St. Paul – It looked good after 40 minutes. Three unanswered goals for the Minnesota Gophers gave them a shot to repeat as Big Ten Tournament champions.

Instead, their season ended as the Gophers failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011.

“Obviously frustrating right now,” said Justin Kloos, Minnesota’s junior top-line center. “It really stings.”

No. 7 ranked Michigan (24-7-5) came away with the 5-3 victory over top-seed and No. 20 ranked Minnesota (20-17-0) Saturday at Xcel Energy Center. The win gave Michigan a Big Ten Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament next week.

Saturday’s game was a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Tournament championship game when Minnesota came out on top with a 4-2 victory over Michigan in Detroit. These two teams have met 15 times in the postseason. The Gophers hold the edge at 8-5-2.

The story of the game was special teams. Michigan went 3-for-4 on the power play. The Gophers were 1-for-2.

“Tonight I thought we played the type of game we needed to play,” said Gophers coach Don Lucia. “In the end, their power play has been on fire.”

That’s for sure. Over the past four games, the Wolverines went 17-for-29 with the extra man, good for 58.6 percent. They’re No. 1 in the nation overall at 30.4 percent.

The game-winning goal for Michigan came on the power play with 4:33 left in the third, on a shot from the point by Zach Werenski, who had a four-point night.

“Unfortunately we took a penalty,” Lucia said. “Give them credit for making a play.”

Michigan’s Tyler Motte added an empty netter for his second goal of the game, giving him 31 for the season. Big Ten Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Tournament MVP Kyle Connor had a goal and three assists.

The goals for each side came in clusters. Once again, the Gophers found themselves playing from behind, down 1-0 after the first period. Just like in Friday’s 4-2 semifinal victory over Ohio State, the Gophers struggled out of the gate. They registered just six shots on goal but had 15 shot attempts in the first period.

Special teams came around just 19 seconds into the second, leading to JT Compher’s power-play goal at 1:31 of the period, good for a 2-0 Michigan lead.

Then the Gophers took over to grab a 3-2 lead after two periods. First it was Leon Bristedt on a pretty behind-the-net feed from Vinni Lettieri. A few minutes later Jake Bischoff got on the board. Then Kloos fired a shot from the circles with 29 seconds left in a power play.

Michigan got what they needed in the third, however, and skated to the Big Ten Tournament title.

“It was a close game, down to the wire,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “Either team could’ve won. I like the way we started, and I like the way we finished.”

Afterward, Gophers Kloos and Bischoff reflected on this past season. It’s frustrating right now, but Kloos called it a “prideful program.” Were said it was a blast this year.

The Gophers won a fifth-straight overall regular-season championship – a school record – boasted the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year in freshman Eric Schierhorn (who had 30 saves Saturday) and had three Second Team All-Big Ten Team members in Kloos, Hudson Fasching and Michael Brodzinski.

“We’ve been through a lot,” Kloos said. “It’s just hard to see it end. We came up short.”

As for next year, Bischoff is confident that the team coming back will be pretty intact and Kloos agreed.

“Either way, there’s going to be a really good Gopher hockey team on the ice next year,” Kloos said.

The post Gophers Season Ends appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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The post Gallery: Gophers vs. Wolverines appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

St. Paul – It’s all about “getting that first goal,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia.

Sounds simple and obvious enough.

“It took us a while to find the rhythm,” Lucia said. “We needed the one goal to kind of get us going.”

That theory really rang true for the Gophers as the No. 1 seed managed a four-goal third period for a comeback victory over No. 4 seed Ohio State (14-18-4) in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

The Minnesota Gophers (20-16-0) propelled themselves to the championship game behind a three-point effort from freshman winger Tyler Sheehy and a two-goal night from junior Taylor Cammarata. Lucia said they usually rely on three main guys for scoring goals, but this game felt different.

“If we were going to win tonight, somebody else was going to have to step forward,” Lucia said. “Guys that maybe haven’t scored on a nightly basis really came through in the clutch.”

Cammarata came into the game with five goals on the season. In the third period Friday, he took about five minutes to add a couple more to his total.

