Three Frozen Four Goalies Sign Pro Deals

Three of this year's NCAA Frozen Four starting goaltenders will not return to college hockey next season. Yaniv Perets (Quinnipiac), Erik Portillo (Michigan) and Drew Commesso (Boston University) all recently signed professional contracts, foregoing their remaining NCAA eligibility.

Perets, 23, a sophomore who backstopped Quinnipiac to its first-ever national title with a 3-2 overtime win over Minnesota on April 8, signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. A pro free agent from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., he led all NCAA Division I men's netminders with a 34-4-3 record in 41 games and a 1.49 goals-against average this season. He also tied for the national lead with 10 shutouts, and tied for second overall with a .931 save percentage. In two-plus seasons with the Bobcats, he finished 56-9-5 with 21 shutouts over 74 games.

Portillo, 22, a senior from Göteborg, Sweden, signed with the Los Angeles Kings, who had earlier acquired his rights from the Buffalo Sabres (2019 NHL Draft, 67th overall). He went 25-11-2 with a 3.00 GAA and .908 save percentage this year, in backstopping the Wolverines to their second consecutive Big Ten tournament title and Frozen Four semifinal appearance. In 87 career contests with Michigan, he posted a record of 60-22-3 with three shutouts.

Commesso, 22, a senior from Norwell, Mass., signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, who drafted him 46th overall in 2020. He led BU to both the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles along with the Frozen Four this season, going 24-8-0 with a 2.46 GAA and .913 save percentage with two shutouts in 34 outings. In three seasons with the Terriers, he finished 43-22-4 with three shutouts in 73 contests.

The NCAA exodus continued this week among skaters, with sophomore forward Mackie Samoskevich (Michigan) signing with the Florida Panthers, who drafted him 24th overall in 2021. Samoskevich, 20, from Sandy Hook, Conn. was third on the Wolverines' scoring scroll this season with 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points in 39 games, and completed his college career with 30-42—72 points in 79 contests. 

Also signing with Florida was Mike Benning (Denver), a junior defenseman from St. Albert, Alberta, who recorded 31-52—83 points in 101 career games over three college campaigns. Drafted 95th overall by the Panthers in 2020, Benning, 20, notched 13-21—34 points in 39 games this year for the Pioneers, after helping DU win the 2022 national title by scoring the decisive goal in the NCAA championship game.

Quinnipiac Wins 2023 NCAA Men's Hockey Title

Quinnipiac University had waited 10 years to win a national title. So what was another 10 seconds?

Jacob Quillan scored just 10 seconds into overtime before 19,444 spectators on Saturday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa to lift second-ranked Quinnipiac to a 3-2 win over the top-ranked University of Minnesota in the 2023 NCAA Division I men's hockey national championship game. It was the first-ever NCAA title for the Bobcats, in their third try, while Minnesota (29-10-1 overall) was seeking its first national championship since 2003, and sixth all-time.

After Quinnipiac (34-4-3) won the opening face-off in the extra session, Zach Metsa passed the puck ahead to Sam Lipkin, who carried it down the right wing boards in the Minnesota zone. Lipkin backhanded a pass through the slot to Quillan, who took the feed, cut to his backhand, and slipped a shot past Golden Gophers netminder Justin Close to close out the game, the tournament, and the season for the victorious Bobcats, who began play as a Division I school in 1999-2000. They have since made nine NCAA tournaments at that level, and were previously the national runner-up in both 2013 and 2016.

The Bobcats had to battle back from a two-goal deficit Saturday to get the job done. John Mittelstadt shoveled home a loose puck in front of Quinnipiac's net for the only goal of the first period, and then Jaxon Nelson chipped in a rebound off the backboards early in the second stanza to put the Golden Gophers up, 2-0. Cristophe Tellier would then get Quinnipiac back within a goal before the end of the middle period, off an assist by Metsa. 

With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, and goaltender Yaniv Perets pulled for a sixth attacker, Union College transfer Collin Graf pulled Quinnipiac into a tie with his shot from the left circle that glanced off of Close and found the back of the Minnesota net, just after a Bobcats power play had expired, off assists from Metsa and Lipkin. That set the stage for Quillan's overtime heroics, and the biggest victory in the history of Quinnipiac's program. 

Quinnipiac outshot Minnesota on the night, 30-15, with Perets making 13 saves for the Bobcats, and Close finishing with 27 stops for the Golden Gophers. Quinnipiac also became the first ECAC Hockey team to win a men's national title since Union in 2014, and went 3-0 versus Big Ten schools in this year's championship, defeating Ohio State, Michigan and Minnesota in consecutive contests on the way to the crown. The win was also the 615th overall in the career of Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold, all of them at Quinnipiac, since he first took the helm in 1994-95. 

Next year's NCAA Frozen Four will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Minnesota, Quinnipiac Advance to NCAA Title Game

Minnesota will play for its first national championship in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey in nine years, while Quinnipiac will be looking to win its first ever.

