It was a tough night for the NCHA men's team participating in the NCAA Division III Frozen Four in Utica, N.Y. St. Norbert and Adrian both fell by one-goal decisions, the Bulldogs in overtime.
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Adrian Falls to Top-Seeded Norwich University in Overtime Thriller of NCAA Semifinals, 5-4
UTICA, N.Y.--Adrian College mounted a furious comeback late in regulation, but had the rally spoiled in overtime as top-seeded Norwich University prevailed with a 5-4 win in the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship© Semifinals on Friday evening.
Ian Williams scored the game-winning goal midway through the overtime period to lift the Cadets into the championship game against Trinity College, which was a 3-2 winner over St. Norbert College in today's first semifinal.
More details to come later...
THE BASICS
= Final Score: Norwich 5, Adrian 4 (overtime)
= Location: Utica Memorial Auditorium; Utica, N.Y.
= Records: Norwich Cadets 26-1-3; Adrian Bulldogs 20-7-2
= National Rankings: Norwich #1 D3hockey.com/#1 USCHO.com; Adrian #6 USCHO.com/ #6 D3hockey.com (NCAA overall seeds: #1 Norwich, #6 Adrian)
TOP 'DAWGS
= Sophomore Bryan Yim and freshman Joey Colatarci led a balanced Bulldogs offense with a goal and an assist each.
= Nine different skaters registered at least one point, including goal-scorers junior captain Mathew Thompson and sophomore Trevor Boyd along with Yim and Colatarci.
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THE OPPOSITION
= Williams led all scorers with three points, including the game-winner in OT.
= Jake Erickson had two goals.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
= Williams scored the OT-winner from a sharp angle along the goal line half-way between the net and the boards. He took a pass off the boards and shot the puck, which deflected off the goalie's right pad and trickled over the line. The game ended at the 11-minute, 40-second mark into the extra session.
= With 5:37 to go in regulation, Adrian began to overcome a 4-2 deficit on goals 1:24 apart. Boyd scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season on a shot-deflection from the point while AC on the power-play, and then Colatarci scored with 4:13 remaining on a feed from Yim to force OT.
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BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Bulldogs have played in three "final fours" since 2011, finishing as the National Runner-up in 2011 and losing to eventual NCAA champion Trinity two years ago.
= Adrian is 4-7 in seven all-time appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
= Hervey has played in 99 games in his Adrian career, which includes 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 total points.
= Boyd (18g, 17a), Dunn (9g, 26a) and Brothers (8g, 27a) are tied for first with a team-leading 35 points.
= Norwich, bidding for its fourth NCAA crown, has won 24 games in a row.
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Green Knights Run Out of Time Against Trinity at Frozen Four
From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, March 24, 2017 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077
UTICA, N.Y. -- St. Norbert College ran out of time in its comeback attempt against Trinity College in a NCAA Division III Frozen Four semifinal, falling 3-2 at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The Green Knights (22-6-1), making their 11th Frozen Four appearance, had a pair of late scoring chances turned away by the Bantam (21-6-3), who advanced to the national championship game.
St. Norbert applied heavy offensive pressure in the final five minutes, but couldn't get the game-tying goal. A Dominick Sacco shot went just wide, and a Blake Thompson blast was gloved by Trinity goaltender Alex Morin behind his own body.
The Green Knights had 1 minute 38 seconds of extra-attacker time but couldn't solve Morin, who made 31 saves -- including all 13 shots he faced in the third period.
St. Norbert scored the first goal at the 13-minute mark of the first period when the Green Knights scooped up a Bantam turnover in the neutral zone. Jeremy Olinyk skated up the right slot and beat Trinity goaltender Alex Morin cleanly for his seventh goal of the season. Luke Karakas and Ross Pavek assisted.
The Bantams would wrest the momentum back moments later after St. Norbert's Tyler Andrews was cited for an interference infraction. Trinity got excellent puck movement on its power-play chance and it was finished by an Anthony Sabitsky score at 14:25.
Trinity pushed out to a 2-1 lead at 1:27 of the second period when Ethan Holdaway beat the Green Knights' defense. St. Norbert would tie the game at 9:12 on a Pijus Rulevicius power-play goal off helpers from Sacco and Thompson. St. Norbert would take a pair of penalties moments later but would kill off both Bantam power-play chances.
The Bantams took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission when a turnover in the St. Norbert defensive zone ended up on the stick of Samuel Johnson, whose slapshot touched twine at the 18:26 mark.
Trinity outshot St. Norbert 37-33, including 16-8 in the first period. The Green Knights' T.J. Black made 34 saves.
St. Norbert was 1-for-1 on the power play, while Trinity was 1-for-3.