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Huskies ousted by Duluth
SCSU still holding out hope for a miracle to make NCAA tourney
By Bobby Hart
Published:
Thursday, March 20, 2003
The University of Minnesota- Duluth Bulldogs put a sharp thorn in the SCSU men's hockey team's hopes of returning to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year by taking the best of a three-game series (5-4, 2-3, 7-3) at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center last weekend.
The Bulldogs got some revenge on SCSU, who have eliminated UMD in the first round two of the last three years, and prevented the Huskies from adding onto their league record of seven straight WCHA Final Five appearances.
Those 4,000-plus fans that left their swimsuits and Hawaiian shirts in the closets and grabbed their hockey jerseys for a trip to Duluth, were rewarded with two nailbiters to start the series.
On Friday night the Huskies had a bad case of deja-vu when they found themselves in a scoring controversy, which resembled that of the Nov. 22 game when the teams met at the DECC. The flashback resembled the incident when UMD's Tim Stapleton fired a shot past Moreland that Bulldog players and coaches said crossed the line after they watched the tape, but the goal was ruled off and the Huskies escaped with a 3-2 win.
This time the Huskies were on the opposite side of the scandal and it just may have cost them the game. UMD's Brett Hammond fired a shot off the right post behind Husky goalie Jason Montgomery. It skidded along the line at the beginning of the third period. Play resumed for about five seconds until the light finally went on and the goal was ruled. The goal was later viewed on tape in the SCSU locker room after the game. Sources say the wrong call was made.
Although the Huskies nipped their way back from three consecutive UMD goals in the second period, they didn't have enough juice to finish the comeback. Senior Jon Cullen scored twice in the game.
With their backs against the wall on Saturday night, the Huskies responded with a 3-2 overtime win thanks to Mike Doyle. In overtime, Nate Write, who is a walk on transfer from UND, recorded his first point as a Husky when he dumped a pass off the boards to Ryan Malone. Malone found himself on a two-on-one with Doyle and UMD defenseman Neil Petruic. The senior, who was switched from the first to the third line in the second period, faked a shot and backhanded a pass to the left side of the net. At the last second he gave it to Doyle, who gave the Huskies life for another day.
"Malone is a great offensive player and that takes a lot of pressure off us," Doyle said. "We can get him the puck and go to the net with a stick on the ice and he'll make something happen, like on that last goal."
With Eastman out with an ankle injury, Write found himself in the biggest game of his career.
"Going into overtime I was the most nervous kid on the ice," Write said."This is my fourth game with the team, and to step into a do-or-die game was awesome. I'm just glad I got a chance to help the team and that's the bottom line."
Sunday night was a different story altogether. UMD would hand the Huskies their most lopsided loss of the season with a 7-3 stomping.
Malone tried the best he could to keep the Huskies in it with his two goals, including the first of the game, but UMD's freshman goaltender Isaac Reichmuth was too much for the Huskies. Although he had only 22 saves, many of them were miraculous.
"It was the beginning of the second period that killed us again, just like on Friday night," Dahl said. "Being there seven years in a row in the Final Five, more than anyone else, this doesn't feel good at all."
Reichmuth played in Friday night's game, but was replaced by senior Rob Anderson on Saturday. Anderson made 37 saves. UMD head coach Scott Sandelin was faced with a tough goalie situation, but in the end he went with the goalie who got his team there.
"Believe me, I had a lot going through my head last (Saturday night and Sunday morning), but it's a great problem to have because they both played so well," Sandelin said. "(Reichmuth) makes the big saves when we need them, and it wasn't any different tonight."
Although Dahl and his players seemed positive the season was over after the loss on Sunday, there remains a small ray of hope. At least enough for the team to hold practices Thursday through Saturday night.
If SCSU moves up one spot in the Pairwise rankings, and there are no major upsets for automatic qualifiers, the Huskies would be in the tournament despite their late season spill and early WCHA playoff exit.
The Pairwise rankings are based on a complex mathematical equation that has successfully predicted the NCAA Tournament participants since 1998. The first round exit dropped the Huskies from No. 12, to a tie with Providence at No. 15 (a tie-breaker in which the Huskies win because of sweep against the Friars earlier this season). The national tournament contains the top 16 teams, however two of those 16 bids will go to automatic qualifiers who win the College Hockey America (CHA) and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championships.
A new card was brought to the table this year that may help the Huskies in the NCAA's new "bonus" rule for quality nonconference wins. The Huskies scrapped up one this season when they defeated Ferris State. This weekend will determine if that's enough to move them up.
The Huskies may as well buy voodoo dolls with Michigan State (No. 14), Ohio State (No.13) or Harvard (No. 12) jerseys. They will need one of those teams to lose for any hope of possibly overtaking their spots. None of those games will matter though if UMD, Brown, Northern Michigan, Notre Dame or Dartmouth win their postseason tournament and gain an automatic bid. That would shoot down any chance for SCSU.
The 16-team field for the NCAA tournament will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. The Huskies will be
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