Nationals Day 3: PSU 6 vs. Oklahoma 3/Quarterfinals

Penn State press release // Box score

Black Shoe Diaries recap

For those who didn't see Sunday evening's quarterfinal between Penn State and Oklahoma, an easy way to relate it might be to compare it with the February 4th meeting between the same two teams. Match the first 35 minutes of this one to the first 55 of that one, then the next six to the last five and it's a convenient and quick explanation. The Icers were down and out, but charged back with pointed emphasis.

Some games, though, defy simple explanation. This was one.

A sluggish start was punished late in the first period, when Chad Hudson beat goalie P.J. Musico. Just three minutes later, Blake Martin recovered an errant pass near the Icers' blue line. He managed to keep it in the zone and feed Jesse Bryant down low. Bryant then went high for a 2-0 Sooners lead into the first intermission.

While Bryce Johnson did pull the Icers within one on a gritty rebound goal, it didn't go unanswered. With Chris Cerutti off on a cross-checking call, some great movement on the OU power play ended when Martin passed from the left point to Hudson, stationed underneath the right circle. The Texas native finished off the goal, and Penn State was once again on the ropes.

There was 8:45 left in the second period at the point of Hudson's second, and for decades, hockey scholars all over the world have struggled to explain what happened next: Seemingly out of nowhere, the Icers started clicking. In a big way. An Oklahoma team that had done a masterful job of smothering PSU to that point was suddenly under siege. The payoff came first when Michael Longo took it himself on a 2-on-1 and barely squeezed a shot through OU goalie Nick Holmes at the 16:34 mark, then with 38 seconds left when Johnson calmly collected a loose puck off of a scramble in front and potted his second dirty goal of the proceedings. Just minutes after many in the large crowd commenced consideration of their season eulogies (guilty), the game was tied at the second intermission.

A bizarre twist helped bring the Icers the rest of the way to victory. As time expired in the second period, Holmes head-butted PSU's Justin Kirchhevel, who had wandered into the OU end to compare chirps with the netminder. Kirch, as anyone would, fought back. The altercation drew a major penalty for Holmes and a double minor for the Icers' leading scorer. So the beginning of the third period brought a rare sight: a goalie in the penalty box, as required by rule for a major penalty (but not for a minor). Holmes' backup, Colin Fernandes, was forced into the game cold and rudely greeted by Tommy Olczyk and Dom Morrone, both of whom scored on Fernandes in his first 1:01 manning the crease while assisting on the other's goal. The Sooners actually killed off the one-minute PSU power play resulting from the Holmes-Kirchhevel incident, but the damage had already been done. A Longo empty-netter provided the final margin.

Penn State advances to the semifinals to meet 13th-seeded Oakland, Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.

Other Games

Oakland press release // Box score

In a penalty-laden affair between Michigan-based GLCHL rivals, Oakland topped Adrian behind a pair of goals from Frank Matyok. The junior opened the scoring off of a faceoff 4:28 into the game, then scored on a power play point blast that somehow got through Matt Anderson about 10 minutes later. That second goal was significant because it began a three-goal Grizzlies swing that turned a 2-2 first-period tie into a 5-2 Oakland lead late in a second period that featured ten minor infractions, six against OU.

Adrian did score the last two goals of the game, including Darrell Boldon's on the man advantage with 29 seconds left, but the comeback remained uncompleted. Oakland was already the only one of the eight teams that played in Friday's first round to make the quarterfinals, and now they're a round beyond that.

"We are doing this together." Matyok stated. "Nobody in the league thought we would be here. We knew it all along this team started in the beginning of the year that we can make it this far by believing in each other and hard work."

Billy Balent assisted on the Grizzlies' final goal.

Ohio press release // Box score

Mark Zeszut's goal nine minutes into a second overtime lifted Delaware to an exhilarating win over the Ohio Bobcats. But before the game became known for its length, its defining characteristic was quick responses.

Less than two minutes after UD's Kevin Miller tied the at one in the second period with a sharp-angle snipe on the power play, Zander Dover restored Ohio's lead on a deflection goal. Michael Piet made the game even again on a one-timer from Andre Menard, but the Bobcats' Michael Schultz (who finishes his career three points in back of the school's all-time scoring leader, current head coach Dan Morris) got it back on the next shift. Delaware finally became the answerer instead of the answered when Chris Galgano's second attempt from up high found its way through a crowd to the back of the net 1:12 after Schultz's goal. Finally, in the third period, Chris Volonnino scored to force overtime 1:37 after Josh Fodor had given OU its final lead of the game.

The period and a half of overtime included four successful penalty kills (two by each team), and plenty of other heart-stopping moments. Then this happened:



While there are still three games remaining in this year's championships, as things stand right now, Delaware has won the consensus "best game of the tournament" two years in a row. Last year's Hens won a quarterfinal game with Adrian 5-4 after Brandon Weiner scored twice in the final minute of regulation to force overtime, where Kevin Miller won it in the second extra period.

Lindenwood press release // Box score

A second-period barrage from the second-seeded Lindenwood Lions proved too much for a late Minot State comeback in Sunday's closing quarterfinal match. In extending their winning streak to 20 games, LU stopped the Beavers' run at 20.

