The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 31, 2003 - 58 HO. (t1O.1OL (OLLIU, 4 Ho.1 H[W AAMPWIK, E 92 HO. 4 WA~VHN~I R,2 1 HO. 1(OtOUDO (OLLI"~, I HO. 1 NSW fllffMSh, I Nll&(120 NO.4 SAINT (LOUDSTAT, 2 Midwest A"NN "" - "OT"I( " H HO. I UI(KiO HO. 1 HMffPM4IX~ US~T PAY Northeast wo.f mis. -T"I(Th" IRN1I(J 29 FROZEN FOuR S.~lV. - JJ.( AAIiJ1 HO. 2 flI, 1 HO. 2 BOSTON UHIV.MUII, C fflh1(( 29 F NO. NI(1I0H, S HO. 2 BOSTON VHIV0ITV, 0 I ffJ1AU 20 NO. 0110 KAH, 2 HO. IU0VJIW _ HNO. 1 MIHM.O~T q i HO. 1 (Of~Hl1 S M NO.4 1a(VUAR ,2 I H. 1 MfIHH.OTA, 7 HO. 1(OAHM1L2 a I I .® i 111(AI14AN YS fH. fI A, G P.M1. (ItfliPOHWIIP:. APR1IL 12, 7 P.M1. i NO.4 M1IHHLOTA 9 TI Tt1UIO, 2 1. I ---- - -.- -- - ------------ -- - - West m UIulo1Is - [NifuV( .lIBa 0O. 1IffIHHBLOT11 HO. 1 (OhUI IfA~(11 29 MUD VISK ,East PAVIIM AI.- NUJIH' DNUTS N~ HO. 2 hOSTOH (OLU t, 1 9 10 h. 2 MIS h TI, E fI"A(11 20 H0. I HATI MOT.A, 2 1 HO. 2 M~IS TT 4 HO. 2 hOTOH (OtAI, 1 IU ~(129 HO.3~ 0410 TTI~, 0 Cornell wins thriller in second tY.e3 OT; Minnesota to meet Blue aga in PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Cornell's Matt McRae needed a cal- culator to describe the most impor- tant goal of his hockey career. "I take my last greatest goal and times it by a billion," said McRae, who scored 1:09 into the second overtime to give the Big Red a 2-1 victory over Boston College in the NCAA East Regional champi- onship yesterday. "It's definitely the biggest goal I've ever scored," he said. "That was euphoric ... it was amazing." McRae scooped up a loose puck at center ice, took it down the right side and beat BC goalie Matti Kaltiainen for his fourth goal of the season. The win gives Cornell (30-4-1) its first berth in the NCAA Frozen Four since 1980. The Big Red will take on New Hampshire in a nation- al semifinal game on April 10 in Buffalo, N.Y. "I was coming across center ice and I had some speed, and I had some space to shoot," McRae said. "The goalie was cheating (to the) far side. He had stopped me with 11 seconds left in the first overtime shooting to the other side, so I decided it was time to change it up a bit and shoot near side." Cornell extended its unbeaten streak to 15 games (14-0-1) and its win streak to 10. The Eagles (24-11-4) appeared to have snapped a 1-1 tie at 12:01 of the third period when Stephen Gionta stuffed the puck inside the right post. Referee Don Adam initially ruled it a goal, but after consulting with the video replay official, disallowed the goal because BC's Peter Harrold was in the crease. "There weren't a lot of chances out there," said BC's Ben Eaves. "We worked so hard and were on such a high (after Gionta appeared to have scored). It's real tough." Earlier in the game, it was the Eagles who benefited from a replay decision. Cornell goalie David LeN- eveu made a pad save on Tony Voce and the rebound deflected in off the skate of BC's J.D. Forrest. Following a review, the goal was allowed since it came on a deflection instead of having been kicked in. Cornell took a 1-0 lead at 10:05 of the first period when Ryan Vesce intercepted a clearing pass by Forrest and drilled home a shot from the right faceoff circle. Kaltiainen had 34 saves for BC. LeNeveu made 26 saves for the Big Red. "This team has been driven since last year," said Cornell coach Mike Schafer, whose team narrowly missed a trip to the 2002 Frozen Four, losing to New Hampshire in the East Regional Final. "We've come full circle. We've given ourselves a chance to accomplish our goals." MINNESOTA 7, FERRIS STATE 4: In the first half of the season, the Gophers' offense was slower to start than your father's Olds on a cold Minnesota morning. But that's not the case anymore - and just in time. The defending national champions scored twice in the opening 98 sec- onds Saturday at Mariucci Arena, then matched Ferris State goal-for- goal to win 7-4 and advance to the Frozen Four. "We kind of got sick of the coach- es yelling at us, so we picked it up right away," joked Thomas Vanek, the West Regional MVP, after scoring two goals against the Bulldogs. Minnesota, which trounced Mercy- hurst 9-2 Friday, plays in the semifi- nals April 10 in Buffalo, N.Y. Ferris State beat North Dakota 5-2 Friday. "It might be one of those situa- tions where you learn from your mistakes," the Gophers' Keith Bal- lard said of the team's quick starts in their last three games. "We're ready to play, finally." The Gophers out-shot the Bulldogs 25-6 in the opening period on their way to a 49-20 edge for the game. "There was nothing they could do wrong in that first period," said Ferris State's Troy Milam. "It was hard for us to come back." The Bulldogs did manage a come- back, getting two goals from Chris Kunitz and a shorthanded score by Derek Nesbitt to cut the lead to 5-3 late in the second period. That's when Vanek stepped out of the penalty box, took a pass from Matt Koalska, raced in on the net and flipped it up and over Ferris State goaltender Mike Brown to regain the three-goal lead. "That was a big-time play," said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. "We were able to answer. You have to be able to take a punch." The early offensive onslaught set the tone. Matt Koalska scored on the game's first rush off the opening faceoff, tipping Vanek's pass by Brown just 