Miami, Vermont Advance to Frozen Four

FanHouse has full coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

MINNEAPOLIS - The magical runs ended Saturday night for Minnesota-Duluth and Air Force. Air Force was coming off a shocking win over East Regional top seed Michigan, while UMD had stunned everyone with an improbable rally to beat Princeton in the West Regional. In Minneapolis, Miami beat UMD 2-1 for the West Regional title, while Air Force fell to Vermont, 3-2 in double-overtime, for the East Regional championship. With the wins, Miami and Vermont advance to the 2009 NCAA Men's Frozen Four in Washington, D.C.

Miami is a tight, defensive team, and they were bound and determined not to allow UMD a quick start. Because of that, there were only seven shots on goal total in the first, and six of them belonged to UMD. The best chances for both teams, however, found iron. Miami's Brian Kaufman (undrafted) and UMD's Justin Fontaine (undrafted) both hit the goalpost on golden chances, with Kaufman's early and Fontaine's in the final minute of the period.

The RedHawks took the lead in the second period, and they would never give it up. Senior Justin Mercier (Colorado) scored twice for Miami, once short-handed and once on the power play, to give the RedHawks a 2-0 lead. The goals were quite different, the short-handed goal coming off a steal and a great shot over the glove of UMD's Alex Stalock (San Jose), and the power-play goal a screened shot from the blue line that Mercier tipped home.

In between, the game's controversy happened. While on a power play of their own, UMD's MacGregor Sharp appeared to have tied the game, wristing a shot low through the legs of Miami's Cody Reichard (undrafted). Reichard was screened by UMD sophomore Justin Fontaine (undrafted), and replays showed Fontaine, after being spun by a Miami defender, had a skate in the crease. The officials ruled Fontaine was impairing Reichard's vision, and they disallowed the goal.

"I can't say what I want to say," said UMD coach Scott Sandelin, referring to the possible punishment for open criticism of the game officials. "Was his foot in? Yeah, but they were battling for position."

UMD was put on three straight power plays after the disallowed goal, but came up empty in what was an obvious turning point.

Sharp scored in the final minutes, but UMD ran out of magic.

"The guys were battling in front of me," Reichard said. "Guys were laying down, blocking shots. It was just a battle out there and the guys did well in front of me."

Seven UMD seniors played their final game, including Sharp and tri-captain Andrew Carroll (undrafted), who were consoled by assistant coaches Brett Larson and Steve Rohlik on their way off the ice. Meanwhile, Mercier was able to help his team extend their season.

"We had a pretty rough go the last three years, being knocked out by Boston College," Mercier said. "As a senior, you never want to think about that last game. We didn't want this to be it, and were going to do everything we could."

In the East Regional final, Vermont got a controversial goal in the second overtime to advance to their first Frozen Four since 1996. By all accounts, it was a bizarre play, featuring a long shot going through the net and bouncing off the boards behind. Play didn't stop for a few minutes, and the officials took a look at the play. After a delay of close to 12 minutes, it was ruled a goal.

"The puck was shot and I observed the net move," (referee Marco) Hunt said in an official statement released by the NCAA. "At the first stoppage of play after conferring with the rest of the on-ice crew we determined a review was necessary. Video confirmed the puck entered the net inside the post and under the crossbar."

As for the time it took to make sure the play was conclusive, Hunt said:

"Because of the length of time between the net moving and the first stoppage of play, it took the technicians time to find the point in the game that we needed to review. Once that point was determined, we used every possible angle to render our decision."

I didn't see this game, but both coaches were complimentary of the review process after the game, and it sounds like the officials got the call right.

Two more regional finals will be contested Sunday. New Hampshire will battle Boston University for the Northeast Regional title at 5:30pm Eastern in Manchester, N.H. Also, Bemidji (Minn.) State faces Cornell at 8pm Eastern in the Midwest Regional final in Grand Rapids, Mich.