“I thought we dominated the third period,” Cammarata said, who had his first multi-goal game this season.

Sheehy was a big factor in Cammarata’s pair of goals. On the first one, he created a turnover and passed it to Cammarata who was all alone in front and put a laser shot past the goalie. On the next one, Sheehy banked a pass along the boards from his own zone up to Cammarata.

That made the game 4-1.

Sheehy got the Gopher goal train chugging 1:36 into the third off a 2-on-1 opportunity. He held the puck into the zone, drove the net, took the shot himself and beat Ohio State goalie Christian Frey on the high glove side.

That opened the floodgates.

“It’s amazing how a goal can just kind of ignite you,” Lucia said.

The players knew what they needed to do, Sheehy said.

“After that (first goal), we were kind of rolling from there,” Sheehy said.

Junior Vinni Lettieri picked a fine time for his seventh goal of the season. With the game tied 1-1, he scored that all-important next goal about four minutes later, putting Minnesota up for good before Cammarata added his pair of goals.

Ohio State’s David Gust scored with 2:16 left in the game to make it 4-2. Minnesota won the shots on goal battle 45-29.

The third period was definitely a turnaround from the first two, as the Gophers were down 1-0 at the 13-minute mark of the first. They weren’t executing, Lucia said, that included a lot of missed passes and pucks bouncing around over sticks.

Minnesota also failed to capitalize on a five-minute major power play in the first period. Ohio State’s Joshua Dakota checked Minnesota freshman winger Ryan Norman from behind and also received a game misconduct penalty. Lucia said after the game that the one hit took both players out of the game.

It was the third consecutive year Ohio State and Minnesota met in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. With the Gophers winning 3-0 last year and the Buckeyes with a 3-1 win in 2014. It was the first time this season the matchup wasn’t a one-goal game. Three of the four regular season games went to overtime, with the Gophers winning each of them.

The Gophers snapped the Buckeye’s eight-game unbeaten stretch.

“Our guys weren’t going to quit until the horn went off,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik.

The Gophers are looking to make it two in a row for Big Ten Tournament titles. They beat Michigan 4-2 in the title game last year.

The two will meet again in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday at the X. Michigan, the No. 2 seed and ranked No. 7 nationally, beat Penn State 7-2 in the early semifinal Friday.

“It’s going to be another good battle tomorrow night,” Sheehy said.

Other tidbits:

Junior defenseman Jake Bischoff played his 100th career game Friday. He had three shots on goal and was a -1.

Minnesota was the only Big Ten team Ohio State did not beat this season.

Sheehy’s 12th goal leads Minnesota freshmen.

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Minnesota beats Michigan for first B1G tournament title

Minnesota coach Don Lucia brushed off all bracketolgy talk this month off by saying if his team wins, then all of that stuff doesn’t matter. His team did just that, securing an NCAA Tournament bid as an auto qualifier by winning Big Ten Tournament Title 4-2 over Michigan in front of 6,355 at Joe Louis Arena.

Minnesota (23-12-3 overall, 12-5-3-0 Big Ten) won its first conference tournament title since 2007 and played well down the stretch going 12-3-1 to propel them into the post-season. Michigan (22-15-0 overall, 12-8-0 Big Ten) finished 19th in the final PairWise, and missed the tournament for the third straight season following up their run of 22 consecutive appearances.

“We knew it was going to be a man’s game. Michigan is an outstanding team,” said Lucia. “Only disappointing thing for me tonight is that they are not going to be in the NCAA Tournament.”

Minnesota played a solid opening 20 minutes, but couldn’t get any pucks past Michigan goaltender Steve Racine despite outshooting the Wolverines 20-7. The Gophers had plenty of jump compared to Michigan who was playing their third game in three nights.

“I thought Steve played really well tonight. You could tell he’s on his game,” said Adam Wilcox. “I thought the mood in the locker room was really good. Even though it was 0 0, the mood was kind of like we were up a goal or two, just because of how we were playing, we knew our whole team was on our game and we were going to eventually get some goals.”