13 seconds into the game. It was the fastest opening score ever in an NCAA regional game. Ballard scored unassisted 1:25 later, and Jake Fleming made it 3-0 on a slap shot past Brown with 13:51 left in the first period. "Minnesota scored quickly and it put us back on our heels," said Ferris State coach Bob Daniels. "We started losing our composure. I had to col- lect myself, I told them were not that bad and they're not that good." After Chris Kunitz scored in the first period to cut the lead to 3-1, Vanek stole a pass in the offensive zone and went top-shelf on goal- tender Mike Brown just 39 sec- onds later. Kunitz scored his second goal late in the first period, but Matt DeMarchi blasted in a shot from inside the blue line 1:06 later. That gave the Gophers a 5-2 lead. Vanek's second goal came nearly seven minutes after Derek Nesbitt's shorthanded score, and put Min- nesota up 6-3. The Gophers seven goals were the most given up by Ferris State this season. "When the team's back is to the wall, they play their best," said Lucia. "Last year's team had that same trait." The Gophers made it back to the Frozen Four despite losing their three top scorers from last season - John- ny Pohl, Jeff Taffe and Hobey Baker winner Jordan Leopold. They also fought through a rash of injuries that saw Koalska, Grant Potulny, and Barry Tallackson, among others, miss substantial playing time. "The growth has been as good as any team I've coached," said Lucia. "I think they developed some mental toughness with all the injuries." Lucia is headed to his third Frozen Four as a coach. His Col- orado College team lost to Michi- gan in the 1996 championship game, and last year's Gophers edged Maine in overtime for the school's fourth national crown. AP PHOTO Despite being the No. 4 seed, Wayne State was rooted on as if it was the favorite against Colorado College on Saturday. Yost fans don't hold back agit SI Colorado College cheer Warniors By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Editor For about two hours Saturday, a group wearing green and white was the most popular team in Yost Ice Arena. It definitely wasn't that team off I- 69. Instead, it was a senior-laden group of Warriors from about 30 minutes east of Ann Arbor. The College Hock- ey America Champion Wayne State Warriors entered this weekend's regional as heavy underdogs - espe- cially considering the Warriors were going up against the regional's top seed in Colorado College, also the sec- ond-best team in the nation. But as a scoreless game went longer and longer into the first period, momentum started fueling for Wayne State. Many of the Michigan fans who were just sitting through Saturday's first game to make sure they got their money's worth began to side with the slower-footed, but harder-hitting War- riors. Chants of "Let's go Warriors!" began to circulate, and traditional Yost cheers were converted to root for Wayne State instead of Michigan. "Ug-ly par-ents" was still heard - despite it not being Michigan that was scored on - throughout when the Tigers scored their first goal to take March it MINNI OTA Record: 15-6-7 WCHA, 26-8-9 overall How Minnesota got here: With five goals in the first period of Saturday's West Regional, the defending national Champions easily dismantled Ferris State 7-4 to reach the big show. Minnesota defeated Mercyhurst 9-2 in the Sweet 16. Key player: Freshman forward Thomas Vanek 29 goals, 29 assists, 3 game-winners 4( J Madmen Record: 15-5-4 Hockey East, 27-7-6 overall How New Hampshire got here: The Wildcats rode the coattails of goalie Mike Ayers to the Frozen Four, as Ayers turned away 27 shots by Boston w University for a 3-0 win. On Friday, St. Cloud State was taken down by New Hampshire, 5-2. Key player: Senior forward Lanny Gare 22 goals, 29 assists, 3 game-winners Gare = (Obmom the lead at the 16:26 mark of the first period. And when Wayne State senior defenseman Keith Stanich scored the tying goal 4:51 into the second period, Wayne State earned winged helmets in the minds of the Michigan faithful as the place erupted as if Michigan's Jed Ortmeyer had done it. "To get the first one and to start the emotion and get the guys going on the bench is an incredible feel- ing," Stanich said. For others, this was a chance to make moments in a bigger in-state venue. "Being from Michigan, I was loving the fact that Michigan fans were root- ing for us and actually started cheers for us," said Wayne State co-captain and Trenton resident Jason Durbin. "They welcomed us with open arms. I was extremely ecstatic to get the chance to play in this tournament and especially to play in this rink." Even Wayne State coach Bill Wilkinson said that normally he isn't big fan of the "sieve" chant, but he did enjoy it when it was used against Col- orado College goaltender Curtis McEl- hinney. Though Wayne State did not win Saturday, as Colorado College eventu- ally pulled away for a 4-2 win, those at Yost appreciated seeing a No. 4 seed actually come to play well against a top seed. No other regional had as close of a game between the one and four seeds. "I'd like to start by compliment- ing Wayne State on how hard and how well they played," Colorado College coach Scott Owens said. "We knew it would be a battle. They were stronger on their sticks and played well." ommomm