April 13, 2013
Division II Sweet 16 Recap
Miami (Ohio) defeats Illinois State, Florida slides by Slippery Rock
It took 14 periods of hockey for Miami (Ohio) to register their first win at the DII NCRHA National Championships. After three ties in their first three games against the nation’s best teams in Pool A, the Redhawks took on the Illinois State Redbirds in a Sweet 16 matchup. The hero of the day for Miami (Ohio) was Kevin Putnam, who netted the winner nine minutes into the 2nd Overtime period. Pat Meek made 34 saves for the Redbirds and Calvin Fix made 40 saves in the win for Miami (Ohio).
The Redhawks will face the Florida Gators, a top tier team from the SECRHL, who defeated a hot Slippery Rock Pride team (3-0-0 in pool play) by a score of 8-4 earlier Saturday to advance to the Elite 8. With only four minutes left and “The Rock” down two, Ryan McGeehan answered with two late goals to knot the game up at 4-4. Just 27 seconds after “The Rock’” comeback, Austin Elliot scored the game winner for Florida.
Kennesaw downs Missouri, Virginia Tech stuns UNC - Charlotte
The Kennesaw State University Owls beat the Missouri Tigers of the GPCIHL 5-2 on Saturday morning to earn a spot in the Elite 8. A tie game was broken with about five minutes left when Michael Hartman scored what would eventually be the game winner for the Owls.
The Owls will play fellow SECRHL counterpart Virginia Tech, who upset another SECRHL team, the UNC-Charlotte 49ers, by a score of 4-1 on Saturday afternoon. Mitch Fink scored twice in a span of two minutes midway through the 3rd to put a comeback for UNCC out of reach. Virginia Tech backup goaltender Kyle McDermott made 12 saves before Daniel Duminuco finished off the 49ers.
Northeastern ends Arizona’s tournament, Cortland beats ECRHA rival Delaware
One of the hottest teams left in the tournament, the Northeastern Huskies continued to roll with a 7-1 win over the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday morning. Arizona’s play warranted a much closer game, but Northeastern’s offensive performance was outstanding with 7 goals on 30 shots. Five different skaters scored for the Huskies, and John Harris’ solid play in net helped NU advance to the Elite 8, where they will play the Cortland Red Dragons.
Max Stern netted a hat trick for Cortland as they took down a fellow ECRHA foe, the Delaware Blue Hens, 5-3 on Saturday morning. Cortland went winless in pool play, going 0-1-2 against some of the toughest teams in the country, but carried the speed and skill of their previous games into the Delaware game to secure a victory. Max Stern paced the Red Dragons with a hat trick and an assist.
CSU Fullerton pounds Rutgers, UCCS sends Kansas State packing
CSU Fullerton entered the tournament as the number one team in the nation, but played some tough round robin games here in Fort Myers. They finished pool play with a 0-1-2 record and earned the third seed in Pool A. But when they squared off against Rutgers, they seemed to be back on track. They ended up pounding the Scarlet Knights by a score of 13-1. CSU defense was stifling, holding Rutgers to only 8 shots in the third. They will move on to play in the Elite 8 at 9:00 pm tonight.
Colorado at Colorado Springs has been playing some really great puck lately, earning the second position in Pool B. The Mountain Lions entered the bracket play against an up and coming Kansas State team. UCCS was very methodical in their game not allowing K-State many scoring chances. UCCS eventually downed the Wildcats by a score of 7-0. They will meet CSU Fullerton in an Elite 8 showdown later tonight for a shot at a Final Four birth.