Minnesota did eventually get on the board first, 2:30 into the second, by taking advantage of their third power play opportunity. The Gophers top unit worked the puck below the hash marks and Kyle Rau sent the puck across the front of the net to Travis Boyd on the off wing. While Boyd didn’t get all of the puck, it was enough for the opening goal of the game and his 18th of the season.

Michigan took advantage of its power play opportunities in the second period as well. Zach Hyman collected a puck on the left wing wall, beat three Gophers across the rink, and fired a puck under Adam Wilcox’s glove to even the game 1-1 at 3:56. Alex Kile gave his team a brief 2-1 lead scoring on another power play opportunity with a redirect of a shot that was headed wide into the net at 6:14.

The Gophers tied the game 2-2 10:34 into the second period with the game’s first even strength goal. Leon Bristedt took a hit in the neutral zone from a Michigan defenseman, but the puck got through springing Hudson Fasching and Kyle Rau on a two-on-one rush. Rau moved the puck to Fasching on the right wing, who moved the puck right back to Rau in the middle, and Rau buried his chance to tie the game for his 20th goal of the season.

“We’ve been taught on two and one to pass the puck early,” said Rau. “So I gave it to Fasching right when I get over the blue line. He made a great play. I think we kind of caught the defense pretty open back door.”

Minnesota’s Justin Kloos scored the game-winner 9:29 into the third period on the power play. Kloos skated the puck through the slot, waited to clear a Michigan defender on the ice, changed the angle on Racine after the goalie dropped, and fired the puck into the lower right corner for his 13th goal of the season.

“I think all three of the goals, you kind of had to move to the side and that kind of opened up a few lines,” said Rau. “Any time you play a good goalie, they can only stop the square right on one, but you get it moving, we like our chances. So we did just that and Kloos made a really good play on his goal.”

Boyd added his second empty netter of the weekend from his own zone at 19:38 to ice the game.

Wilcox finished the game with 24 saves and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

Minnesota finished the season 10th in the PairWise ranking and awaits to see how the committee will seed the tournament for their 36th NCAA tournament appearance. The Gophers will be the only representative from the Big Ten, but NCHC has six teams in tournament field includes #2 North Dakota, #4 Miami, #5 Denver, #6 Minnesota-Duluth, #9 Nebraska-Omaha, and #12 St. Cloud State. The WCHA also has bids for #1 Minnesota State and #7 Michigan Tech.

“We are just fortunate that we got in this year because you never want to take that for granted, and now we get to play next weekend. That’s always the goal when the year begins is to try to hang a banner. We hung two this week,” said Lucia. “This group of seniors has five in their back pocket, which is pretty darned good, and now we get an opportunity to play in the NCAA. I don’t know where, I don’t know who, but right now, I don’t care.”

He will find out with the rest of us when the selection show airs on Sunday, March 22 at 11 AM CT on ESPNU.

The post Gophers NCAA tournament bound appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wilcox shutout keeps Minnesota’s postseason hopes alive

Adam Wilcox wasn’t named the Big Ten Goalie of the Year this season, but he sure played like one Friday afternoon. The junior goalie stopped all 39 Ohio State shots as Minnesota (22-12-3) advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game with a 3-0 win over Ohio State (14-19-3) at Joe Louis Arena.

“It was one of those nights where you look at your goaltender and say I don’t think they’re going to score one tonight,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “That’s how it ended up.”

The performance gave Wilcox’s his 13th career shutout, tying him with Kellen Briggs in the Minnesota record books.

“Creating the goal for 13 seemed like a while away,” said Wilcox. “But when you have a good defensive core and good team every year, you get opportunities to get shutouts. I thought it was a great way to get it. Anytime you can get a shutout in playoffs it’s a great feeling–getting something like [the record] was pretty cool too.”

The Gophers didn’t make things easy on their goaltender despite drawing two early power play opportunities in the first period. The Buckeyes generated the better scoring opportunities and had numerous opportunities on the rush. However each time Ohio State generated a quality chance, Wilcox was able to square himself, make the save, and control his rebounds.