What started as a close battle in the first turned into an offensive showcase for the Lions in the second as they used their speed and crisp passing to score five goals, including two on the power play. The first of those power play goals came from Meletti with 15:56 left in the period with help from Joe Bostic and Steve Brancheau. Neeco Belanger lit the lamp at even strength just over two minutes later off of a feed from Colin Long, and Bostic scored 71 seconds after that on a pass from Cam Chinnery. With 9:04 left in the second, Niklas Bunnstedt buried the puck for the fourth goal of the period for the Lions assisted by Brancheau. Things would get chippy in the latter half of the second which resulted in a five-on-three power play opportunity for Lindenwood. Gorczyca took advantage as he scored with 7:18 left. Long assisted on the play which gave the Lions a 6-1 lead at the second intermission.

With a comfortable five goal lead, the Lions went into a defensive mode, but the strategy almost backfired as the Beavers started chipping away, scoring three unanswered goals in the final period to pull within two of Lindenwood. In the end, the margin was enough for the Lions as they added an empty net goal from Long with three seconds remaining to make the final score 7-4.

Tuesday Tournament Schedule

1. Penn State vs. 13. Oakland, 5:00 p.m., West Rink
2. Lindenwood vs. 3. Delaware, 8:00 p.m., West Rink

Final Tournament Placement

5. Ohio
6. Minot State
7. Oklahoma
8. Adrian
9. Arizona State
10. Liberty
11. Iowa State
12. Robert Morris (IL)
13. Illinois
14. Davenport
15. Central Oklahoma
16. West Virginia
17. Rutgers
18. Kent State
19. Drexel
20. Mercyhurst

Leading Tournament Scorers

                  Team   GP   G    A   Pts.
Bryce Johnson     PSU    2    2    4    6
Frank Matyok      OAK    3    2    4    6
Spencer Bonomo    ADR    2    4    1    5
Michael Longo     PSU    2    3    2    5
Dustin Hopfner    OAK    3    2    3    5
Chad Hudson       OKL    2    3    1    4
Adam Novack       OAK    3    3    1    4
Neeco Belanger    LIN    2    2    2    4
Colin Long        LIN    2    2    2    4
Travis McKinney   OKL    2    2    2    4
Jordan McDonald   OAK    3    2    2    4
Jordan Spear      ADR    2    1    3    4
Taylor Holstrom   PSU    2    1    3    4
Craig Martin      OKL    2    1    3    4
Darrell Boldon    ADR    2    1    3    4
Jason Michaud     DEL    2    1    3    4
Brandon Johnson   OAK    3    1    3    4

Leading Tournament Goalies

                  Team   GP  Rec.   SH   SV   Pct.  GAA
Matt Madrazo      PSU    1   1-0-0  26   25   .962  1.00
Justin Wisniewski KSU    1   0-0-1  65   63   .969  1.59
Matt Toter        OAK    3   3-0-0  97   91   .938  1.87
S.J. Broadt       DEL    2   2-0-0  --   --   .---  2.01
Phil Graveline    DAV    2   1-1-0  83   79   .952  2.02
Nick Clarke       ILL    1   0-1-0  30   28   .933  2.43
Mark Schacker     ASU    1   0-0-1  36   33   .917  2.48
Rob Borcky        WVU    2   1-1-0  74   69   .932  2.50
Tory Caldwell     UCO    2   1-1-0  72   66   .917  2.65
Nick Holmes       OKL    2   1-0-0  50   45   .900  2.68
Linus Ahgren      LIN    2   2-0-0  53   47   .887  3.00
P.J. Musico       PSU    1   1-0-0  23   20   .870  3.00

Nationals Day 2: PSU 4 vs. WVU 1/Second Round

Penn State press release // Box score

Black Shoe Diaries tournament thread

If history is any indication, we may be in for something special over the next few days.

Before dismissing the Icers' much-tougher-than-expected 4-1 win over West Virginia as your choice of a) underachievement, b) overachievement or c) how hockey goes sometimes, consider the following nationals openers from PSU history:

• March 1, 2000: The Icers need third-period goals from Ryan Wick and Alon Eizenman to put away Illinois 5-2, back when the Illini were decidedly south of "feared."
• March 1, 2001: In a similar type of game, second-seeded PSU let Kent State hang around until late Justin DePretis and Bobby Pate goals.
• February 27, 2002: In the biggest on-paper mismatch of that year's tournament, 12th-seeded Drexel takes top-seeded PSU to the limit before falling 2-1.
• February 26, 2003: Despite an 8-3 final score, the Icers struggle with heavy underdog Eastern Michigan, leading only 4-2 in the third period at one point.

After less-than-inspiring starts, each of those tournaments ended the same way - with one of the Icers' last four national championships. In this tournament's Icers debut, PSU struggled with a team it had beaten by a combined 14-1 in two January meetings. Perhaps by the time the show has run its course, March 3, 2012 will join the above list.

A strong early Penn State push in this second-round tilt with West Virginia abruptly ended with Tod Camara's power play goal for a 1-0 WVU lead with 7:59 remaining in the opening period, when he chipped Ken Bickell's point shot past Matt Madrazo. The Icers had dominated territorially until the too many men penalty that led to the advantage, and the Mountaineers, enlivened by the unlikely lead, started to find their legs and didn't seem particularly dissuaded by Michael Longo's power play goal off of a scramble in front of Mountaineer goalie Rob Borcky with just eight seconds remaining in the first period.

West Virginia did a masterful job all game long of waiting back and keeping the Icers' transition game in check, which has sort of become the book on how to play Penn State this year (blame Ohio for writing said book back in October). Borcky was also very good, stopping whatever got through.

