The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 27, 2000 - 5B
2000 NCAA Ice Hockey Championship
1. Maine
East Regional
4. Colgate
5. Michigan
5. Michigan
3. New Hampshire
6. Niagara
6. Niagara
West Regional
2. St. Lawrence
1. Maine
Providence
Civic Center
Providence, RI
April 6
2. North Dakota
2. St. Lawrence
Providence
Civic Center
Providence, RI
April 6
i
East Regional
3. Boston University
Championship Game
3. BostonUniversity
6. St. Cloud State
4. Boston College
4. Boston College
5. Michigan State
Providence Civic Center
Providence, RI
April 8
4. Boston College
1. Wisconsin
West Regional
2. North DakotaI
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Mi* chiganwaits and waits in game delay
By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
ALBANY, N.Y - Six hours after it
had begun, 9,000 people pulled them-
selves from their seats to cheer a St.
Lawrence team too tired to do the same.
And as Boston netminder Rick
'ietro collapsed in exhaustion, his
team sighed its way off the ice and small
cheer erupted from the hallway beneath
the stands at Pepsi Arena.
Waiting in the din and glow of the set-
ting sun on Pearl Street outside, Maine
coach Steve Walsh and his players cele-
brated simply the game's end and pre-
pared for their much delayed battle with
Michigan - again.
ressed for the scheduled 3:30 face-
,Michigan and Maine found their sec-
ond-round NCAA tournament game
pushed back to a 7:05 start as Boston
University and St. Lawrence rewrote col-
legiate hockey history.
In a marathon match that tested the
spirit of the fans and the legs of the play-
ers, St. Lawrence rallied to beat Boston
in four overtimes, nearly three hours after
Michigan's game was set to start.
"That was one of the greatest efforts
ever seen," St. Lawrence coach Joe
Marsh said. "That may have been the
greatest game I've ever been a part of."
But it was the game that Michigan and
Maine were still waiting to play that had
players biting back emotion and bubbling
with nervous anticipation.
"We all wanted to get out there and
play," Michigan's Scott Matzka said.
"Guys were getting dressed and
dressed and stretch to stay loose. I bet
'Ike) Comrie got dressed three times
before the game."
While the afternoon's second game
became the nightcap - players from
both schools fought the growing nag of
uncontrolled anticipation.
"We knew there was nothing we could
do, Maine's Ben Guite said. "Still when
you're just thinking about the game for
that long it's tough not to get uptight."
Tried like the emotions of thousands
of Boston University backers and St.
Lawrence lovers was the patience and
focus of two teams forced to wait and
watch for their turn to vie for a spot in the
Frozen Four.
"Having to wait took an edge off of
both teams," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said. "But it's the same for both
teams."
As the afternoon faded and the day's
first game continued on, both teams
feared the delay might wreak havoc on
the schedules they had hoped to maintain
- particularly eating times.
So as players dressed back into
warmup suits and running shoes to watch
the longest game in college hockey histo-
ry delay theirs into the night, food was
ordered to bolster an all-but-forgotten
10:30 a.m. Michigan team meal with
sandwiches, pretzels and the like.
"We ordered whatever we could get
our hands on," Berenson said
"Fortunately it didn't come down to giv-
ing guys I.Vs, but I have seen that too."
For Maine, the story was very much
the same, and although coach Shawn
Walsh couldn't have predicted the
unorthodox delay, he said he said he's
come to expect the unexpected when his
Black Bears meet the Wolverines.
"We ate two meals today before the
game just in case something happened,"
Walsh said. "If you look at the history
you see ithat that typically something
wacky happens when Maine plays
Michigan."
More than wacky - the circum-
stances surrounding yesterday's waiting
game were downright ironic.
The record beaten yesterday for the
NCAA's longest game was the record
held by none other than Michigan and
Maine, who skated into three overtimes
before Maine won 4-3 in the 1995
Frozen Four.