Lucia felt his team played tight early knowing how important a win was for an NCAA tournament bid and that the first goal of the game was a big one. Minnesota’s senior class has led the team over the last 14 games, as their 32 goals have accounted for 55 percent of the teams output. They added another to their total midway through the second period. Seth Ambroz won a board battle in the right wing corner forcing the dumped in puck up the wall to Travis Boyd. Boyd found his linemate Sam Warning coming late into the zone, touched the puck over and Warning beat the goalie high glove for his 12th goal of the season at 7:51.

“Give a lot of credit to Ambroz who chipped in, and then Boyd made a good play,” said Warning. “All I had to do was shoot it.”

The Gophers added to their lead 10:45 into the third period. Ben Marshall came down the left wing, fired a wrist shot towards goal. As the puck deflected off an Ohio State defenseman’s skate, Vinni Lettieri beat his check to the net and helped the puck over the goal line for his ninth goal of the season.

Ohio State pulled their goalie with over four minutes to go for a late 6 on 4 advantage, but the Gophers quickly got the puck off the ensuing face off and Boyd fired it 170 feet for an empty netter at 15:40, his 17th goal of the season.

The win pushed Minnesota to ninth in the PairWise Ranking, putting them in decent shape for a bid to the NCAA tournament. However, with so many games left in conference tournaments Lucia didn’t think they had alleviated the pressure yet.

“Winning takes care of everything. There are still a lot of scenarios where if we don’t win tomorrow we can’t get in,” said Lucia. “It’s kind of crazy that you win your league and you’re in the championship game and you still have that possibility. If we win that takes care of everything tomorrow.”

The Big Ten championship game is set for 7 p.m. CT on Saturday televised live on the Big Ten Network and streamed on BTN2Go. The game will also be available on the radio via 1500 ESPN and the Gopher Radio Network.

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Wisconsin comes back twice to beat Ohio State for Big Ten title.

SAINT PAUL—The true measure of a team lies in how it responds to adversity and both Wisconsin and Ohio State faced its share in the inaugural Big Ten Men’s Hockey Tournament championship game on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

Ohio State never trailed in regulation but was playing with its season on the line, needing a win in order to secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin, on the other hand, twice fought back from two-goal deficits including 4-2 with just 6:52 remaining in the third period after a goal by OSU’s Tanner Fritz.

But goals by Jefferson Dahl and Tyler Barnes in the next 48 seconds tied the game at 4-4 and Mark Zengerle’s tally 7:48 into overtime earned the Badgers the first-ever Big Ten Hockey Tournament title.

As a puck battle ensued between the hash marks in front of Ohio State goaltender Christian Frey, Zengerle swooped in to harness the loose puck and score his 10th of the year.

“We gave it all we had, Wisconsin just came on there at the end,” Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said. “Our guys were ready, we were prepared, and [Wisconsin] just had the last shot.”

“It’s still a little bit of a blur to be honest with you,” Zengerle said when asked about the goal. “The puck was kind of hopping around and people were whacking at it in front there in the slot and I kind of just made my way around, it popped out and I got a little bit of wood on it.”

The Buckeyes were trying to duplicate Wisconsin’s 2013 WCHA Final Five feat of winning back-to-back-to-back and get into the NCAA Tournament the only way they could.

“We were in their boots last year, we know what it takes,” Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said. “They were a desperate team, they played their fannies off and they can walk out of this building with their heads held high.”

“We had made the analogy that, going into the playoffs and this tournament and beyond, is like trying to climb Mount Everest. The higher up you go, the less oxygen there is in the air and games get tougher. Tonight was a tough game.”

The Buckeyes grabbed the early lead on Ryan Dzingel’s 22nd of the season at 4:51of the opening period.

Dzingel, who scored the game winner in Ohio State’s 3-1 win over Minnesota on Friday, picked up a loose puck along the left wing boards at the Badger line, made a beeline for the Wisconsin net and beat UW netminder Jake Rumpel clean.

Barely more than four minutes later, Ohio State doubled its lead with Dzingel playing a role once again. Rumpel saved Dzingel’s initial shot as well as Nick Schilkey’s follow-up attempt but, by then, was so far out of position OSU’s Nick Oddo simply fired into an empty net for his ninth of the year.

