Gophers win, 3 MN teams have shot at Frozen Four
The Minnesota Golden Gopher men's hockey team advanced in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night but St. Cloud State's loss to Quinnipiac killed the dream of an all-Minnesota Frozen Four.
The Gophers got a tough draw in the tournament, having to face the defending champs in the Worcester Regional. Things didn't get easier when the Minutemen got a controversial goal from Reed Lebster at 14:09 of the first period.
WIth Lebster firing from the circle, his puck fluttered in while UMass forward Anthony Del Gaizo was camped out in the crease. After. a lengthy review, the goal was confirmed and the Minutemen had an early lead.
It got worse for Minnesota when Ryan Johnson went to the penalty box for interference before the goal. With the man advantage, UMass scored another goal with a man in the crease, this time from Garrett Wait.
The Gophers get any love from the replay, as the goal was confirmed again to put UMass ahead 2-0.
Minnesota chipped into the lead with a goal by Johnson at 18:02 of the first period. But Lebster scored his second goal of the game 1:24 into the second period to restore the two-goal lead for the Minutemen.
The Gophers battled back beginning with a goal from Tristan Broz at 17:09 of the second period. Armed with a power play midway through the third period, Matthew Knies scored at 13:17 to eventually send the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, Ben Meyers played the hero, scoring at 8:31 of overtime to send Minnesota to Sunday's regional final against Western Michigan.
While the Gophers punched their ticket to a regional final, the St. Cloud State was not as fortunate in the Allentown Regional.
The Huskies fell into an early hole against Quinnipiac when Brendan Less and TJ Friedmann scored in the first period to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. SCSU battled back in the second period when Nolan Walker and Sam Hentges scored to tie the game at 2-2.
Michael Lombardia and Kyler Kupka exchanged goals to send the game into the second intermission at 3-3. But the Bobcats had too much firepower using goals from Griffin Mendel and Jayden Lee to build a two-goal advantage.
Walker's second goal of the night gave the Huskies a chance but it was too late as Quinnipiac came away with the victory.
Despite SCSU's loss, three of the four Minnesota teams in the tournament advanced to their regional finals. Two of those teams will have a chance to advance on Saturday when Minnesota Duluth battles Denver at 3 p.m. and Minnesota State plays Notre Dame at 5:30 p.m.
