Minnesota-Duluth Wins 2018 NCAA Men's Hockey Title

The last team into the tournament was the last team left standing.

For the first time since 2011, the University of Minnesota-Duluth is the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national champion. The Bulldogs outlasted Notre Dame, 2-1, on Saturday before a sold-out crowd of 18,303 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The national title is the second in UMD men's hockey history, while the Fighting Irish was seeking its first NCAA championship.

UMD (25-16-3 overall) took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior captain Karson Kuhlman just over nine minutes into the first period, then assisted on the game-winning goal by Jared Thomas just over nine-and-a-half minutes later. Big Ten champion Notre Dame (28-10-2) got back within one on a score by Andrew Oglevie 7:40 into the second period, but was shut down by the Bulldogs the rest of the way.

Cale Morris, who won the 2018 Mike Richter Award as college hockey's top goaltender, finished with 33 saves for the Irish, while Hunter Shepard made 19 stops for the Bulldogs. UMD also outshot the Irish, 35-20, and went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Notre Dame was 1-for-2 with a man advantage.

UMD finished as national runner-up to Denver last year, dropping a 3-2 decision in last year's championship game in Chicago, after Notre Dame had fallen to DU in the semifinals. The Bulldogs edged Michigan, 3-2, in overtime in the 2011 NCAA championship game, also in St. Paul, after first ousting the Irish in a semifinal match, while Notre Dame dropped a 4-1 decision to Boston College in the 2008 national title tilt in Denver. The Bulldogs and Irish both advanced to this year’s championship contest with Frzoen Four national semifinal triumphs on Thursday, with UMD topping Ohio State, 2-1, and Notre Dame outlasting Michigan, 4-3.

The Bulldogs received the last at-large bid into this year's 16-team NCAA Tournament by .0001 percentage point over in-state rival Minnesota, according to the Pairwise Rankings that mimic the NCAA's selection process. UMD's victory Saturday also marked three consecutive NCAA titles for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, following Denver last year and North Dakota in 2016.

2018 National Hockey Title Game Matchup Set

Louie Roehl and Jared Thomas scored 1:11 apart in the the first four minutes of play, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs held on for a 2-1 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the early NCAA Frozen Four men's hockey semifinal on Thursday in St. Paul, Minn.

Tanner Laczynski finally got the Buckeyes on the board on a power play with 10:33 remaining in regulation, but that was as close as OSU would get in its first Frozen Four appearance in 20 years. Hunter Shepard made 19 saves for UMD as the Bulldogs advanced to the national title game for the second straight season, and also eliminated OSU in the NCAAs for the second consecutive year.

Sean Romeo finished with 26 saves for the Buckeyes, who were outshot, 28-20, overall, including 17-4 over the opening 20 minutes.

In the nightcap at the XCel Energy Center, Notre Dame outlasted Michigan as Jake Evans drove to the net and scored with 5.2 seconds left on the clock for a 4-3 win for the Fighting Irish.

Evans scored two goals and set up another as Notre Dame rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit to take a 3-2 third-period lead. After Michael Pastujov scored for the Wolverines with just over five minutes remaining in regulation to tie the contest, the game appeared headed to overtime until Evan's last-second heroics.

Tony Calderone and Dexter Dancs had a goal and an assist apiece for Michigan, while Andrew Oglevie (power-play goal) and Cal Burke tallied the Irish's other goals. Notre Dame outshot Michigan, 29-28, and also got 25 saves from Cale Morris, while Hayden Lavigne made 25 stops for the Wolverines.

The Bulldogs and Fighting Irish will meet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) to decide the 2018 national championship. UMD won its first NCAA crown in 2011, when it defeated Michigan in OT in St. Paul. Big Ten champion Notre Dame is seeking its first-ever national hockey title, having last appeared in the NCAA championship tilt in 2008 when it fell to Boston College in Denver.