The Badgers drew the game’s first power play when OSU’s Drew Brevig was sent off for interference at 19:07 of the first and Wisconsin needed only a half minute to draw back within a goal.

Jake McCabe’s wrister from the high slot past Buckeyes goaltender Christian Frey thanks, in part, to an inadvertent screen by Frey’s teammate Curtis Gedig and it was 2-1 OSU after one period.

The teams traded goals 76 seconds apart just past the halfway point of the second period on goals by Wisconsin’s Morgan Zulinick and Ohio State’s Clark Cristofoli to make it 3-2 and set the stage for the third period drama.

“I’m really proud of our guys in the locker room,” Rohlik said. “They emptied their tanks this weekend, they gave it all they had and it’s all that I asked. It’s a big, big step for our program.”

Eaves said the lessons learned from the game will serve his team well as the Badgers move further into the postseason.

“I thought our group showed some maturity getting behind twice by two goals,” Eaves said. “That maturity and steely resolve paid off for us.”

The post Badgers Bury Buckeyes in OT appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Dzingel, Frey lead Ohio State over Minnesota for another St. Paul one-and-done.

SAINT PAUL—The confines of the Xcel Energy Center have been anything but friendly to the University of Minnesota in league tournament play over the past half dozen years and a change in conferences did little to help that.

The top-seeded Golden Gophers (25-6-6, 14-3-3-0 B1G) fell 3-1 to No. 4 Ohio State (18-13-5, 6-9-5-4 B1G) in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament in St. Paul on Friday night to continue a curious trend.

OSU’s Ryan Dzingel’s shot from the high slot using a Brady Skjei screen at 9:08 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and the Buckeyes held on to advance to Saturday night’s championship game against second-seeded Wisconsin which eliminated No. 6 Penn State 2-1 earlier in the day.

“I think I just closed my eyes and tried to shoot as hard as I could,” Dzingel said of his goal. “Didn’t come off as hard as I wanted it to, but it went in.”

The Minnesota loss comes six years to the day after its most recent conference tournament win at Xcel Energy Center, a 2-1 overtime victory over Colorado College in the semifinals of the 2008 WCHA Final Five. The Gophers dropped a 2-1 decision to Denver in the championship game the following night to begin what is now a five-game skid.

“We didn’t come out ready to go,” Minnesota captain Kyle Rau said. “When you play desperate teams, you have to play desperate with them.  We didn’t do that.”

But Gopher forward Travis Boyd saw a silver lining in the loss.

“Half our team has been through a situation like this,” Boyd said, referring to Minnesota’s Friday night exits from the Final Five in 2012 and 2013. “Going back to my freshman year two years ago, we were able to rebound and end up winning the regional.”

OSU goaltender Christian Frey continued his strong tournament with 30 saves, including 12 in a first period in which the Gophers were dominant in stretches. On the other end of the rink, Minnesota goalie, and Hobey Baker Award candidate, Adam Wilcox turned aside 22 Ohio State shots.

Despite the loss, the Gophers know they will be the No. 1 seed in the NCAA’s West Region and will host its regional tournament March 29-30 right back at Xcel Energy Center.

“Like I told our guys after the game, this is our last opportunity as a learning experience and we don’t get any more opportunities after that,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said.

Ohio State, on the other hand, remains in a must-win situation against the Badgers if it is to advance to the NCAA tournament.

But Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik has been in this situation before as an assistant to Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin when the seventh-seeded Bulldogs swept their way to a Final Five title and an improbable NCAA tournament berth. Rohlik said he assured his team it can be done.

“Yeah, it’s three games in three nights, but you also have another great opportunity to play another great team in Wisconsin,” he said. “You’re playing for a chance to win a championship and play in the NCAA tournament.

“I think our guys are pretty excited about that chance.”

The Buckeyes opened the scoring at 15:20 of the first period making quick work the game’s first power-play opportunity. OSU’s Tanner Fritz’s tape-to-tape pass from the left circle set up Nick Schilkey at the doorstep for his 13th of the season just 15 seconds after Minnesota’s Nate Condon went off for interference.

