USCHO has teamed with message board member “Fighting Sioux 23” to publish simulations of the 2020 NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey championship.
Results from Friday’s regional semifinals can be found here. Saturday’s regional finals as well as the other four regional semifinals can be found below.
Worcester Regional championship game
#2 Boston College 3, #1 Cornell 1
Despite falling behind, 1-0, on a second-period goal by Cornell’s Yanni Kaldis, Boston College scored the game’s final three goals to punch its ticket to the Frozen Four with a 3-1 victory over the Big Red in the Worcester Regional final.
With less than eight minutes remaining in the second, Boston College evened the game on an Alex Newhook goal and then took the lead late in the frame when Matt Boldy banged home the rebound of David Cotton’s shot.
Cornell stormed the net in the third period and goaltender Spencer Knight stopped all 15 shots he faced. The pressure from the Big Red, though, led to a stellar chance at the other end by the Eagles as Jack McBain fed Aapeli Rasanen on a two-on-one for the insurance goal, sending BC to the Frozen Four to play for the national title.
Loveland Regional championship game
#4 Ohio State 3, #2 Denver 2
Despite being down, 2-0, Ohio State rallied for the game’s final three goals, including Grant Gabriele’s game-winner in the game’s final minutes as the Buckeyes pulled off back-to-back upsets in the Loveland Regional to advance to the Frozen Four.
Jaakko Heikkinen and Cole Guttman scored in the first period to give Denver the advantage. And despite numerous chances to expand that lead, Ohio State had a rally as Friday’s hero Carson Meyer tallied in the second to cut the lead to a goal.
After the Buckeyes killed a major penalty to keep the lead to a goal, Wyatt Ege’s shot redirected off a Denver skate to even the game.
With the game headed to overtime, Gabriele picked up a puck at the point and blasted a shot past Magnus Chrona to send Ohio State to the Frozen Four.
Allentown Regional semifinals
#1 Minnesota State 5, #4 Western Michigan 3
Minnesota State, looking for their first NCAA win, jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1, only to watch fourth-seed Western Michigan rally to tie the game at three in the third period.
That was until Hobey Baker finalist Marc Michaelis found the back of the net late in the third for his second goal of the game to give the Mavericks the victory. Reggie Lute’s late goal was the necessary insurance as Minnesota State advanced to the finals of the Allentown Regional.
The Mavericks held a 3-2 lead at the end of two periods before Rhett Kingston’s shot deflected off a defender and past another Hobey Baker finalist, Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay. That goal evened the game late but also set up the heroic moment that most will remember from Michaelis’ season.
#2 Penn State 3, #3 UMass Lowell 2
Alex Limoges’ goal in the closing minutes of regulation sent the highly-partisan Penn State crowded into a state of jubilation as regional host Penn State edged UMass Lowell, 3-2, to advance to Sunday’s title game where they will face top seed Minnesota State.
The Nittany Lions rallied from a 2-1 deficit after Connor Sodergren and Matt Brown gave the River Hawks the lead after falling behind early in the first period.
Early in the third, though, Nate Sucese ripped a wrist shot off the glove of Lowell’s Tyler Wall to even the game at two.
Albany Regional semifinals
#1 North Dakota 5, #4 Sacred Heart 1
In the most lopsided quarterfinal game, Atlantic Hockey’s streak of first-round upsets came to an end as top-seed North Dakota jumped scored early and often and never looked back, capturing a 5-1 win over the Pioneers to advance to Sunday’s regional final.
Westin Michaud, Grant Mismash, Collin Adams, Shane Pinto and Matt Kiersted all scored for the Fighting Hawks. Honey Baker finalist Jason Cotton scored the only goal for Sacred Heart.
#3 Massachusetts 4, #2 Clarkson 3
UMass fell behind 2-0, but rallied for the game’s next four goals and held on late as Clarkson put forth a furious push before the Minutemen earned a 4-3 victory on Saturday earning a matchup with top overall seed North Dakota in the Albany Regional final.
Jack Jacome and Brian Hurley gave the Golden Knights a two-goal lead in the first period.
Down but not out, UMass rallied with a furious second. John Leonard scored three minutes into the period, and Mitchell Chaffee scored on the power play just after the midway point of the frame.
Jack Suter gave the Minutemen their first lead less than three minutes later, forcing Clarkson to call their timeout. That didn’t stop the bleeding, though, as Reed Lebster extended the lead to two before the end of the second.
The third was a furious rally for Clarkson and Haralds Ege closed the gap to one, but UMass netminder Matt Murray was strong down the stretch, earning the win for last year’s national runner-up.