However, it just took one mistake to undo two periods of a well-executed game plan. A muffed shot by the Mountaineers just under five minutes into the third period was astutely retrieved by Bryce Johnson, who started an odd man rush. A charging Brandon Russo was the beneficiary of Johnson's feed, and he buried to give the Icers the lead for the first time. The former St. Cloud State Husky was quite proud of the moment on Twitter following the game.

Another WVU mistake was punished, and some PSU insurance was gained, with 6:55 left in the game when Taylor Holstrom scored just seven seconds after Ken Bickell took a hooking penalty. Shortly after, Justin Kirchhevel matched Johnson in sauce slinging on the rush, with Mike McDonagh on the receiving end to deflect home the match's final goal.

With the win, the Icers move on to the quarterfinals, where No. 9 Oklahoma awaits at 5:00 p.m. Sunday.

Other Games

Adrian press release // Box score

Goaltender Matt Anderson, a stout Adrian penalty kill and a second-period barrage keyed a 6-3 Bulldogs win over Liberty in the opening game of the second round.

Even after AC built a 4-1 lead late in that middle period, the margin was jeopardized by a 2:38 5-on-3 advantage for the Flames. Not only did Adrian kill it off, but Tristan Musser found a fresh-out-of-the-box Alex Norman for a shorthanded breakaway goal that was enough to withstand an abbreviated Flames rally in the third. From the Adrian recap:

#12 seed Adrian took down the #5 seed Flames with a five-goal second period which put the game away. Liberty had a 1-0 lead after one period after Jake Hannon scored at 7:34. The Bulldogs then got to work in the second. Spencer Bonomo scored the first of his three goals on the day at 17:49 and then Ryan Bachman gave AC a 2-1 lead at 13:40.

Adrian's Jordan Spear scored at 8:53 followed by Bonomo again at 6:47 and then a short-handed goal by Alex Norman with eight seconds left in the period. Spear led Adrian with four points including a goal and three assists.

Rick Turner's power play goal at 11:42 of the third made it 5-2 and then Ryley Egan scored at 6:28 to cut the lead to 5-3. Adrian put it away with 5:45 left as Bonomo's hat trick gave the Bulldogs a first-round win. Darrell Boldon also had three assists for the Bulldogs. Matt Anderson stopped 43-of-46 shots for a .935 save percentage for Adrian.

Anderson and two of his fellow PKers during the late second period 5-on-3.

Oakland press release // Box score

Adam Novack buried the winner with 7:19 left in overtime to complete the biggest upset of the tournament so far, as 13th-seeded Oakland took down No. 4 Arizona State - one of the tournament favorites - 3-2. Said Novack of his golden goal:

"The Sun Devil player broke his stick. I tied the guy up on the wall and Macker (teammate Jordan MacDonald) come up with the puck. We were going two on two and we were going neck and neck with the defenseman and I was able to get wide of him and Mac (MacDonald) threw a nice pass. The goalie slid with me and I went back short side over his blocker."

The extra-period drama was only possible because of goalie Matt Toter's heroics to keep the Sun Devils at bay. Fresh off of a shutout of Mercyhurst in the opening round, Toter turned away 49 of 51 Sun Devil attempts, including every single one of them after the first period ended. Brandon Johnson and Dustin Hopfner scored in the second period for the Grizzlies to erase an early 2-0 hole and (eventually) force overtime.

The intensite of the ASU bench during the overtime period was ultimately unrewarded.

Ohio press release // Box score

Ohio twice jumped out to three-goal leads, and twice survived subsequent Illinois rallies, as the Bobcats eliminated their CSCHL rivals to advance to the quarterfinals. Tyler Pilmore, Nick Rostek and Jonathan Pietramala represented the first OU barrage. Each scored in the first 10:38 of the game, sending Illini starting goalie Dan Rooney to the bench in favor of Nick Clarke.

At the onset of the second, Illinois came out with a more inspired effort. Another Schultz, Derek, who also wears number 10, broke the scoring drought for the Fighting Illini, sending one past the right blocker of Fedor Dushkin.

Later in the second, an unlikely strike from Matt Welch found twine to bring the Illini to within one. It was Welch’s fourth score on the year. On their heels, the Bobcats buckled down for a run that built their lead up once again.

Zack Barbis fired top shelf after splitting the Illini defense to put the lead at 4-2. Later in the frame, another skater got his fourth goal of the year. This time, it was John Luciana, who fired left side past Rooney to build Ohio’s lead back to three goals.

Illinois again trimmed the lead to one in the third period thanks to a pair of power play goals, but could get no closer, thanks in part to a boarding penalty while attempting to get Clarke off for an extra skater. The call negated the extra Illinois attacker, and OU held on for the win.

Davenport press release // Box score

A pair of third-period goals from Ryan McDonald and Chris Volonnino snapped a 1-1 tie and propelled the third-seeded Blue Hens through to the quarterfinals over the defending national champions.

With the Panthers' Blake Dameroux in the box for tripping, UD defenseman Jason Michaud blasted a point shot wide off the end boards, allowing Christian Tasker to retrieve it and feed McDonald in front for the eventual game winner. The insurance came just under five minutes later when Volonnino powered Nick LePore's drop pass past Davenport goalie Phil Graveline. Well before that, the teams had traded opening period goals, as Michaud dented the scoresheet first, followed 1:54 later by DU's Zack Blumke finishing Phil Wendecker's centering pass.

Delaware's win wasn't an ordinary dethroning of defending champs. While the Panthers won the D1 title last season in their first year at that level, they also won D2 titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010. This defeat, then, was DU's first at an ACHA national championship tournament since the 2007 D2 national championship game.