The assist was Fritz’s third point of the tournament after registering a goal and an assist on the game winner in Ohio State’s 2-1 victory over Michigan State on Thursday night.

The opening period did not come to a quiet conclusion as the Buckeyes nearly found themselves with a two-goal cushion at the first intermission. With the puck deep in the Minnesota zone, OSU’s Anthony Greco’s centering pass hit Wilcox in the back and trickled along the goal line as the final second ticked away.

Max McCormick managed to poke the puck over the line but the would-be goal was waived off immediately by the nearest official and replays confirmed time had expired before it went in.

The Gophers got on the board just short of the five-minute mark of the second period and under a minute into their third power play of the game. As Travis Boyd was checked along the wall in the Ohio State zone he slid a pass to Taylor Cammarata who found Kyle Rau as he was streaking to the weak side post for Rau’s 12th of the year.

Minnesota stormed the Ohio State net with an outstanding shift by its top line of Rau, Sam Warning and Hudson Fasching surrounding the 12 minute mark of the final period. But Frey, with a little help from the crossbar, withstood the Gopher barrage.

Shortly thereafter the puck did find its way over the goal line behind Frey, much to the delight of the Gopher faithful. But after a review, it was correctly ruled that Seth Ambroz punched it in with his glove.

The delay may have robbed the Gophers of some momentum as they rarely threatened after that and struggled to get Wilcox off the ice for an extra attacker before Greco’s empty-net goal sealed it with 27 seconds to go.

Rohlik didn’t downplay the significance of his team’s accomplishment in beating Minnesota in its backyard but he’s looking forward to the challenge ahead.

“We just beat the best team in the country tonight,” Rohlik said. “It’s a good feeling, but we’re not done yet.”

The post Backyard No Advantage for Gophers appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Mersch scores twice, leads Wisconsin into Big Ten championship game.

SAINT PAUL—When the Penn State Nittany Lions faced off against the University of Wisconsin Badgers Friday afternoon, it was tough to predict how this game would go. Just nine seconds into the game, PSU goaltender Matthew Skoff had to smother a puck after a big save off a Badgers two on one rush. That first play was an indication of how things might go.

The Badgers dominated the first period of play, creating a handful of quality scoring opportunities. The Penn State defense surrendered more than a few turnovers in their own zone that gave UW scoring opportunities in close. But Skoff was brilliant in goal, turning away all ten shots he faced, which included some back-to-back rebounds. Though the Nittany Lions held the Badgers off the board in the first period, they couldn’t find the back of the net either until early in the second period.

Just 55 seconds into the second period, PSU’s Curtis Loik buried the games first goal on a highlight reel play. Coming into the offensive zone on a two on one rush, Loik redirected a perfect pass into the net that teammate Kenny Brooks chipped over a sliding Badger defenseman to get to him.

The Nittany Lions lead was short lived though, as just 32 seconds later the Badgers tied the game at 1-1 when Jefferson Dahl found Michael Mersch crashing down the slot. Mersch made a slick move to his forehand around Skoff to finish the play.

“Our mindset on the bench was to respond to get the momentum back,” Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said.

Both teams traded chances in the second period, with Wisconsin controlling the majority of play. Though the Nittany Lions looked poised to head into the locker room again tied, the Badgers were able to take the lead.

After a late bench minor penalty for too many men on the ice sent UW on the power play, it was Mersch again who capitalized on a great pass from Mark Zengerle. Mersch’s second goal of the game gave the Badgers a 2-1 lead with just 10.5 seconds remaining in the second period.

“Everyone contributed,” Mersch said. “I’m glad I could contribute with the goals, but everyone played a role.”

The third period saw Penn State make a big push as they spent most of the period in the Badgers defensive zone. The Nittany Lions had plenty of opportunities to tie this game, but seemed just inches way every time. The period would go scoreless, giving the Badgers the win and advancing them into tomorrow night’s Big Ten championship game.

As for PSU, their season has come to an end. They showed promise for a program in only its second season. They will definitely be a program on everyone’s college hockey radar in the future.

