UMD Men's Hockey Advances to NCAA West Regional Championship Game

Senior defenseman Willie Raskob sends the University of Minnesota Duluth to the West Regional championship game against Boston University tomorrow night after his heat seeking missile of a slap shot found the back of the net, 11:58 into overtime.

“I congratulate Ohio State, they had a great year and certainly were a great team tonight and I thought they played very well.” Said UMD head Coach Scott Sandelin following tonight’s win. “This guy sitting to my right here was the difference in the game, Hunter played great.”

The 3-2 victory comes by the graces of freshman goaltender Hunter Miska, who stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced tonight. The rookie’s performance was nothing short of spectacular, completely robbing Ohio State on three opportunities in the extra frame.

“This year it was obviously a great feeling to be the guy who got that goal, but we’re not here without Miska tonight,” Raskob said, “so I think for me regionals are a time when you got one shot to give everything you got.”

A scoreless first period by both teams lead to UMD scoring twice in the middle frame. Senior forward and captain, Dominic Toninato got things rolling for UMD when he ripped home a snap shot from the top of the circle just 49 seconds into the period. Netting his second goal of the season, freshman defender Nick Wolff let a wrist shot from the point fly to hand the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

Cruising into the second intermission up 2-0, all signs pointed to UMD advancing to the regional championship with ease. Ohio State had other plans.

Scoring twice in the third period, Ohio State was buzzing the duration of the period and UMD had little answer for it.

A key to tonight’s victory for UMD was its resilience on the penalty kill. Ohio State boasted the nation’s top power play at 32.2% and the Bulldogs blanked them on all four of their attempts, including the overlapping penalty going into the extra frame.

The Bulldogs face Boston University tomorrow night for a 5 o’ clock p.m. puck drop. The Terriers are coming off a double overtime dogfight with the University of North Dakota.

Picture Courtesy of Jim Rosvold