April 14, 2013
DII: Final Four Set after Double Overtime Madness
Florida beats Miami (OH) in 2OT thriller, Cortland no match for Huskies’ bite
Casey Davis doesn’t need a straw to eat his meals anymore. “I should probably call (Sidney) Crosby to give him some tips,” joked Davis, who had a goal and two assists including a shorthanded goal halfway through the 2nd overtime period to take down the MCRHL’s top team, Miami (OH). Davis’ broken jaw had limited him earlier in the season but he has since healed and is a huge reason why the Gators will be moving on. Miami (OH)’s Taylor Ley had 37 saves in the losing effort. Miami (OH) goes home without a single regulation loss at the National Championships (a tournament record of 1-0-2-1.) The Gators will take on the Northeastern Huskies in a Final Four matchup tomorrow morning.
The Northeastern Huskies continued their tear in Fort Myers with a 9-4 win over a familiar opponent, the Cortland Red Dragons. Northeastern, who went 2-0-1 against Cortland in the ECRHA regular season, once again used their depth to their advantage as six different Huskies found a way to beat Cortland goalie Lou Vetri. Cortland’s Gary Krupa had quite the game on both ends of the floor, but Northeastern was simply too good for the Dragons on Saturday night.
Division II Semi-Final #1
Florida (SECRHL) vs. Northeastern (ECRHA)
Sunday, April 14th, 2013, 9:00AM
UCCS stuns Cal State Fullerton in 2OT, Kennesaw outlasts Virginia Tech
Who would have expected to see two Elite 8 games go five periods? Cal State Fullerton sure didn’t, and neither did UC Colorado Springs, but that’s exactly what happened between these two squads late Saturday night. Fullerton trailed 3-1 going into the 3rd period when Jeff Brown and Matt Bockenstette both scored for the Titans to even the game up at three apiece. Neither squad would score before the end of the 3rd period, or even the 4th period, as a double overtime was needed to determine a winner. Halfway through the 2nd OT, Matt Pedersen found his brother Ryan on a pass that ended up banking off of the boards and eventually beat CSUF goalie Alex Miller to send the Mountain Lions to the Final 4. Miller made 36 saves for Fullerton and Alex Lopez made 41 saves in winning style. UCCS takes on Kennesaw at 9:00am Sunday morning.
Kennesaw State University will advance to the first Final Four in program history after defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies 2-1 on Saturday evening in Fort Myers. It took half of the game before the first goal was scored; Kurtis Jackson found the back of the net for Kennesaw to take a 1-0 lead into the 3rd period. Virginia Tech’s Tyler Hunt evened up the score with only four minutes remaining, but before VT could get any momentum off of their game-tying goal, Blake Skahan regained the lead for Kennesaw just 19 seconds later. That goal would end up being the game winner as the Owls held on to beat a VT team that had knocked them out of the SECRHL tournament.
Division II Semi-Final #2
Univ. of Colorado at Colorado Springs (RMCRHA) vs. Kennesaw State (SECRHL)
Sunday, April 14th, 2013, 9:00AM