Sioux Fall 6-5 to BC in Frozen Four Semis
Jonathan Toews scores a goal against Boston College. |
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April 6, 2006
MILWAUKEE, WIS. - Boston College (25-12-3) jumped ahead 3-0 and led all the way in Thursday afternoon's first NCAA Frozen Four semifinal, but the Eagles had to hold off a furious North Dakota (29-16-1) rally to leave Bradley Center with a 6-5 triumph, and earn a spot in Saturday night's national championship game.
The youthful North Dakota team, which had come of age in a season-high six-game winning streak that carried the Sioux to the Frozen Four, was victimized by Hobey Baker finalist Chris Collins, who scored two goals in the first period to make it 3-0, then completed his hat trick with a clean break to end the second period and restore BC to a three-goal lead. The goals give Collins 34 for the season, and made it clear why he - along with Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott and Denver defenseman Matt Carle - has a shot at winning the Hobey when it is awarded Saturday night.
"Boston College played very well, very hard, and executed better than we did," said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol, who has brought his team to the Frozen Four twice in only two years as coach. And this team skated 10 freshmen, as it has done all season. BC was also young, with seven freshmen in the lineup, and the Eagles got hot at playoff time to ambush archrival Boston University in regional play to get to Bradley Center, behind the offense of Collins and the astute goaltending of Cory Schneider.
Ironically, it was a pair of freshmen defensemen whose goals did in the Sioux. Brett Motherwell's fourth goal, on a screened wrist shot, opened the scoring, and Anthony Aiello scored his first goal of the season after the Sioux had cut the 3-0 deficit to 3-2, late in the second period. That goal may have been the key to BC ultimately winning the game.
But even though the Eagles led all the way, they could never relax, as the Fighting Sioux made a determined bid in the third period, as 17-year-old freshman Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal, and, when the Sioux seemed certain to go down at 6-3, Travis Zajac scored shorthanded, and 18-year-old freshman Brian Lee snuck a wrist shot from center point past Boston College's star goaltender Schneider with 13 seconds remaining.
"We had a great rush early, but we were hanging at the end," said BC coach Jerry York. "Even with 12 seconds left, and a faceoff at center ice, there was no doubt this one wasn't over until the final buzzer."
North Dakota goaltender Jordan Parise was isolated for being less sharp than he has been through North Dakota's stretch run, but in reality, he could only be faulted on one or two goals, and otherwise was the victim of his youthful defense leaving him unprotected against the quick-striking Eagles. In the first period, for example, North Dakota outshot BC 12-5, yet trailed 3-0.
Motherwell staked BC to a 1-0 lead at 7:43 of the first period, then Collins rushed up the left side on a near-breakaway, waiting as long as he could before a defender could cut him off, then snapping a shot from the left circle that beat Parise and snared the extreme upper right corner at 12:34.
The Sioux didn't seem to lose their poise, and instead intensified their attack, but Schneider stopped everything, and at 18:48, the Eagles got lucky. Collins fired again from the corner circle, and this time the shot glanced up and in off defenseman Joe Finley's stick to make it 3-0.
The second period was dramatic, as North Dakota broke through Schneider at 4:23, while killing a penalty. Rastislav Spirko carried up the right side, and shot from the circle. The puck was blocked, and Schneider, realizing a winger was breaking on the far side, swept the puck back to his left - to the shooter's right side. Spirko, by then, was just about to speed past the goal, but the puck came right to him and he deposited it quickly, from a tough angle, behind Schneider.
The Sioux kept coming, and just after a power play failed to click, Matt Watkins, behind the BC goal, passed out to Rylan Kaip, who was breaking to the crease from the left side. Kaip caught the pass and jammed it through Schneider at 13:25 to lift the Sioux within striking distance at 3-2.
As quickly as they closed in, however, the Sioux fell back. Aiello rushed up the boards from right point, cut toward the net, and shot through traffic. Parise was on his knees, and appeared to have left no hole, but the puck found its way through him at 15:38.
"That was a great time for his first goal of the year," said Schneider, "because we were on our heels right then."
That restored the BC equilibrium and made it 4-2, and if the Sioux spirit was stung, it may have shown in the closing minute. Again shorthanded, the Sioux seemed impatient to get out of their zone, and turned the puck over. Benn Ferriero flipped a pass from the right boards to the slot, where - guess who? - Chris Collins was at full speed. Collins rushed in on the right, made a good move to get Parise to move, and snapped his shot in on the right side at 19:37.
All that effort to make it 3-2, and the period ended 5-2 - another three-goal deficit.
"Those two goals late in the second period turned things around," said Hakstol. "Especially the fourth goal. Then we got caught with tired legs and had a poor line change at the end of a shift, which led to a bad decision.
"The thing I'm most proud about our guys is that we always battle. There wasn't an ounce of quit, until the final buzzer."
Indeed, the Sioux opened the third period and started stalking the Eagles' 5-2 cushion. Toews, on a power play, got the puck high in the slot, circled to his right, and closed in on the goal from a wide angle, then glanced a shot off Schneider and into the short side, cutting it to 5-3 at 8:11.
But Boston College came right back, This time, the puck seemed up for grabs for an instant, but defenseman Matt Smaby hesitated, then fell back. Nathan Gerbe, another BC freshman, got to the puck first and rushed, 1-on-2, but Smaby never was able to get himself set. Gerbe made a great deke and got past him, zooming in all alone, and saving one more good move for Parise before scoring at the left post. That goal, at 10:33, came just 2:22 after the Toews goal and made it 6-3.
"They got that early lead, and it made it tough to come back," said Sioux junior Drew Stafford. "But we did. I'm very proud of our guys for showing a lot of heart. The trouble was, we'd get one and they'd get one."
At 6-3, the Sioux made a final bid in the last five minutes. Another penalty was no obstacle for North Dakota, as Stafford found Zajac with a shorthanded pass, and Zajac, a sophomore from Winnipeg, skated in alone, deked and flipped a backhander past Schneider at the left pipe, cutting it to 6-4 with 4:18 remaining.
Yet another North Dakota penalty diverted the rally, but with Parise pulled for a sixth attacker in the final minute, Zajac got his third point of the game with an artful draw on a left-corner faceoff, pulling it back to the left point. Lee, who also had assisted on Zajac's goal, moved to center point to pick up a screen, then sent a wrist shot 60 feet to beat Schneider just inside the left post.
The clock showed only 13 seconds remaining --- actually, 12 and a decimal on the new scoreboard, showing 10ths of a second. That led to York's assessment, that even then, the game was in doubt.
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