Box score

Most tournament games between eighth and ninth seeds are close. This one was not. Oklahoma obliterated Iowa State behind a four-point effort from Travis McKinney and three more from Craig Martin.

McKinney notched half of his points in the first 3:20 of the game as the Sooners buried ISU early. His power play goal opened the scoring, and he set up Broderick Browne at even strength 1:28 later. Oklahoma chased Cyclone goalie Paul Karus before the first period ended on another man-advantage tally, this time from Troy Puente. Karus' replacement, Jared Anderson, wasn't treated any better as the Sooners rattled off second period goals from Martin, McKinney, Chad Hudson and Alex Jacobs to put the game completely out of reach. In all, OU was 4-of-6 on the power play after converting on the first four attempts.

Goaltender Nick Holmes stopped 19 of 21 for the Sooners in a largely stress-free outing.

Holmes spent much of the game observing action at the other end.

Box score

Seventh-seeded Minot State rallied from an early 2-0 hole against Robert Morris (IL) to win going away.

While Donald Iverson's first-period answer 1:35 after RMU scored their second was important, even more so was a dominant second period that saw the Beavers put four past Eagle goalie Andy DiCristofaro. Danny Urban tied the game on a rebound goal at the 7:07 mark, and markers from Cam McGeough, Josh Rutherford (on the power play) and Michael Jordan in the last 3:15 of the middle period put Minot firmly in control of things.

Robert Morris did make things a little interesting late. With the Beavers laying back and trying to kill off the entire third period, Tony Domico deflected Ryan O'Connell's point shot past Wyatt Waselenchuk to cut the MSU lead to two with 9:20 left. The Eagles kept good pressure on throughout much of the period but were unable to add a fourth goal before Jordan added insurance in the final minute of play to effectively end the tilt.

Lindenwood press release // Box score

The Lindenwood Lions used bursts of offense early and late to topple an upset-minded Central Oklahoma.

When LU's Steve Brancheau and Joe Bostic scored in the first 1:38 of the game, it looked like UCO - which was coming off of a hard-earned OT win against Kent State in the opening round - might be blown out. Colin Long's power play goal for a 3-0 Lindy lead seemed to confirm that line of thinking.

But the Bronchos, as Icers fans know all too well, have an ability to hang with heavily-favored teams. Shane Khalaf answered Long on the very next shift to cut the lead to 3-1 after one period. Late in the second, UCO's Peter Kressner located his team's leading scorer, Donald Geary, coming off of the bench. Geary received Kressner's stretch pass and cashed in the resulting breakaway with a backhand between the pads of Linus Ahgren.

However, before the enormous upset could properly materialize, a bizarre twist doomed it. With 8:44 left, Lindenwood's Neeco Belanger shot on the Broncho net from center. What started as a harmless looking half dump-half shot took a tricky bounce in front and eluded UCO goalie Tory Caldwell for a back-breaking goal. Belanger added another three minutes later for the final margin.

Sunday Tournament Schedule

12. Adrian vs. 13. Oakland, 11:00 a.m., West Rink
3. Delaware vs. 6. Ohio, 2:00 p.m., West Rink
1. Penn State vs. 9. Oklahoma, 5:00 p.m., West Rink
2. Lindenwood vs. 7. Minot State, 8:00 p.m., West Rink

Final Tournament Placement

9. Arizona State
10. Liberty
11. Iowa State
12. Robert Morris (IL)
13. Illinois
14. Davenport
15. Central Oklahoma
16. West Virginia
17. Rutgers
18. Kent State
19. Drexel
20. Mercyhurst

Leading Tournament Scorers

                  Team   GP   G    A   Pts.
Travis McKinney   OKL    1    2    2    4
Jordan McDonald   OAK    2    2    2    4
Jordan Spear      ADR    1    1    3    4
Daniel Lamb       MSU    1    0    4    4
Spencer Bonomo    ADR    1    3    0    3
Adam Novack       OAK    2    3    0    3
Michael Jordan    MSU    1    2    1    3
Neeco Belanger    LIN    1    2    1    3
Dustin Hopfner    OAK    2    2    1    3
Craig Martin      OKL    1    1    2    3
Brandon Johnson   OAK    2    1    2    3
Darrell Boldon    ADR    1    0    3    3
Mike Evans        ILL    1    0    3    3
Frank Matyok      OAK    2    0    3    3
Jacob DeSano      OAK    2    0    3    3

Leading Tournament Goalies

                  Team   GP  Rec.   SH   SV   Pct.  GAA
Matt Toter        OAK    2   2-0-0  69   67   .971  0.90
Matt Madrazo      PSU    1   1-0-0  26   25   .962  1.00
S.J. Broadt       DEL    1   1-0-0  --   --   .---  1.00
Justin Wisniewski KSU    1   0-0-1  65   63   .969  1.59
Linus Ahgren      LIN    1   1-0-0  31   29   .935  2.00
Nick Holmes       OKL    1   1-0-0  21   19   .905  2.00
Phil Graveline    DAV    2   1-1-0  83   79   .952  2.02
Nick Clarke       ILL    1   0-1-0  30   28   .933  2.43
Mark Schacker     ASU    1   0-0-1  36   33   .917  2.48
Rob Borcky        WVU    2   1-1-0  74   69   .932  2.50
Tory Caldwell     UCO    2   1-1-0  72   66   .917  2.65
Matt Anderson     ADR    1   1-0-0  46   43   .935  3.00
Wyatt Waselenchuk MSU    1   1-0-0  27   24   .889  3.00

Nationals Day 1: First Round

Oakland press release // Box score

The thirteenth-seeded Oakland Grizzlies used dominant special teams to dispose of an outclassed Mercyhurst in the opening match of the ACHA national championship tournament.

