: The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com I April 11, 2011 F x ' Minn.-Duluth 3 Michgan 2 JAKE FROMM/Daily The Michigan hockey team surrenders the game-winning goal to Kyle Schmidt of Minnesota-Duluth early in the first overtime period of Saturday's national championship game. "It's the opportunity of a lifetime .. gone in the blinko1an eye."eff 'M' drops OT heartbreaker to Bulldogs in game for title By CASANDRA PAGNI Daily Sports Writer ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was -- a one shot members of the Min- nesota-Duluth hockey team will remember for the rest of their lives. And one the Wolverines would give anything to have back. Just over three minutes into overtime of the NCAA Cham- pionship game, the Michigan hockey team was on the losing end of the battle. The Bulldogs defeated the Wolverines, 3-2, securing their program's first JAKE FRoMM/Daily NCAA title and sending Michi- The Michigan hockey team reacts to its overtime loss at the postgame press conference at the Xcel Energy Center in St. gan's seven seniors and the rest Paul, Minn. on Saturday. of the team back to Ann Arbor empty handed, all in a matter of seconds. "It's the opportunity of a lifetime gone in the blink of an eye," sophomore forward Jeff Rohrkemper said. While the outcome of game came down to one shot by the Bulldogs, the Wolverines had more than 60 minutes in which they could have controlled the outcome. Minnesota-Duluth out-shot Michigan all night, but the resilient and defensive- minded Wolverines continually found ways to battle back. Even when Michigan took its ninth penalty of the game - a boarding call to sophomore forward Kevin Lynch with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation - the Wolverine penalty killers preserved, the tie. The Bulldogs boast'thp oth best power play in the nagj%, but Michigan was able tqh1l_4 the Minnesota-Duluth min advantage to 11 shots on nine, opportunities and allowed them to score on it once. "You never want to kill nine or 10 penalties in agame,"senior forward Carl Hagelin said. "But today we had to do it. And obvi- ously some guys get more tired than others. It's tough ... I think we did a good job, only allowed one goal and they had a really good power play. So obviously some of us got a bit tired by playing too much PK." See BULLDOGS, Page 3B " Without elusive ring, Hunwick's Pateryn shines on national stage legendary story falls short T. PAUL, Minn. - They called him "Tiny Jesus." The curtains closed on him just a moment too soon. Shawn Hunwick gazed up at the rafters and skated slowly to the bench. The setting was perfect - the outcome was all wrong. The moment he always dreamed about was decimated, ripped away by a one-timed wrist shot from Kyle Schmidt. The stage was set, and Hun- wick knew what was at stake. A Michigan loss and he was just a good story. A win and he was a legend. Then came the dagger. "I think everything was in line for the fairytale story, and unfortunate- ly we came up short," Hunwick1 said, head bowed in the STEPHEN J. locker room. NESBITT It wasn't just a fai- rytale; it was Rudy leading his team into overtime in the national championship - on his birthday. With Hunwick ducking his tiny frame under the crossbar at Xcel Energy Center, Michi- gan's savior was in charge. Every chapter of the book was written - except the grand finale. The 5-foot-7 wisp of goalten- der passed up Adrian College just to sit on the bench in front of Red Berenson. Four years later, that same kid became Michigan's hero, single-handedly propelling See NESBITT, Page 3B By MICHAEL FLOREK Daily Sports Ediror ST. PAUL, Minn. - Greg Pateryn leaned on the wall next to him in the locker room, look- ing straight ahead. The 6-foot-3 defenseman spoke in a whisper, answering every question about Michi- gan's 3-2 loss in the NCAA Championship game to Min- nesota-Duluth methodically. He remained composed, talk- ing about the overtime loss - a loss that sent silence through the locker room. He spoke of his team, a band of brothers who didn't say a whole lot but always See PATERYN, Page 3B C JAKE FROMM/Daily Junior defenseman Greg Pateryn swept the puck away from the goal line in Saturday's title game after it bounced over senior goalie Shawn Hunwick. * HE'LL BE BACK Though Lion Kim missed the cut at The Masters this weekend, he proved he belonged at Augusta, writes Kevin £ Raftery. Page 4B MAKING THEM PAY Yet again, an opposing pitcher has walked Dorian Shaw to get to Amanda Chidester. And yet again, Chidester made that pitcher pay. Page 4B 4