Owen Michaels scored two third-period goals, and Hampton Slukynsky made 24 saves in net to lift Western Michigan University to a 6-2 victory over Boston University in Saturday's 2025 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national championship game in St. Louis. It is the first-ever NCAA hockey crown for WMU (34-7-1 overall), while BU (24-14-2) was seeking its sixth national title all-time and first since 2009.
WMU, which got goals from five different players, scored the first goal of the game less than two minutes into the contest on a deflection by Wyatt Schingoethe, and led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play. BU closed to within 3-2 midway through the second period on a power-play goal by Shane Lachance, but the Broncos tallied the final three goals of the game in the third period to put matters to rest, with Tim Washe finishing the night with two assists.
Sluknysky also made a huge save on a one-timer in close by Cole Eiserman, who scored BU's other goal, in the final frame to keep WMU ahead. Mikhail Yegorov finished with 22 stops in goal for the Terriers before 16,953 on-lookers at the Enterprise Center.
Michaels earned Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player honors after scoring four goals in two games. He finished the campaign with 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points as WMU set a program record with 34 victories, and also ended the year on a 10-game winning streak.
WMU, which was the last of Michigan's seven Division I men's hockey schools to make a Frozen Four, is the fourth program all-time to win the NCAA men's hockey title in its championship game debut, and the first since Lake Superior State in 1988. It is also the third Michigan school to win an NCAA hockey championship in St. Louis, the first since Michigan State in 2007.
The Broncos, who advanced to this year's national title game by edging defending national champion Denver in double overtime on Thursday's semeifinals on a goal by Michaels, had previously won this year's National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season and tournament championships, its first NCHC titles since the conference began in 2013.
Next year's men's NCAA Division I Frozen Four will be held in Las Vegas for the first time ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment