p.m. for the right to advance to the Frozen Four in two weeks.
A partisan crowd of 7,187 saw UMD, which was making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance, score two goals inside the final 40 seconds of regulation just to have a chance at extending a memorable post-season journey.
Freshman left winger Mike Connolly sealed the victory by slamming in a power play goal by Princeton netminder Zane Kalemba at 13:39 of the extra session. The goal, which came off a pass from Justin Fontaine extended the Bulldogs' playoff winning streak to a perfect 6-0-0.
“I thought Justin (Fontaine) made a great play,” UMD head coach Scott Sandelin said. “A lot of times guys will get the puck and really rap it hard. He got it and made a soft play behind the net and we were able to get possession of it.”
Down 4-2 with 39.4 to go in the third period and skating 6-on-4, rookie center Jack Connolly potted his 10th goal of the season near the right side of the goal crease to keep the Bulldogs' chances afloat. Then, with .8 seconds to play, UMD completed a miraculous turn of events to force overtime when sophomore defenseman Evan Oberg's shot from inside the right faceoff circle found the back of the Tiger net.
“There was a couple of guys laying down in front,” said Oberg, who now has seven goals on the season. “But I just tried to get the shot over the top of them.”
UMD jumped out to a 1-0 lead for the sixth consecutive game at 8:17 of the first period. senior left winger Andrew Carroll pounced on a rebound following a Travis Oleksuk wraparound attempt for his fifth goal of the year and first goal since Jan. 24. Princeton answered with just over five minutes left in the first with the man advantage. Brett Wilson took advantage of a loose puck in front of the net to end junior goaltender Alex Stalock's school-record scoreless streak at 147:45 dating back to last weekend's WCHA Final Five play-in game.
For the first time in six postseason outings, UMD found itself trailing when Derrick Pallis sent a wrister from the left point over Stalock's shoulder, staking Princeton to a 2-1 lead at 1:42 of the second. Seven minutes after the Pallis tally, Wilson from the right slot punched another rebound to put the Tigers up by two. UMD only needed 29 seconds to issue its response. En route to halting the Tigers three-goal outburst, freshman defensive Brady Lamb took a shot that hit traffic and fluttered into the net behind Kalemba, a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist.
“We knew Princeton was a great team,” said Mike Connolly. “We knew they were going to throw everything at us. We did what we wanted early when got that first goal but then we kind of sat back and tried to feel them out a little bit more. And they took advantage.”
Shorthanded at 9:21 in the third, and in the process of fighting off UMD's third power-play chance of the period, Princeton went ahead 4-2. Brandan Kushniruk, moving down the right side put one past Stalock that bounced off the inside of the left post into the goal.
UMD limited the Tigers to only five total shot attempts over the final 20 minutes of regulation. Stalock, a 2008-09 All-WCHA selection making his 100th career appearance, finished with 27 saves while Kalemba had 30.
“The guys just kept saying 'It's not done, we can do it,'” said Sandelin. “Obviously, we got it done.”