“We’ve come a long way,” Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “There’s a big difference in confidence and in maturity.”

The Badgers now look ahead to tomorrow night’s championship game, looking to become the first Big Ten Hockey Tournament champions.

“We want to win the first one,” said Badger goaltender Joel Rumple who finished with 24 saves. “We are treating the game as if you lose you’re done.”

Rumple and the Badgers will play the winner of tonight’s matchup between Minnesota and Ohio State. The puck drops at 7 p.m. tomorrow night to crown the inaugural Big Ten hockey champion.

The post Badgers Tame Nittany Lions appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Ohio State ousts Michigan State in OT on Lakeville freshman’s game winner, will face Gophers in semifinals.

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SAINT PAUL—Ohio State and Michigan State have a recent history of failing to decide games in regulation when they meet. Thursday night’s Big Ten hockey tournament quarterfinal clash between the two schools at Xcel Energy Center proved it’s a hard habit to break.

The No. 4 Buckeyes and No. 5 Spartans found themselves deadlocked after 60 minutes for the fourth straight time this season but OSU freshman defenseman Drew Brevig’s shot through a mass of MSU players snapped the tie 4:23 into overtime.

The Lakeville product’s third goal of the season lifted Ohio State to its third straight victory in the series and into a semifinal matchup with top seeded Minnesota on Friday night.

“I don’t know if you expected anything different between these two teams,” Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said. “We just knew there was going to be no shootout.”

After Ohio State forward Max McCormick’s wraparound attempt slipped through the crease, Spartans’ goaltender Jake Hildebrand, who finished with 32 saves, dove to his left to smother the loose puck.

But the puck was cleared before he could do so and ended up on the stick of Brevig who patiently sidestepped would-be shot blockers to beat Hildebrand before he could get back in position.

“It was a one-shot game, all of our games with them have been,” Michigan State coach Tom Anastos said. “Unfortunately, they got the one shot that mattered.”

Brevig, who was playing in front of a horde of family and friends, was excited he and his teammates were able to come through for them.

“It was pretty awesome, especially at that time in the game,” Brevig said. “I was glad the puck found its way through there.”

When the game began, however, the Buckeyes had difficulty even getting pucks to the net, much less in it. OSU did not register a shot on goal for the game’s first nine minutes and by then were trailing 1-0 on Greg Wolfe’s 13th goal of the season for the Spartans at 4:04.

The situation left Rohlik, the former Hill-Murray high school star (1983-86) who also coached the Pioneers (1992-97), frustrated and searching for answers. He knew of one option definitely not at his diposal.

“Well, we couldn’t punt,” Rohlik cracked. “I think our guys were on a big stage and played like it. I tip my hat to Michigan State; they were all over us.”

Ohio State junior forward Tanner Fritz, who set up Brevig’s game winner, confirmed his coach’s assessment. “We were a little bit nervous at the start, a little tentative,” he said.

With the aid of a couple of Michigan State penalties, the Buckeyes built some momentum late in the first. That carried over into the second when Ohio State finally got on the board on Fritz’s seventh goal of the year at 16:26.

After its rough start, OSU outshot the Spartans 27-19 over the final two periods and overtime and 34-27 for the game. Buckeyes’ goaltender Christian Frey stopped 26 Michigan State shots to earn the win.

“I didn’t like our start, but I thought we responded after the first period and had a good second, third and overtime,” Rohlik said. “I thought our guys started to get their legs.”

“It was a hard-played game,” Anastos said, “I thought we got off to a good start. Certainly Ohio State turned it up a notch in the second period.”

But, as Rohlik pointed out, the Spartans certainly made the Buckeyes earn everything they got in the victory.

“They’ve got a great goaltender and they’ve got everybody that’s on the ice buying in to keep that puck out of the net,” Rohlik said. “That’s why they’re tight games [against OSU], they’ve done that all year.”

Anastos, however, knew this is one that got away from his team.

“I was really hoping after we got off to that one-goal lead, we could have built on it,” Anastos said. “We never could get over that hump. That would have been big for us.”

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