# North Dakota, Notre Dame complete Frozen Four



## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

North Dakota and Notre Dame rounded out the field for this year's Frozen Four with victories Sunday in their regional finals.
The Fighting Irish (25-13-5) will face Minnesota-Duluth (24-10-6) at 5 p.m. ET in one of two national semifinals to be played April 7 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. In the nightcap, the Fighting Sioux (32-8-3) will play Michigan (28-10-4) at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Midwest - Green Bay, Wis.
North Dakota 6, Denver 1

Six different players scored a goal and Aaron Dell stopped 26 shots as top-seeded North Dakota pulled away late in the third period and recorded its second consecutive impressive win after blanking RPI 6-0 in a regional semifinal on Saturday.
"We said it yesterday, we need to play our best game today against Denver and I'll be honest with you, I think we did that," Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said. "I think this was a complete hockey game by our team."
Evan Trupp and Brett Hextall scored second-period goals to give North Dakota a 3-1 lead and Brock Nelson put the final nail in Denver's coffin when he lit the lamp with 5:17 remaining. The Fighting Sioux added an empty-net goal by Brad Malone with 2:49 left and Jake Marto's power-play goal with 1:39 to play.
Hextall, Nelson and Malone each recorded a goal and an assist for North Dakota, while Chay Genoway added three assists.
"They're such a good team, especially offensively. They're hard to contain. They move around a lot, they do a lot of different things and they're competitive on pucks," Hextall said. "They're difficult to play against and to get those goals to give us some breathing room, that was huge for us. It took some of the tension off and we were able just to stick with our game plan."
Mario Lamoureux's shorthanded goal opened the scoring for the Fighting Sioux with 5:23 left in the first, but the Pioneers (25-12-5) drew even with two-tenths of a second remaining in the period when Jason Zucker banked the puck off Dell from behind the net for his 23rd goal of the season.
With the win, his 30th on the season, Dell broke a 24-year-old North Dakota record for wins in a season, formerly held by Ed Belfour (1986-87). He was selected the regional's Most Outstanding Player, finishing with 46 saves on 47 shots.
The teams were meeting for the first time in the NCAA tournament since Denver's 4-1 win over North Dakota in the 2005 national championship game in Columbus, Ohio.

Northeast - Manchester, N.H.
Notre Dame 2, New Hampshire 1

Billy Maday's goal with five seconds left in the middle period proved to be decisive as sophomore goalie Mike Johnson made 37 saves and the Fighting Irish advanced to the Frozen Four for the second time in the school's history.
Stephen Johns opened the scoring for Notre Dame, a 4-3 overtime winner over Merrimack on Saturday. In its previous appearance in the national semifinals, in 2008 in Denver, the Irish beat Michigan in overtime before falling to Boston College in the title game.
"I felt really good, I felt in the zone today, and my teammates played a heck of a game in front of me," Johnson said. "They back pressured hard and got sticks in passing lanes and did everything to help me keep the puck out of the net. So I knew if I kept the rebounds to a minimum we'd be doing alright."
Johnson, who stopped 69 of 73 shots over the two games, was selected the regional's Most Outstanding Player.
"I've been trying to convince the kid that he can be one of the best goalies in college hockey," Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said. "He's only a sophomore. People have to -- I have to recognize that once in a while. &#8230; From my perspective, Michael's biggest challenge is he wants to do well so bad that he ends up thinking it too much. And I keep reminding him, all the goalie drills that we do, it's more about just getting into the game and stopping the puck. You don't think during the game, you just play. And tonight he just played."
The Wildcats got an outstanding effort of their own in goal from Matt Di Girolamo, who finished with 36 saves. Mike Sislo got them on the scoreboard in the third period, taking a feed from Matt Campanale and scoring from the slot with 6:23 remaining.
Riley Sheahan set up both goals for the Irish, who survived being outshot 8-1 by the Wildcats in the early going. Their second shot, a drive from the blue line by Johns at the 7:26 mark, eluded Di Girolamo and put Notre Dame in front to stay.
The second goal was critical, as Maday beat the buzzer in the second with a backhand shot. Moments earlier, Johnson kept New Hampshire from drawing even with a glove stop on John Henrion. Notre Dame won the ensuing defensive zone faceoff and advanced the puck down into the Wildcats' end before Maday scored.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=557415


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## wurgs (Mar 3, 2008)

Will have to go with UND this year. They have been crushing teams lately, making it look easy.


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

North Dakota has had decent teams over the years, but so have my Wolverines. Unfortunately I didn't watch as much college hockey the last year or so as I normally have, so I don't know if I can have a fair conversation about which team on paper looks better this Frozen Four, but hopefully Michigan takes it this year.


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## Recurvenator (Aug 6, 2010)

Hockey is the best game on Earth! I really love the NHL, but I've found myself being entertained by college hockey. You can't help but cheer for those kids who are playing their hearts out.

With hockey, college and NHL, there doesn't seem to be the divas (minus Cindy :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: Crosby) or gangsta gangbangers (just look at the Vikings :eyeroll: :eyeroll: :eyeroll: ) that you will find in football and basketball.


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

Kind of hard to be a diva when you're making face plants into the boards. :rock:


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## 9manfan (Oct 22, 2008)

Recurvenator said:


> Hockey is the best game on Earth! I really love the NHL, but I've found myself being entertained by college hockey. You can't help but cheer for those kids who are playing their hearts out


Give it some time, you'll find something to rip these kids about, you usually do,,,, :bop: ,,,,


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## duckjunky (Mar 8, 2007)

Hope UND buries UofM :beer:


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

We'll see....GO BLUE!!!!!!


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## wurgs (Mar 3, 2008)

Should be a helluva game. The 2 best programs in college hockey history. Will definately be glued to the tv.


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## SiouxperDave25 (Oct 6, 2002)

I hope UND beats Michigan because we bought tickets for the championship game.


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## drjongy (Oct 13, 2003)

This is UND's year for sure, you can quote me on that and shove it back in my face if I'm wrong. 5th trip to the frozen four in the last 7 years....that's one heck of a hockey program for sure. Thanks Ralph for the awesome recruiting tool!!!!!!!!!!!


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

SiouxperDave25, I hope Michigan puts on a great show for you at the championship game :lol:


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## wurgs (Mar 3, 2008)

Wow! Helluva a game! Michigan really impressed me.


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

Too bad I missed it, I had to work and I've got to work on Saturday night so I'll miss my Wolverines again. Wish I could've watched the game tonight though, but most importantly I hope Michigan wins it on Saturday. GO BLUE!!!!!! :beer:


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## 9manfan (Oct 22, 2008)

drjongy said:


> This is UND's year for sure, you can quote me on that and shove it back in my face if I'm wrong. 5th trip to the frozen four in the last 7 years....that's one heck of a hockey program for sure. Thanks Ralph for the awesome recruiting tool!!!!!!!!!!!


Looks like the the North Dakota Fighting Sue choked,,, oke: ,,, Go UMD,,,,,


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

drjongy said:


> This is UND's year for sure, you can quote me on that and shove it back in my face if I'm wrong. 5th trip to the frozen four in the last 7 years....that's one heck of a hockey program for sure. Thanks Ralph for the awesome recruiting tool!!!!!!!!!!!


I have the pie ready. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

SiouxperDave25, tell all the Wolverine fans you see at the game that I said hi :thumb:


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## leacock12kellen (Apr 27, 2011)

I hope UND beats Michigan because we bought tickets for the championship game.


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## rockinmichigan (Jan 26, 2004)

leacock12kellen, you're a few weeks too late. The maize and blue all ready had that and sent them home.


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