Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Hoeffel, Kangas Lead Gophers Past CC in OT
March 21, 2008
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MN. --- If it's overtime, it must involve the Gophers. When Friday night's second WCHA Final Five semifinal went overtime, the Gophers rose up to stun top-seeded Colorado College when Mike Hoeffel scored his second goal of the game to lift fifth-seed Minnesota to a 2-1 victory at 4:47 of the extra session.
The site was the Xcel Energy Center, but it was only a larger showcase, with 16,967 in attendance, for Minnesota to continue its surprising odyssey through the playoffs. The seventh-place Gophers now take their 19-15-9 record into Saturday's 7 p.m. Championship game against Denver. Colorado College (28-10-1) will face North Dakota in the 2 p.m. third-place game that will be the showdown of top seeds that had been anticipated for the final.
"This team never ceases to amaze me," said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. "I think we've enjoyed being the underdogs. We've kinda found a way. We've improved, and maybe over-achieved, but when you get through the struggles, you can see the improvement. We didn't back in; we've beaten the higher seeds all the way through.
"We're playing for the championship. We haven't beaten Denver, but we hadn't beaten CC, either."
Hoeffel, who had played a strong game throughout, while also scoring the goal that tied CC early in the second period, rushed the puck deep up the left side, and when he tried to pass to the goal-mouth, the puck glanced off defenseman Nate Prosser, with the ricochet bounding crazily toward the goal, where it hit Richard Bachman in the back and tumbled into the net.
"I thought maybe Jay Barriball could get his stick on it," said Hoeffel. "I don't know how, it just ended up in the net."
This was the 16^th time the Gophers had gone overtime, which is both a national high and a school record. Minnesota had failed to win any of the first 13, going 0-4-9 through the regular season, then won the most recent two in capturing a best-of-three first-round playoff series at Mankato, where the Gophers lost 1-0 in two overtimes, won 2-1 in overtime, then won 3-2 in another double-overtime game. After one respite - beating St. Cloud State 3-2 in regulation Thursday night at the Final Five's first game, the Gophers had to feel right at home when Friday night's regulation ended 1-1.
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"Last weekend was just a confidence builder," said Hoeffel. "Now we feel that anytime we go into overtime, we can win it."
CC coach Scott Owens said:"Everyone keeps waiting for them to run out of gas, but I don't think it'll be this weekend. They're doing int on fumes, and with a little magic.They don't look tired at all. They're on auto-pilot, playing with a lot of confidence and great camaraderie."
Minnesota goaltender Alex Kangas was the key figure when the Gophers got past Minnesota State-Mankato, and when Minnesota defeated St. Cloud State 3-2 on Mike Howe's goal with 13 seconds remaining. But once in the semifinals, all four goaltenders had great statistics and more fame than Kangas. While Kangas's stats have improved to 1.95 goals-against and a .930 save percentage, CC freshman Richard Bachman brought in a 25-6-1 record, a 1.75 goals-against average, and a .935 save percentage.
Kangas stopped 37 of CC's 38 shots, while Bachman stopped 28 of 30.
Still, it was Kangas who had to show his stuff in the first period, as the Tigers outshot Minnesota 20-9. He did the job, as the game remained scoreless to the first intermission. Bachman had his moments too, though, such as when Justin Bostrom caught a 2-on-1 pass and broke up the slot all alone, only to be thwarted by Bachman.
A carryover penalty gave CC the chance to break through early in the second period, and Andreas Vlassopoulos knocked in a rebound at 0:39.
The 1-0 lasted 59 seconds, then Gopher freshman Mike Hoeffel scored from the slot with a one-timer after Jay Barriball passed in from the left circle at 1:38.
And then, it was back to the goaltenders' show, and both Kangas and Bachman were easily equal to the task at hand.