Following a strong first few minutes from the Lakers, OU turned an early shorthanded situation into momentum. Shortly after Alexander Hoffman's boarding penalty expired, Oakland gained a power play, and Jordan McDonald cashed it in for the opening goal. McDonald again factored into the scoring six minutes later when he pulled the puck from the boards to feed Billy Balent, who whipped out a filthy toe drag/bury combo to make it 2-0 at the break. From there, things got a little out of hand.

The second period saw the Grizzlies explode for five goals including a rocket on the power play by defenseman Dustin Hopfner.

Not to be outdone forward Adam Novack would fire a rebound shot into a wide open Lakers net for another power play goal.

MacDonald and Novack would also add a goal each for the Grizzlies later in the second period.

Midway through the second period forward Ethan Range would extend the Grizzlies lead to 5-0. Range would also score the lone Grizzlies goal in the third period.

In all, Oakland was 4-of-9 on the power play. The Grizzlies will now face No. 4 Arizona State Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m.

Davenport press release // Box score

A game Drexel squad gave defending national champion Davenport all they could handle before falling 4-1. After the Dragons dominated play through the first 16 minutes, the Panthers flipped on a switch while killing a late Jeff Slusser cross-checking penalty. Shortly after, with only 17 seconds left in the stanza, Ben Dykstra one-timed Brock Carlston's feed home from the high slot to complete the drastic momentum swing.

The score remained 1-0 until 5:00 into the second period, when Norm Farr was awarded - and converted - a penalty shot to make it 2-0. Farr had broken in on Drexel goalie Dan Pyne alone, but Dragons defenseman Mike Antoni came back and took his legs out (whether he successfully played the puck first to make the penalty shot a bad call is a matter of some debate, especially with Drexel partisans). Ross Denczi sliced the Panther lead in half off of a centering feed from Kyle Zoldy later in the middle period, but the Dragons would get to closer, as Dysktra added a second goal with 3:56 left to seal the win before an empty-netter closed the scoring.

Here are the thoughts of Davenport head coach Phil Sweeney:

"We had to do what we had to do to win the game. It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world but it's the national tournament and you're going to have games were the puck bounces over the stick or guys have breakdowns. To their credit, Drexel played us tough. They played their system, had odd-man rushes and [goalie Phil] Graveline came up big when he needed to."

Davenport, the 14th seed, will square off with No. 3 Delaware Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Box score

Arguably the most anticipated game of the first round failed to live up to that billing as West Virginia cruised to a shockingly easy 5-1 win over Rutgers. The Mountaineers move on to the second round, where they'll play Penn State Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Really, the only reason the score wasn't more one-sided was the efforts of RU goalie Brandon DeLibero. He stopped 15 of 16 West Virginia shots in the first period to keep the Scarlet Knights temporarily engaged and 32 of 37 overall. The Eers placed themselves firmly in control with two goals 1:36 apart early in the second from Christian Lewton and Sam Jarrett. Jarrett added a second goal in the third period, and Conor Frei also tallied to thwart any notion of a Rutgers comeback. The Knights' extremely potent top line, despite a second-period Matthew McDonald goal, was largely shut down by a nice defensive effort, and RU was unable to find a secondary attack.

Box score

If the Rutgers-West Virginia game was disappointingly non-competitive, this tilt more than made up for it. I mean, what else would you expect from a matchup of a team that lost to Penn State 13-1 one week ago (part of a 13 game losing streak overall) and one that beat the Icers in January?

Thanks largely to the efforts of Golden Flashes goalie Justin Wisniewski, who stopped 63 of 65 shots playing in his hometown of Strongsville, OH, the expected blowout became an unlikely classic. He and Central Oklahoma netminder Tory Caldwell traded saves through a scoreless first two periods. But when the ice tilted towards Wisniewski as the game went on and Broncho defenseman Tyler Benson walked into the high slot and roofed one over him with 15:50 left in the game, it looked like the end for the Flashes. The story, though, was just beginning.

In the extremely late stages of the third period, and during a scramble in front of the UCO goal, Caldwell pushed his net off and was busted for doing so a single second away from victory. Penalty shot, Kent State. Jeremy Melbye calmly buried it, forcing overtime, and forcing me to delete my queued-up final score tweet.

UCO dominated play for the first five minutes of the extra session, but KSU somehow rediscovered their legs and evened things out for a wild stretch of prime chances in each direction for the next seven. With 4:13 left though, Melbye - the hero of the recent past via his penalty shot - became a goat. His turnover deep in the KSU end went right on the stick of UCO's Patrick Higgins, who teed up teammate Corey Allen to blast home the winner and send Central Oklahoma to the second round, where they'll play No. 2 Lindenwood Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday Tournament Schedule

5. Liberty vs. 12. Adrian, 10:00 a.m., East Rink
4. Arizona State vs. 13. Oakland, 11:00 a.m., West Rink
6. Ohio vs. 11. Illinois, 1:00 p.m., East Rink
3. Delaware vs. 14. Davenport, 2:00 p.m., West Rink
8. Iowa State vs. 9. Oklahoma, 4:00 p.m., East Rink
1. Penn State vs. 17. West Virginia, 5:00 p.m., West Rink
7. Minot State vs. 10. Robert Morris, 7:00 p.m., East Rink
2. Lindenwood vs. 15. Central Oklahoma, 8:00 p.m., West Rink