Top-ranked Minnesota blitzed Boston University, 6-2, in the first NCAA Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday before 19,119 on-lookers at Amalie Arena in Tampa, scoring four consecutive goals in the third period to break a two-all tie. Luke Mittelstadt tallied two goals in the first four minutes of the final frame, before Logan Cooley added two empty-net scores in the waning moments to power the Golden Gophers to their first national title contest since 2014.

For BU (29-11 overall), which took a 1-0 lead on a first-period goal by Sam Stevens and then tied the game in the second period on Jay O'Brien's tally, the loss ended both the Terriers' 2022-23 campaign and their nine-game winning string that included both the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles, plus the NCAA Manchester (N.H.) Regional championship. Drew Commesso made 28 saves for BU, which was outshot, 34-31, on the evening. Minnesota (29-9-1) got 29 stops from Justen Close, and finished 3-for-7 on the power play, while also hitting almost a half-dozen posts and a crossbar on offense.

In the nightcap, No. 2 Quinnipiac broke open a tie game after 40 minutes with three unanswered third-period goals to oust No. 3 Michigan, 5-2. Sam Lipkin's goal from behind the Michigan net less than 90 seconds into the final period stood up as the game-winner, with Zach Metsa and Ethan de Jong (empty net) later notching insurance goals to send the Bobcats to their third NCAA title game overall, and first since 2016. 

Jacob Quillan scored twice in the first period for Quinnipiac, the second his 20th goal of the season, to stake the Bobcats to a pair of leads. Michigan's Seamus Casey and Adam Fantilli (30th goal) responded for the Wolverines each time to make it 2-2 after two periods, before Quinnipiac pulled away in the third. Yaniv Perets stopped 29 shots for Quinnipiac (33-4-3), which beat Michigan (26-12-3) for the first time ever in six meetings, including last year's NCAA Allentown (Pa.) Regional final that was won by the Wolverines. Erik Portillo had 25 saves for Michigan, although two pucks went in off him on shots from behind his net. Michigan outshot Quinnipiac, 31-30, while both teams finished 0-for-3 on the power play.

Minnesota will now meet Quinnipiac on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2), in a matchup of the top two ranked schools, to decide this year's national championship. Minnesota is seeking is sixth national title overall, first since 2003, and first-ever for the Big Ten Conference. Quinnipiac is looking for the first-ever NCAA crown in school history, and first for ECAC Hockey since 2014.

Michigan, Quinnipiac Make 2023 Frozen Four

The final two spots in the 2023 NCAA Men's Division I Frozen Four have been claimed by second-ranked Michigan and No. 3 Quinnipiac. Both schools won their regional finals on Sunday to advance to the national semifinals in Florida early next month.

Michigan outlasted Big Ten rival Penn State, 2-1, as Mackie Samoskevich scored 52 seconds into overtime before a sold-out crowd of 8,375 in Allentown, Pa. Hobey Baker Award finalist Adam Fantilli tied the game with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation for the Wolverines, after No. 11 Penn State took a late second-period lead on a power-play tally by Connor MacEachern. Liam Souliere finished with 41 saves for the Nittany Lions, while Erik Portillo made 31 stops for Michigan, which advanced to its second straight Frozen Four and record 27th all-time. 

Quinnipiac advanced to its third Frozen Four ever, and first since 2016 (also in Tampa), by besting Ohio State, 4-1, in Bridgeport, Conn. After the eighth-ranked Buckeyes took an early lead, the Bobcats responded with four unanswered goals, with Skyler Brind'Amour notching the game-winner and Christophe Fillion posting a goal and an assist. Hobey Baker Award finalist Yaniv Perets made 34 saves for Quinnipiac, which blanked OSU on four power plays.  

Michigan and Quinnipiac will meet in the late NCAA semifinal at Amalie Arena in Tampa around 8:30 p.m. ET on April 6, a rematch of last year's Allentown regional final that was won by the Wolverines. The first semifinal at 5 p.m. ET that afternoon will feature old foes Boston University and Minnesota, with the two semifinal winners advancing to the national title game at 8 p.m. two nights later. All three games are scheduled to be televised on ESPN2.

Four Games, Four Routs on 2nd Day of NCAA Regionals

Four teams won in the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey regionals on Friday—and none of the games were even close on the scoreboard.

In Manchester, Ohio State annihilated Harvard by an 8-1 score, as Cam Thiesing notched two goals and an assist, and Jake Wise set up four goals for the Buckeyes. In the nightcap in New Hampshire, Quinnipiac blanked Merrimack, 5-0, as Jacob Quillan scored twice, Sam Lipkin had three points, and Yaniv Perets stopped all 15 shots he faced for the shutout. Ohio State will face Quinnipiac in the regional final on Sunday afternoon.

In Allentown, host Penn State cruised to an 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech, as Liam Souliere earned the shutout on 24 stops. A total of seven Nittany Lion skaters registered two points each, including leading goal scorer Kevin Wall. In the late game in Pennsylvania, Michigan used seven second-period scores to rout Colgate, 11-1. Luke Hughes led the way for the Wolverines with two goals and three assists for five points, while T.J. Hughes and Seamus Casey set up three goals apiece. Michigan meets Big Ten rival Penn State Sunday night for the right to go to the NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa next month.