{"id":31203,"date":"2010-03-21T12:24:57","date_gmt":"2010-03-21T17:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/21\/ncaa-championship-notebook\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:56","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:56","slug":"ncaa-championship-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/21\/ncaa-championship-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Championship Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"
This was the fifth national championship to be decided in overtime. None of the prior ones went into a second overtime period. It’s the second time each of these teams were involved in one. Both lost in previous attempts.<\/p>\n
The first was 1993, the first time they used a neutral site for Division III. Held at the Aldrich Arena in Maplewood, Minn., the final consisted of an intraconference battle between the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point. Stevens Point took the win, 4-3. This gave the Pointers their fourth title in five years.<\/p>\n
It was another nine years before a final match needed extra time. Norwich led Superior, 2-1, when Colin Kendall scored not one but two of the most historic goals in Yellowjackets history. Kendall tied the game with 1:26 left in regulation. Then, just 26 seconds into overtime, Kendall ended it, giving Superior their one and only title in the quickest overtime game in a Division III championship final.<\/p>\n
Two years later, fans were treated to free hockey again. In a defensive, goaltending battle, Middlebury and St. Norbert played to a scoreless tie after 60 minutes. However, when overtime started, it didn’t take long to finally see a goal. Kevin Cooper scored at 2:58 to kick off another string of national championships for the Panthers as they went on to win three in a row.<\/p>\n
The last overtime final before today saw Middlebury on the wrong end of the results sheet. In 2007, Middlebury and Oswego fought a seesaw battle. The Panthers tied the game with 2:25 left in the third. But it was Oswego that got the last goal at 12:55 by Garren Reisweber. It was the longest championship game in Division III until today.<\/p>\n
The previous longest NCAA Division III playoff game went 93:26 between RIT and Union in 1984, which Union won, 5-4, in the semifinal round.<\/p>\n
The new record, of course, is now 99:29.<\/p>\n
“Thank God it ended,” Norwich head coach Mike McShane said. “That was a tiring game.”<\/p>\n