That's not exactly how either team drew it up, but what a season finale between #1 Minnesota and #3 Union at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia last night. The Dutchmen came away with a 7-4 victory and their first DI National Championship.
Minnesota got on the board first just 2:37 into the game when Justin Kloos pounced on a juicy rebound just seconds after killing an early roughing penalty by Brady Skjei. Union was throwing everything on net, or at least in the direction of the net, as it was clear they had a shoot first approach to this game. It finally paid off for them mid-way through the first when Shayne Gostisbehere (PHL) jumped into the rush, dips doodled around a defenseman and fired a wrister past Adam Wilcox (TBL) to tie the game at one.
Minnesota responded :37 later when Sam Warning fired a bad angle shot that found a hole along the post to give the Gophers the 2-1 lead. Five minutes later, Union scored again and again and again with three tallies in a span of 1:54. Mike Vecchione, Eli Lichtenwald and Daniel Ciampini turned the tide to give Union the 4-2 lead after 20.
Minnesota came out of intermission on fire and pulled within one just 1:13 into the second period as Taylor Cammaratta (NYI) cashed in on his third attempt from the crease, but after the unexpected offensive outburst in the first period, both goalies settled into the game and the rest of the period was the defensive battle we were all expecting from these two teams who are tops defensively in the country. Both Wilcox and Colin Stevens came up big in that period as the shots were still flying fast and furious.
In the third, Union took the 5-3 lead when Max Novak aptly deflected Kevin Sullivan's shot from the circle past Wilcox. With the clock winding down, Union pushed the pace just a little bit more keeping their shifts short and the ice tilted in their favor. With 3:40 left in regulation, Hudson Fasching (BUF) breathed some life into the Gopher Faithful with a power play goal to pull Minnesota within one. But the Dutchmen kicked things into an even higher gear and scored the backbreaker with 1:22 left in regulation as Sullivan went five hole for the 6-4 lead. Captain Mat Bodie added an empty net goal to give the Dutchmen the 7-4 win and first DI championship in school history.
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There were a combined 89 shots on goal and 174 shot attempts last night and while there were 11 power play opportunities, only one PPG. in fact, Union went 0-7 on the power play, yet scored 7 even strength goals. Tournament MVP was Gostisbehere, who finished the game with 1 goal, 2 assists and a staggering +7.
Overall, it was a fantastic hockey game and if you didn't watch, you seriously missed out.
Julie
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