But if yesterday's delay made for a
long wait for Michigan, imagine the day
it made for St. Lawrence and Boston.
Consider a Boston squad that began
practicing at 6:45 a.m. and finished its
day in frustration nearly 12 hours later-
all of this having played the day before.
"We knew that they would be tired
having played the day before," Marsh
said. "I told my guys after the first over-
time that we'd keep it up as long as we
need to. I just didn't think it would take
that long."
True to his word, Marsh's troops main-
tained their attack, peppering Rick
DiPietro with an onslaught that allowed
the netminder to tally a record 77 saves -
a hollow record for the Hockey East
Rookie of the Year.
"I would give them all back for the
game;" DiPietro said of the saves that saw
him etch his name into the record book.
The teams combined to shatter the pre-
vious mark for shots in a game by 48 -
setting the new record at 154 in an
exhausting day.
"We'll probably watch a movie on the
ride home,' Marsh said, smiling before
his team headed for the bus. "But I can
guarantee nobody will stay awake for
more than one."
Michigan 4, Colgate 3 (OT)
Michigan 2 1 0 1- 4
Colgate 0 2 1 0- 3
First period - 1. UM, Roemensky (Langfeld, Koch)
6:41: 2. UM, Comrie (Cammafleri) 16:55 (pp).
Penalties- UM, Koch (boarding) ) 0:21; COL,
O'M alley (h~olding stick) 16:08; UM, Vancik (hooking)
19.04.
Second peiod-3. UM, Mink (Cammalleri, Shouneyia)
6:39 (pp); 4. COL, MacDonald 'Marostega) 12:43 (pp);
5. COL, Campbell (Murphy, MacDonald) 17:13 (pp).
Penaties-COL, Morin (roughing after whistle) 4:51;
UM, Ortmeyer (roughing after whistle) 4:51; COL,
Campbell (interference). 5:36: UM, Gassoff (interfer-
ence) 7:04; UM, Swistak (boarding); 8:02; COL,
Marostega (interference), 8:35; UM, Koch (roughing
after whistle), 11:45; COL, Murphy (hooking), 14:23;
UM, bench minor served by Mink (too many men),
15:50; UM, Peach (tripping), 16:38; UM, Jillson (rough-
ing after whistle) 18:24: COL, McDonald (roughing)
18:24; COL, McDonald (roughing after whistle) 18:24.
Third period-6 COL, Campbell (Nolan, MacDonald)
19:12; Penalties-COL, Johns (hooking), 3:05; COL,
Campbell (tripping), 12:23.
Overtime - 7. UM, Koch (Comrie) 12:44. Penalties--
none.
Shots on goal - UM 8939--35; COL 9-7-9-6-31.
Power Plays -COL, 2 of 7; UM. 2 of 7.
Sa - UM, Blackburn 9-5- -28; COL,Harder 6-
8-9-8--31.
Referee - Tim Fitzgerald.
Unesmen - Randy Schmidt, Dan Carey.
At: Pepsi Arena.
Maine 5, Michigan 2
Maine 0 0 5 -5
Michigan 0 1 1 - 2
First period - no scoring. Penalties - UM,
Ortmeyer (interference), 1:50: UM, Jillson (trip-
ping), 4:06: MA, Walsh (roughing), 4:06; UM, Peach
(slashing). 5:48; UM, Swistak (checking goalie).
6:46; MA, Lundback (holding). 9:29; MA. B. Heisten
(slashing). 16:23; MA, Walsh (unsportsmanlike),
20:00; UM, Comrie (high sticking). 20:00..
Second period-1. UM, Comrie (Ortmeyer, Peach),
12:22 (sh). Penalties- MA, Buite (interference),
8:59; UM, Fraser (holding). 12:09; MA, B. Heisten
(high sticking), 16:22: UM, Matzka (interference),
18:19.
