The field of college hockey teams was whittled down to four from 16 last weekend—and what a weekend it was. The Frozen Four field is now set, and the final push will take place April 8th, when Hockey East rivals Maine and Boston College play in one semifinal, and WCHA teams Minnesota-Duluth and Denver face off in the other.
The road to the Frozen Four for the Maine Black Bears was arduous. While entering the East Regional as heavy favorites, they didn’t start playing like it until the third period of their semifinal game against Harvard. Goalie Jim Howard was tagged for four goals by four different Harvard players, and was pulled after the second period.
With a 4-1 lead, a Harvard victory seemed inevitable. No one told the Black Bears this, however, as they tallied four unanswered goals in the third period to take the game 5-4. The game was an atypical one for Maine, who usually plays a choking defensive style.
Things didn’t get any easier for Maine in the Regional Final against Wisconsin. The Badgers, coming off a tense 1-0 overtime victory against Ohio State, gave little ground to Maine. Maine scored just 1:32 into the game.
But the scoring well dried up, as Howard and Badger goalie Bernd Bruckler baffled shooters throughout regulation. Howard allowed one goal in the second period, on a tricky rebound that handcuffed him. But it was not to be for the Badgers; during a furious battle in the crease, the puck bounced off Wisconsin defenseman Andy Wozniewski and trickled over the goal line in overtime.
In other regional action, Boston College got a rebound goal from star forward Ben Eaves to beat Michigan in overtime.
The Denver Pioneers got a deflection goal with 2:30 left in the third period to beat the North Dakota Fighting Sioux 1-0, earning their first Frozen Four trip since 1986.
Minnesota-Duluth, however, had an even longer drought. They had not made the Frozen Four since 1985, when they lost to Rensselaer in the national semifinals. The UMD Bulldogs assured there would be a new NCAA champion, knocking off two-time defending champion Minnesota 3-1.
The semifinals are April 8th, and the championship April 10, at the FleetCenter in Boston. All games will be on national television.