Final Tournament Placement

17. Rutgers
18. Kent State
19. Drexel
20. Mercyhurst

Leading Tournament Scorers

                  Team   GP   G    A   Pts.
Jordan McDonald   OAK    1    2    1    3
Jacob DeSano      OAK    1    0    3    3
Adam Novack       OAK    1    2    0    2
Ethan Range       OAK    1    2    0    2
Sam Jarrett       WVU    1    2    0    2
Ben Dykstra       DAV    1    2    0    2
Dustin Hopfner    OAK    1    1    1    2
Christian Lewton  WVU    1    1    1    2
Brandon Johnson   OAK    1    0    2    2
Alexander Hoffman OAK    1    0    2    2
Frank Matyok      OAK    1    0    2    2

Leading Tournament Goalies

                  Team   GP  Rec.   SH   SV   Pct.  GAA
Matt Toter        OAK    1   1-0-0  18   18   1.00  0.00
Tory Caldwell     UCO    1   1-0-0  31   30   .968  0.79
Phil Graveline    DAV    1   1-0-0  42   41   .976  1.00
Rob Borcky        WVU    1   1-0-0  26   25   .962  1.00
Justin Wisniewski KSU    1   0-0-1  65   63   .969  1.59

The View From Everyone Else

Surely by now, you've read and laughed at (I see you, Josh Weiner) the official TYT predictions for nationals (Part I, Part II, Part III). Before we crank things up tomorrow, I wanted to highlight some of the other great work done ahead of the show.

Every tournament game will be streamed on FastHockey.com. The site requires a free account, but the usual game credit fees will be waived for all ACHA tournament games.

2012 M1 National Tournament
(achahockey.org)

Let's start with the nuts and bolts - the ACHA site's tournament page, which includes a schedule [pdf], brackets [pdf] and a link to the tournament's official site (which includes ticket and hotel information).

Icers Primer: The ACHA Tournament (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

(Black Shoe Diaries)

IcersGuy always manages to say a couple things I wish I had said, whether about already-played games or now this. His read on the Icers is spot on, and he also hedges on predictions better than me.

Tournament Thoughts
(The View From the Booth)

Steve Penstone's entry, as usual, is packed with interviews - Guy Gadowsky and Dan Loucks are in the spotlight this time around, and the Joe Battista conversation from the second intermission of the Kent State game is included as well.

Icers Take Aim at One More National Title Before Going Division I
(statecollege.com)

Twitter god Ben Jones gets insightful quotes from Gadowsky, Kurt Collins and Dan Petrick here. The Collins/Petrick angle - local guys who have a history with the Icers and State College hockey prior to their freshman years - is a previously undertapped one.

Icers should win ACHA Title
(The Daily Collegian)

A bold call from Christine Newby, but then again...

2012 ACHA Tournament Preview: Round 1 and Quarterfinals
(pennstatehockey.com)

The official site takes a look at each of the four possible Icers opponents on Saturday and Sunday.

Perspectives from other teams: Illinois // Liberty // Oakland // Ohio // Robert Morris (IL)

End of the Road (Part III)

Part 3 of a three-part series previewing the ACHA Division 1 national championship tournament (Part 1, Part 2).

For this final installment, let's take it home from the quarterfinals to the team that will hoist the Murdoch Cup.

Quarterfinals

4. Arizona State (28-5-1) vs. 12. Adrian (25-13-1)

Sunday, 11:00 a.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Arizona State: none, Adrian: none
Last Tournament Appearance: Arizona State: 2011 (10th), Adrian: 2011 (5th)
Arizona State: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Adrian: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

Adrian is certainly a nice looking team, but I'm just not convinced they have enough to stay with the Sun Devils. In fact, I think they feel a lot like the team ASU beat in the previous round to get here, Oakland - both are GLCHL teams that are good offensively (if occasionally unbalanced), but with some questions in their own end. The Bulldogs have the added disadvantage of needing to go through a tough, physical Liberty team to get to this point.

I can't think of anything new to say about Arizona State. Well, there is one thing: they're excellent at highlight videos.

Adrian's not horrible at it either. Interestingly, both prominently feature blowtorchings of Arizona. So apologies to the official TYT Arizona guy, I guess. But seriously, ASU has beaten archrival UofA 24 consecutive times out, so one has to expect a little of that.

The unanimous decision on both the video and the hockey team go to ASU.

Pick: Arizona State, 5-1.

3. Delaware (30-3-1) vs. 6. Ohio (26-13-1)

Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Delaware: none, Ohio: 1995-1997, 2004
Last Tournament Appearance: Delaware: 2011 (4th), Ohio: 2011 (3nd)
Delaware: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Ohio: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

For discussion of Ohio, let's defer to coach Dan Morris and broadcaster Justin Sampson, since they probably know the team better than I do. The video largely focuses on OU's set-in-stone second round tilt with Illinois, but it was posted after I already had that game done, so you get it here.

That difference between being the second seed and the third seed might turn out to be huge for Delaware, and not in a good way. If the brackets play out as they're seeded - for the games pertinent to the coming point, I've predicted that they will - second-seeded Lindenwood will draw Central Oklahoma and Minot State, while the second-ranked (key difference) Blue Hens get defending champ Davenport and Ohio. Just on the smell check, the latter strikes me as a much tougher road to the semifinals.

