NCAA Frozen Four – Midwest Regional Review

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GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. – Bemidji who? Before the Midwest Regional took place in Grand Rapids, Michigan; That might have been a major question going around the hockey world. After it was all over, however, no one was asking: Who is Bemidji State?  
The roughly 5,000 student campus is about a four hour drive north of St. Paul, MN. The school will be getting just a little bit more attention these days since the Men’s Ice Hockey team won the Midwest Regional, and  advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time in school history which will be held in Washington. D.C.
Here is a brief rundown on what happened this weekend
 
3 seed Cornell vs 2 seed Northeastern
Evan Barlow scored with 17.2 seconds left in the game to give Cornell a 3-2 victory over Northeastern. Cornell had to overcome a two goal deficit for the come-from-behind victory. Down 2-0, they pulled to within one on Blake Gallagher’s goal late in the second period, and tied the game on Colin Greening’s power-play goal with 3:56 left in the third period.
Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens made 19 saves, and Brad Thiessen stopped 29 shots for Northeastern. Louis Liotti and Steve Silva scored for Northeastern (25-12-4).
(Original prediction – Cornell is a 3-2 nail biter.)
 
 
4 seed Bemidji State vs. 1 seed Notre Dame
 
CHA champion Bemidji State, made it’s third trip to the F4 tournament as a Division I school in grand style by defeating Notre Dame 5-1. The Beavers got off to a 4-0 lead and never looked back.
It took the underdog Beavers just 1:42 into the game to light the scoreboard. Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce went behind the net to play the puck, misplayed it and stumbled. As he attempted to get back to the net, BSU’s Chris McKelvie was in pushed the puck across the goal line for the 1-0 lead, his third goal of the season.
The Beavers extended that lead to 2-0 when Notre Dame’s Ian Cole was sent to the box for hooking at the 9:48 mark. Matt Read found Brad Hunt at the point, took the shot, and was tipped into the net by Tyler Scofield for his team-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season.
From then on it was BSU for the decisive win.
Notre Dame lone goal came from Dan Kissel at the 6:04 mark of the third period to cut the deficit to 4-1.   Scofield would get his second goal of the game, his 20th of the season to put the finishing touches on the scoreboard.
Matt Dalton turned away 34-of-35 Notre Dame shots. BSU was outshot in every period of the game, and 35-19 for the game. Pearce made only 14 saves for the Irish. (Original prediction – Irish will make quick work of BSU 5-1. Hey, at least I got the score right.) 3 seed Cornell vs 4 seed Bemidji State
While BSU didn’t get off to the kind of start they had against the Irish, they still finished the game against Cornell in fine fashion by scoring three goals in the third period for the 4-1 win and a place in the Frozen Four.
Again, Bemidji was outscored 26-21 on the game, but they capitalized on 3 of the 5 shots they had in the third period. Scofield once again scored 2 goals, both in the third period to give BSU their place in college hockey history as the first ever #4 seed to ever reach the Frozen Four.
Sean Collins had the only goal for Cornell for a brief 1-0 lead in the second period, at the 12:35 mark, but the Beavers scored almost two minutes later at 14:25 to tie the game at one. Scofield and Matt Francis put the game away for the 3 goal outburst to win the game.
(Original prediction for the Midwest Regional – Notre Dame is a much tougher game over Cornell 4-2.)
Bemidji will now take on Miami (Ohio) in the early game at 5pm Est at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Boston University will take on Vermont in the other semifinal game to be played once the BSU/Miami game is completed. Game time is approximately 8:30pm Est.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com

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