Third period - 1. MA, Guite (Dimitrakos. Reimann),
5:14 (pp); 2. UM, Comrie (Cammalleri, Ortmeyer),
6:52 (pp); 3. MA, Guite (Larose, Loya), 8:01; 4. MA,
C. Heisten (B. Heisten), 14:29; 5. MA, Trattnig
(Reimann), 15:31; 6. MA, Walsh (unassisted).
19:09 (sh, eng). Penalties- UM, Vancik (interfer-
ence), 4:21; MA, C. Heisten (cross checking). 6:21:
MA, Larose (butt ending major), 18:44; UM, Hilbert
(roughing). 19:18.
Shots on goa - MA 12-15-18-45; UM 7138-28
Power Plays-MA,1of 6; UM,1 of6.
Saves - ME, Yeats 7-12-7 - 26; Blackburn 12-15-
13 -40.
Referee - Mike Schmitt.
Unesmen - Tom Carpento, John Jones
At: Pepsi Arena.
Attendance: 9,094
East Regional All-
Tournament Team
Pos. Name School
F Mike Comrie Michigan
F Andy McDonald Colgate
F Ben Guite Maine
D Justin Harney St. Lawrence
D Chris Dyment Boston U.
G Rick DiPietro Boston U.
G Derek Gustafson St. Lawrence
Most Valuable Player: Derek
Gustafson, St. Lawrence
Outshot? - no luck
for 'M' this time
Before last night's loss to Maine,
Michigan was 8-1-2 when out-
shot. But last night was
Michigan's largest shot deficit
this season. The Black Bears
pelted Michigan goalie Josh
Blackburn with 45 shots, to
Michigan's 28.
AP PHOTO
Michigan's John Shouneyia and Maine's A.J. Begg couldn't meet each other for over
three hours due to the Boston University and St. Lawrence matchup's four overtimes.
West Regional
Boston College shocks Wisconsin after slipping by Spartans, North Dakota denies Niagara
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - For the
aond year in a row, Boston College
ha's taken a tough road to the Frozen
Four. This time, the Eagles earned
their trip to nearby Providence, R.l.,
by going 950 miles west.
Goalie Scott Clemmensen was the
key, kicking out 28 shots as. the Eagles
upended top-ranked Wisconsin 4-1 in
a second-round game at the NCAA
West Regional Saturday night.
Brian Gionta scored two goals and
ake Bellefeuille and Jeff Giulinao
had one each for the Eagles. They
advance to the semifinals of the
Frozen Four in Providence on April 6.
"When I saw the brackets, I knew
we would have to play two good games
here to advance" said Eagle coach
Jerry York. "Tonight, we were solid
defensively all night. That was a key."
Wisconsin, the WCHA regular sea-
son champ and the first seed in the
West Regional, never led in the game.
In fact, the only time the Badgers were
consistently dangerous was in the sec-
ond period when they outshot the
Eagles 12-5.
It marked the second year that the
fourth-seeded Eagles advanced to the
frozen Four with a victory over the
West's top seed. Last year, Boston
College defeated North Dakota before
losing to Maine in overtime in the
semifinals.
NORTH DAKOTA 4, NIAGARA l: Jeff
Panzer had three assists and sopho-
more Andy Kollar stopped 26 of 27
shots as North Dakota beat Niagara 4-
1 Saturday night in the NCAA West
Westerly winds
Saturday's results:
(4) Boston College 4, (1) Wisconsin 1
(2) North Dakota 4, (6) Niagara 1
Friday's results:
(4) Boston College 6, (5) Michigan
State 5 (OT)
(6) Niagara 4, (3) New Hampshire 1
Regional tournament, propelling the
Fighting Sioux to the Frozen Four.
The win gives the Fighting Sioux
(29-8-5) a chance to go for their sev-
enth NCAA title in Providence, on
April 6. They will play Maine.
Kollar, who started one-third of
North Dakota's games this season, was
in the nets because of the lingering
effects of a concussion junior goalie
Karl Goehring suffered during prac-
tice almost two weeks ago. Sioux
coach Dean Blais said the decision to
go with Kollar was made after practice
Friday afternoon when Goehring com-
plained of dizziness. Blais said while
Goehring is the usually the go-to guy
in the nets, the team has faith in
Kollar.
