FanHouse has full coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship.MINNEAPOLIS -- They don't call it "March Madness" for nothing. While the hoops version of the NCAA Tournament has produced few upsets, the hockey version is ripe with them, and there are only 12 games played before the Frozen Four.
Through the first seven games of regional play, higher-seeded teams are just 2-6. While Boston University won comfortably over Ohio State in the Northeast Regional, Minnesota-Duluth needed a minor miracle to beat Princeton in the West on Friday.
You may remember that UMD had to score with 0.8 seconds left in regulation to tie Princeton and force overtime. While it was an unbelievable moment, it's time as "most dramatic goal of the tournament" didn't even last 18 hours.
That's because New Hampshire had quite a rabbit in their hat during a first-round Northeast Regional game against North Dakota. The second-seeded Fighting Sioux led 5-3 halfway through the third before UNH began their comeback. The Wildcats got one at 11:00 of the third to pull within one, and saved the rest for last.
A faceoff win in the North Dakota zone with six seconds left led to a Thomas Fortney (undrafted) shot deflecting past Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness (Buffalo) with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. The Wildcats then won the game on a goal by Peter LeBlanc (Chicago) just 45 seconds into overtime.
New Hampshire draws conference rival Boston University for a shot at the Frozen Four Sunday.
The Midwest Regional also saw a pair of upsets Saturday. The theme of top seeds not named "Boston University" not getting past the first round continued. Notre Dame was a heavy, heavy favorite to beat Bemidji (Minn.) State in Grand Rapids, Mich. Bemidji State had other ideas, and they had no problem executing those ideas. The Beavers scored early in the first period, and never looked back from there. They pulverized the Irish, 5-1.
The Beavers will play third-seeded Cornell in the regional final, after the Big Red rallied from 2-0 down to beat Northeastern 3-2. Evan Barlow (undrafted) got the game-winner with 18 seconds left in the third period.
