{"id":24616,"date":"2002-04-06T09:13:19","date_gmt":"2002-04-06T15:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2002\/04\/06\/the-leap\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:54:27","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:54:27","slug":"the-leap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2002\/04\/06\/the-leap\/","title":{"rendered":"The Leap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johnny Pohl knows a thing or two about jumping after a big goal. He paid tribute to his brother Mark’s signature move last season by duplicating the “Pohl Vault,” a jump and turn into the Plexiglas.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n
Matt Koalska’s last-minute goal sent the title game into overtime (photo: Pedro Cancel)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

So Pohl was pumped when he saw teammate Matt Koalska come up with his own jump after scoring the game-tying goal with 52.4 seconds left Saturday in Minnesota’s 4-3 overtime victory.<\/p>\n

Koalska, harkening back to his days at Hill-Murray High School in Maplewood, Minn., skated directly toward the Gophers’ bench, leapt in the air, got his knees on top of the boards and got mobbed by his teammates.<\/p>\n

“That was so cool the way he jumped up like that,” Pohl said. “He got really high, and it was awesome.”<\/p>\n

Koalska, taking a cue from his roots, dubbed his move the “Polish Leap.”<\/p>\n

“I’ve got some ups,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure, actually, if it went in. I saw everybody yelling. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”<\/p>\n

Amid the celebration surrounding the Gophers’ first national title since 1979, they were a bit humble, knowing how close they were to watching Maine skate with the trophy in their home state.<\/p>\n

Coach Don Lucia led the charge.<\/p>\n

“With a minute and a half left, did I think we were going to win?” Lucia asked himself in the aftermath of his first national championship. “No.”<\/p>\n

Said Pohl: “If one minute would have gone by, this would have been the biggest letdown of our life. Now it’s the greatest day of our life.”<\/p>\n

Some other observations from the Gophers locker room:<\/p>\n

  • Former Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer greeted Lucia after the postgame news conference. “I’m proud of you, pal,” Sauer said.\n
  • Leopold arrived at the Gophers’ news conference with his full uniform on — skates and all. He did more interviews in the locker room with the skates still on.\n
  • Lucia wore the same tie he wore for Thursday’s semifinal victory over Michigan. “Johnny [Pohl] told me it was a lucky tie, so I had to keep it on one more time,” he said. “Now maybe I’ll retire it and frame it.”
    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Johnny Pohl knows a thing or two about jumping after a big goal. He paid tribute to his brother Mark’s signature move last season by duplicating the “Pohl Vault,” a jump and turn into the Plexiglas. Matt Koalska’s last-minute goal sent the title game into overtime (photo: Pedro Cancel) So Pohl was pumped when he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Leap - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Johnny Pohl knows a thing or two about jumping after a big goal. 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