Ferris State may have faltered in the third period, but rallied back 18 seconds into overtime to upset top-seeded St. Cloud State in the first West Regional semifinal in St. Paul, 5-4. Jared Vanwormer scored the game-winning goal on a rebound, after Charlie Lindgren saved Gerald Mayhew’s first attempt.
“There is a lot of relief, no question about it,” Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said. There is a moment, and I’ve been on the other side of it, where you feel for the other guys. It’s a great game on one hand, but it’s pretty cruel on the other.
“I think that any team would tell you that, if you win in overtime in a one-and-done situation, you can’t help but realize what the other kids are going through and how hard they’ve worked. So there is a moment where you’re elated but you also feel that, too.”
On the goal, Vanwormer said: “I wanted to go to the net and see if I could get a rebound. [Gerald] made a nice play, he put it off the pad, great place, great time, and I had to put it in.”
Ferris State, who reached the tournament by virtue of winning the WCHA tournament, shocked the Huskies by taking the lead when Mitch Maloney beat Lindgren at 2:56. Only 17 seconds later, the Huskies tied the game from Jacob Benson. The period looked like it would end in a tie, but Vanwormer beat Lindgren with 23 seconds left to take a 2-1 lead to the intermission.
The scoring in the second period started quickly when Kenny Babinski gave Ferris State a two-goal lead 1:04 into the period. St. Cloud State got a power play opportunity and needed only 25 seconds to cash it in. Mikey Essyimont, who was the MVP of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament last weekend, scored to cut the deficit to 3-2.
But the Bulldogs showed their resiliency and retook a two-goal advantage off the stick of Mayhew to lead 4-2 after two periods.
The Huskies, the second-highest scoring team in the country, found its offense in the third period. Essyimont scored his second power-play goal of the game, this one after only 31 seconds with the man advantage. Less than seven minutes later, Joey Benik scored to tie the game. The goal was his 23rd of the season — most on the team — and his 6th NCAA tournament goal.
Despite losing the lead, Mayhew said that the Bulldogs were positive going into the overtime.
“They did score two goals, but I wouldn’t say we got down, but it was definitely a heart breaker,” he said. “We have been in this position many a times, and we’ve came out on top in overtime most of the time I believe. Everyone was positive, But we wanted to end it early.”
St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko said that Ferris State punished the mistakes his team made with goals.
“We got our crowd in and we got the momentum back and we make a mistake there,” he said. “In overtime in the NCAA, it’s a one shot deal. It rips your heart out. There is no other way to analyze it. We can’t make the mistakes we made early in the game. Four turnovers, they scored four goals.”
No. 2 Denver 7, No. 3 Boston University 2
Denver jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two periods and coasted to a 7-2 win in the second West Regional Semifinal. The Pioneers take on Ferris State in Sunday’s regional championship game.
Boston had the better of the play for the first part of the game, according to Denver coach Jim Montgomery.
“I thought we were playing nervous,” Montgomery said. “After that I thought our penalty kill gave us a lot of momentum. We started managing the puck well and we started playing our game. From then on I thought offensively it was one of our best nights finishing odd man rushes and our power play was excellent.”
Boston University coach Bob Quinn agreed that his team got off to a good start.
“When you lose 7-2, you certainly lose to the better hockey team and that was the case tonight,” he said. “That being said, I thought we got off to a good start. We drew two penalties early because we were moving our feet. I thought we were playing at a good pace. I just wish I could explain it.
Denver got first period goals Blake Hillman and Dylan Gambrill, but a power play goal at 24 seconds of the second period by Will Butcher gave the Pioneers a huge boost.
“I thought the third goal to start the second period was a huge momentum swing,” Montgomery. “It put a knife in them for a little while. It allowed us to keep our momentum and play fast and stay in there end for the next six to eight minutes.”
Denver captain Grant Arnold said the team isn’t looking past Ferris State.
“Anyone can beat anyone. This being my fourth year in the NCAA tournament, it’s one hundred percent true,” Arnold said. “Everyone is good that makes it. Everyone has made sacrifices as a team to make it to this point. Ferris is a great team, they won the WCHA and it’s going to be a great challenge for us tomorrow.”
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