Looking behind the curtain of the Blue Hens' record, many of those 30 wins came rather unimpressively: 3-2 (SO) against Rutgers, 6-4, 3-2 and 4-2 against West Virginia, 3-2 against Stony Brook, 5-4 against the Robert Morris not in the tournament, 5-3 against Lebanon Valley and 3-1 against West Chester. Is that the sign of an underachieving team that gets bored with walkover games or one that's maybe a little overrated to begin with? It's tough to tell, because UD has fewer top-end wins than one might expect - four wins against Liberty and that home victory against a shorthanded Penn State team on November 18th are about it.

Well, okay, I forgot one. UD did also dispatch of Ohio 6-1 on October 9th at the ACHA Showcase. They are a fantastic team - deep, experienced defense, boatloads of talent - but my gut tells me that they're not going to be able to overcome the loss of goalie S.J. Broadt against a better team than they would have faced as the second seed. Ohio gives two goalies (Fedor Dushkin and Brendan Madden) significant minutes, but either is capable of stealing one.

Pick: Ohio, 3-2.

1. Penn State (27-3-1) vs. 9. Oklahoma (25-12-2)

Sunday, 5:00 p.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Penn State: 1998, 2000-2003, Oklahoma: none
Last Tournament Appearance: Penn State: 2011 (11th), Oklahoma: 2011 (7th)
Penn State: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Oklahoma: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

Penn State has been considered the favorite in the ACHA for most (probably all, actually) of this season, and with good reason. The Icers added four players who transferred from NCAA Division I programs (Nate Jensen, Taylor Holstrom, Bryce Johnson and Justin Kirchhevel), two others who played in the USHL (Tommy Olczyk and Brandon Russo), and several who have reasonable hopes of playing for next year's NCAA team to what was already a good group of returning players. Oh, and there's also a DI staff with a proven track record at that level running the show. The returns have been great for the most part, and accordingly, PSU has held the ACHA's top rank since October 21st. Particularly important has been the team's depth, especially at forward, which allows Guy Gadowsky to throw substantially different lineups out from one game to the next. If you want a bunch of statistics proving the Icers' dominance throughout the season, this column is a good place to start.

Are there concerns for the Icers? I think so. Defensively, PSU has been hit with a lot of injuries this year, testing the unit's resilience. Steve Edgeworth, Dan Loucks and Russo, along with goaltender Matt Madrazo, have been among the recently banged up. Really, the Icers are always a key injury away from being in a sticky spot on the back end. The power play has been a season-long (really, a two-season-long) struggle as well. Overall, it's hit at 24 percent, but that number drops to 21 percent when only counting games against tournament teams, and even more drastically to 15 percent against the top 12. In a tight tournament game against a talented team like, say, Oklahoma, PSU might be on the advantage late in a tied game. Will the power play deliver?

Olczyk collected two assists in the last five minutes of regulation against Oklahoma on February 4th - both at even strength.

It most decidedly did not in the Icers' last game against the Sooners on February 4th. Through eight chances and zero conversions, OU held a 3-0 lead until PSU exploded for three goals in the last five minutes of regulation to force overtime, where George Saad eventually won it. With a combined 2-for-5 effort in the other two meetings, the Icers won both handily - 3-0 at Oklahoma and 7-2 at the Ice Pavilion. If this matchup happens, I believe it will be the toughest test for PSU until the (spoiler alert) finals. Largely due to their talent level and newly-discovered discipline (in a relative sense), the Sooners might be the only team outside of the top five or six that can consistently punish mental mistakes and/or a low compete level. Penn State will need to bring their best game, but will win a close one, in slightly less dramatic fashion than that last game between the teams.

Pick: Penn State, 4-2.

2. Lindenwood (30-5-0) vs. 7. Minot State (25-6-2)

Sunday, 8:00 p.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Lindenwood: 2009, 2010, Minot State: none
Last Tournament Appearance: Lindenwood: 2011 (2nd), Minot State: 2011 (9th)
Lindenwood: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Minot State: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

For all of their status within the ACHA, and despite that second seed, I think Lindenwood's been a little shortchanged this year in terms of public opinion. It's easy to forget now, but at the end of November, "what's wrong with Lindenwood and Davenport?" was one of the season's prevailing storylines. DU was 7-8-0, while Lindy had just come off being swept by Oklahoma (their second and third losses to the Sooners) and had previously been taken to the limit by the Ice Lions, Penn State's D2 team.

Davenport has remained in a season-long haze of mediocrity, but the Lions turned down the suck in a hurry. The swing point may have been December 2nd, when Lindenwood went into Ames, IA and blew a 3-1 lead against Iowa State, allowing the Cyclones to force overtime late. Grant Gorczyca's shootout decider recovered the W for LU, and Kirk Croswell stopped 29 of 30 the next night to gain a tough sweep, 2-1. Those were the first two victories of a still-active 18-game streak. Gorczyca and defenseman Bret Morrell were both first-team All-American last year, while former USHLer Colin Long, another d-man, was a second-teamer (next to PSU's Steve Thurston, incidentally) two years ago. Junior forward Jeremy Meletti, Necco Belanger, a junior who missed most of last season for disciplinary reasons and former Motor City Metal Jackets (NAHL) teammates Steve Brancheau and Peppi Sipila add even more punch.

Minot struggled to keep up with Brancheau and company in the early stages of the season.

