There will be a new NCAA I men's hockey champion this year. Karson Kuhlman saw to that Friday night.

The sophomore right winger scored 57 into the second overtime to give the University of Minnesota-Duluth a heart-pounding 2-1 victory over the defending national titleholders Providence College in the semifinal round of the NCAA Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass. With the victory, the Bulldogs (19-15-5) advance to the Regional final tomorrow night against  Boston College with a NCAA Frozen Four berth on the line.

"This was the kind of game we expected," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. " Both teams traded chances and both goalies played great. Sometimes it's unfortunate that someone has to lose these types of games because it was a really good hockey game. For our group, that kind of the way things have been the last couple of months. We've battled through some adversity  and  we've just kind of stuck to it. I think our guys did another great job tonight. We found a way to win at the end now we get to keep on playing."

Kuhlman's goal, his 11th of the season, came after he took a perfect feed from junior defenseman Willie Raskob at the top of the crease and he redirected the puck behind Providence goaltender Nick Ellis before shoving it past the goal line. It was the 56th shot -- a  2015-16 UMD single-game high and most ever generated by a Bulldog club in 26 lifetime NCAA tournament outings -- that Ellis faced in 80:57 of work. Ellis's counterpart, UMD sophomore Kasimir Kaskisu was equally as brilliant, finishing with 37 saves and rejecting a handful of point-blank scoring chances by the Friars from the second period on.

For the first time since last February, the Bulldogs went into the second intermission locked up in a scoreless tie with their opposition. Senior center Tony Cameranesi broke the ice with his 11th goal of the season at 3:18 of the third, scoring on a blast from the right hashmarks.  It took Providence College (27-7-4 overall), the reigning Hockey East regular season co-champions, just over four minutes to pocket the equalizer as Steven McParland backhanded in a shot inside the right post past a sprawling Kaskisuo. The Bulldogs went on to outshot Providence 20-11 in the third period and 13-9 in the first 10-minute overtime.

"Games like this bring out the best in you," said Kaskisuo, who has started 50 of the past 51 games. "You know the other goalie is not going to give up any easy ones and so you have to raise your own level to match that. The big thing in overtime is to just stick to your own game, try not to think too much and stay calm and confident"

Notes:  The overtime win was UMD's first since it defeated visiting Colorado College 3-2 on Dec. 5, 2014. UMD was 0-2-9 in extra session bouts since then (0-1-5 this winter) ... Tony Cameranesi, who also picked up a secondary assist on Karson Kulhman's goal, extended his personal scoring streak to nine games (equaling a career high) and upped his team-leading point total to 38 ... UMD has won eight of its last nine games while Providence came into the night having gone 9-1 in its previous 10 outings ... The Bulldogs are now unbeaten in nine straight opening-round NCAA playoff games/series since they was defeated by Providence in a two-game, total-goal series back in their NCAA debuts back on March 18-19, 1983 .... 16th-year UMD head coach Scott Sandelin hiked his lifetime NCAA Tournament record to 10-4 and remained unbeaten against Providence (4-0-1) ... UMD was 0-for-4 on the power while the Friars went scoreless in their two opportunities with the man advantage ...  This was the third longest NCAA Tournament game in Bulldog program history. It was eclipsed by the 97:11 marathon the Bulldogs and Bowling Green engaged in for the 1984 national title and was settled in four overtimes (which were 10 minutes each at the time) with the Falcons, who were then coached by current Boston College bench boss Jerry York, prevailing, 5-4. One year later, UMD lost to RPI in the Frozen Four semifinals 6-5 in three overtimes (85:45) ... In its last visit to Worcester (2012), UMD fell 4-0 to Boston College in the Northeast Regional championship.
 
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