After stunning New Hampshire with
a 4-1 upset Friday night in its first-
ever NCAA appearance, Niagara (30-
8-4) dug itself an early hole whe)
North Dakota dominated play by send-
ing a barrage of first-period shots at
Greg Gardner.
Gardner was the hero of the New
Hampshire win when he stopped 34
shots, but the Sioux took advantage of
early goals in both the first and third
periods to spark the win.
After North Dakota got to Gardner
early and often in the firstperiod, the
Sioux took a 2-0 lead in the first 20
minutes. The Purple Eagles came out
of the locker room and turned the
tables on Kollar, firing 17 shots on
goal. KollarBturned away all but one
shot, but Blais admitted he felt the
momentum swing back to Niagara.
Scorn' Goren is Sioux senior Lee
Goren, the leading goal scorer in the
WCHA, who took a pass from Panzer
and stuck in his 32nd goal of the sea-
son at 1:05 of the third.
Panzer said the team watched
Gardner and the Purple Eagles from
the stands Friday night and noticed a
way to exploit Gardner.
East Regional
St. Lawrence outlasts BU in four-overtime thriller
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Because
his team didn't have to play a first-
round game and his opponent did, St.
Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said he
kept waiting for fatigue to become a
ztor in his team's quarterfinal
NCAA playoff game yesterday
against Boston University.
As 60 minutes of regulation
stretched to 80, then 100, then 120
tinutes after three overtimes with the
teams still tied 2-2 and no end in
.s. ,
loose puck to the BU goal mouth and
slamming a rebound of his first shot
past Terrier goalie Rick DiPietro.
Carruthers' goal also ended a mem-
orable goaltending display by
DiPietro and St. Lawrence's Derek
Gustafson - both freshman - who
combined for a record 149 saves.
It sent the St. Lawrence players into
a mad celebration around Carruthers
while BU players merely slumped in
exhaustion after playing what amount-
S-A t. -,r v.md.. inn am c n ..itt
Eastern excitement
Sunday's results:
(1) Maine 5, (5) Michigan 2
(2) St. Lawrence 3, (3) Boston
University 2 (40T)
Saturday's results:
(5) Michigan 4, (4) Colgate 3 (OT)
(3) Boston University 5, (6) St. Cloud 3
game time shattered the record for
n . MeCAA toulrnament cnntest off
Hobey Hopefuls
On March 16, the Hobey Baker Award'
Committee announced 10 finalists for the
award chosen by the ballot of all 60 Division
I coaches and a fan vote. From these, a
winner will be selected by a 20-member
panel and announced April 7 at the Frozen
Four. Among those being considered is
Michigan's Mike Comrie.
Mike Comrie
After beginning the season with 10
points in nine games, Comrie cooled
off a little midway through the sea-
son. But this past weekend, when the
goals counted most, Comrie came
through with a performance that
caught the nation's eye. The speedy
center tallied four points, including
the 100th point of his career.
Ty Conklin, junior goaltender, New Hampshire
Made 15 saves in 4-1 loss to Niagara in NCAA first-round
game on Friday night.
Jeff Farkas, senior forward, Boston College
Scored two goals, including the game winner in overtime, in
Boston College's 6-5 victory over Michigan State. The Eagles
then defeated No. 1 Wisconsin to advance to Frozen Four.
Brian Gionta, junior forward, Boston College
Had a goal and an assist in first-round win over Michigan
State, and scored two goals in 4-1 defeat of top-ranked
Wisconsin in quarterfinals.
Shawn Horcoff, senior forward, Michigan State
Had three assists in Spartans 6-5 overtime loss to Boston
College in NCAA first-round game on Friday night.
Joel Laing, senior, guard, RPI
Did not play
Mik. Mnttau, ininr. defenseman. Boston College
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