The season series went to the Lions via a season-opening 3-2, 7-4 home sweep. LU is a better team now than they were then. My sense is that it all adds up to a head-turning win for a program that's somehow been a little under the radar.

Pick: Lindenwood, 6-1.

Semifinals

1. Penn State (27-3-1) vs. 6. Ohio (26-13-1)

Tuesday, 5:00 or 8:00 p.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Penn State: 1998, 2000-2003, Ohio: 1995-1997, 2004
Last Tournament Appearance: Penn State: 2011 (11th), Ohio: 2011 (3nd)
Penn State: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Ohio: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

This tournament wouldn't feel quite right without a Penn State-Ohio game. The only thing better would be one for the championship, but that possibility falls under "extremely remote," thanks to the Bobcats' low seed (teams are re-seeded for the semifinals, so someone lower than sixth would have to make it to this round for OU to avoid pairing with PSU). As it is, I had to give Ohio the upset nod over Delaware.

Just to give some of the historical background we've all heard by now, the two titans have met seven times at nationals in the ACHA era.

• February 26, 1992: Behind Chris Cervellero's hat trick, the Icers thump OU 7-1 in the opening game of the inaugural ACHA tournament at the Ice Pavilion.
• March 4, 1995: The Bobcats win their first national championship in Tucson, AZ with Mike Lee's 4-0 blanking of PSU.
• March 7, 1998: Rob Shaner scored three times and added an assist, helping Penn State to return the favor with a 5-1 title game win at Iowa State. The PSU victory snapped an OU run of three consecutive championships.
• March 3, 2003: The Icers win another national championship against Ohio, this time 5-0 on OU's home ice at Bird Arena.
• March 7, 2004: In a second PSU-OU championship match played at ISU, the Bobcats get revenge to the tune of 5-4. Much like the previous championship game played in Ames, this one also snapped a string of consecutive titles - Penn State's four in a row.
• March 5, 2005: Penn State wins a semifinal against Ohio 3-1, but for the first time since 1994, a team other than those two, Illinois, claims the national title.
• March 15, 2009: Frank Berry's overtime goal propels PSU to a 3-2 quarterfinal win. Ohio had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fourth period. For more on that one, check out this post, or just watch the video immediately below.

If this game happens the Icers, who won all four regular season meetings, will match 2008-2009's best-ever 5-0 record against the Bobcats for the same reasons that allowed them to win the first four. OU might prove out of their pay grade here and therefore lucky to draw Delaware in the previous round.

Pick: Penn State, 5-2.

2. Lindenwood (30-5-0) vs. 4. Arizona State (28-5-1)

Tuesday, 5:00 or 8:00 p.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Lindenwood: 2009, 2010, Arizona State: none
Last Tournament Appearance: Lindenwood: 2011 (2nd), Arizona State: 2011 (10th)
Lindenwood: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Arizona State: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

Other than pointing out that these teams split a series in Tempe, AZ back in October (4-1 ASU, 2-1 LU), there's not really a whole lot to add to what has already been said. Much as in Lindenwood's season-altering series with Iowa State discussed above, goaltending was the difference in the Lions' win. Croswell stopped all but one of his 33 shots - by the way, he's not even the regular starter, Kent Henry has chewed up most of the team's minutes in goal this year. Croswell just finds big games and plays well when called on. Defense also won out in the ASU half of the weekend (the score includes an empty-netter), with Mark Schacker turning aside 39 of 40 and Ben Findlay's pair of goals providing just enough offense (there's more of that Sun Devil depth, as I didn't mention Findlay in yesterday's post name-dropping some of the Sun Devils' scorers).

These are two fantastic teams, and if things play out a little differently (an Oklahoma/Iowa State upset of the Icers and Delaware not losing to Ohio being the two most obvious ways), I could easily see this as the national championship game. Regardless of how this matchup happens, Lindenwood has just a little too much horsepower for ASU.

Pick: Lindenwood, 3-2.

Championship Game

1. Penn State (27-3-1) vs. 2. Lindenwood (30-5-0)

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
West Rink

National Championships: Penn State: 1998, 2000-2003, Lindenwood: 2009, 2010
Last Tournament Appearance: Penn State: 2011 (11th), Lindenwood: 2011 (2nd)
Penn State: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics
Lindenwood: Roster // Schedule/Results // Statistics

Last year in Delaware, one of the tournament's themes was the emergence of new powers Lindenwood and Davenport in the ACHA. Sure, the Lions were already the two-time defending champions, but they beat traditional powers Illinois and Iowa State to win. Last year, LU and DU (a first-year D1 program) emphatically pushed the old guard aside, first with the Panthers' destruction of Rhode Island in the second round (after URI had beaten PSU the day before), then with the two schools notching semifinal wins over Ohio and Delaware to meet in the championship game.

I mention that just to set up the fact that in Penn State (and its unique situation, I should acknowledge that - the program was nowhere close to this caliber last season), the group with pre-2005 history has a shot at revenge. And really, is there a more perfect way for this to end beyond PSU-OU which, as discussed, is pretty unlikely? The Icers played in ten consecutive championship games from 1998-2007, winning five of them to cement their place as the most storied program in ACHA history. Right after that streak ended, Lindenwood's began. The Lions lost to Illinois in the 2008 final, won their two Murdoch Cups, then fell in overtime to the Panthers last year. This year, they'll make it five straight finals, but Penn State will win a sixth championship since the ACHA's founding and an eighth overall on the way out the door. It's the way it has to end.

Pick: Penn State, 4-3 (OT).