PITTSBURGH – Regimes like Minnesota Duluth’s don’t concede the throne willingly. The UMass hockey team had to take the crown from the two-time defending national champions Thursday night.
At first, the Minutemen didn’t understand the level of resistance they’d face. Though Zac Jones lit the lamp first to give UMass a lead 14 minutes, 30 seconds in to the Frozen Four semifinal, the Bulldogs weight and physicality tilted the game back in their favor by the middle of the second period.
Minnesota Duluth went up 2-1 on a Cole Koepke goal that resulted from him following a rebound of his own shot, and the Minutmen struggled to generate opportunities. The Bulldogs outshot them 16-6 through two periods, and UMass only had one shot on goal in the second. Now, shots aren’t a perfect representation of who is winning a hockey game, but in a contest where both teams prided themselves on their defense, Minnesota Duluth’s plan worked better than UMass’.
“Duluth is the best team we’ve played this year. They play a really heavy style that we’re not used to playing against. And I think for two periods we struggled with it,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “I don’t know if frustration is the right word. But what we usually do just wasn’t working. After the second period I really urged the players to realize that it’s going to take more.”
UMass had more. The Minutemen played all four of its lines regularly for the entire game. Minnesota Duluth sent its fourth line out less and less as the game continued, trying to seal the game with its best players. UMass kept throwing fresh legs over the boards, and the tenor of the game tilted in its favor.
Some credit goes to UMass sports performance coach Brandon Wickett and the “big boy pants club.” Wickett runs the MInutemen’s conditioning program and organizes after-practice skates to further improve the players conditioning.
“It just comes down to how hard the guys work in practice, whether it be Monday morning, Monday night or any day else in the week,” UMass senior goalie Matt Murray said. “It’s always guys working hard. And that’s when it pays off is in times like this when you got guys working that hard when no one’s watching.”
By the third period, UMass wrenched the game back from the Bulldogs. Anthony Del Gaizo tied the game at 2 with 11 minutes, 35 seconds remaining, and Duluth didn’t generate many chances at a winner.
“A lot of games this year we felt our conditioning, as games wore on, we were able to maintain and even push things to a higher level,” Carvel said.
The Minutemen ascended in overtime. They fired 13 shots on net compared to just two by Duluth. Most of the 14:30 was played in the Bulldogs defensive zone. They couldn’t clear the puck to get off the ice and change lines, and when Minnnesota Duluth did, the group coming back wasn’t fully rested like the Minutemen swarming them and the puck.
“Their D did a good job shrinking the zone, keeping active, keeping pucks alive as part of their offense. We made a lot of soft plays. We couldn’t get pucks out,” Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. “When the puck is in your zone it’s difficult. That’s what we try to do, too, as far as that type of game, where overtime, you just wear teams down. We blocked a lot of shots, but nobody likes to defend. It’s tiring. They made us defend, and, conversely, we didn’t have a lot of energy going the other way.”
When Garrett Wait punched in a short range goal to end the game 3-2 and send the Minutemen back to the national championship, it felt inevitable. UMass owned the tentire period, and the winner was a matter of time with how it was playing and forcing Minnesota Duluth to play.
“When you’re playing in your own end, something’s going to happen,” Sandelin said. “And it did.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.