Union Wins First-Ever National Title

The journey is complete. Union College is the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey national champion for the first time in school history.

The top-ranked Dutchmen, who began competing at the NCAA Division I level in 1991, secured their first national title in their second-ever trip to the Frozen Four by besting Minnesota, 7-4, tonight at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Union scored four times in the third period, including three goals in less than two minutes, and added three more scores in the third stanza to oust the top-seeded Golden Gophers, who were seeking their sixth-ever national title.

Junior defenseman and Philadelphia Flyers draft choice Shayne Gostisbehere led Union with a goal and two assists. Junior forward Max Novak redirected home what proved to be the game-winner 5:31 into the third period to put the Dutchmen ahead, 5-3, and Mat Bodie closed out his collegiate career by closing out the scoring with his fourth goal in four NCAA Tournament games, this one into an empty net with 45 seconds remaining in regulation. Justin Kloos had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which last won an NCAA title in 2003.

Junior goaltender Colin Stevens made 36 saves for the Dutchmen, who finished the season on a 17-game unbeaten streak that dated back to Jan. 31, while sophomore netminder Adam Wilcox finished with 41 stops for the Gophers.

See you in six months for the 2014-15 NCAA season, and in Boston in 12 months for the 2015 Frozen Four.

And Then There Were Two ...

East will meet west on Saturday night in Philadelphia for the Frozen Four championship when Union College takes on the University of Minnesota in the NCAA Men’s Division I ice hockey national championship game at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) at the Wells Fargo Center.

Top-ranked Union earned its first title tilt after dispatching Boston College, 5-4, in the early semifinal on Thursday. The Dutchmen, who got three goals from Daniel Ciampini and 34 saves from Colin Stevens, are now undefeated in their last 16 games (15-0-1) since Jan. 31. Johnny Gaudreau, who will likely cop the Hobey Baker Memorial Award tonight at 6 p.m. (NHL Network), had a goal and two assists for the Eagles to boost his nation-best scoring totals to 36 goals and 44 assists for 80 points, although his last-second game-tying shot attempt from long range was stopped by Stevens.

Top-seeded Minnesota edged long-time rival North Dakota, 2-1, in the late semifinal on a shorthanded goal by defenseman Justin Holl with 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation, his first goal of the 2013-14 campaign. The contest had been scoreless through two periods before the Golden Gophers and the former Fighting Sioux traded goals 32 seconds apart midway through the final stanza. Adam Wilcox had 36 saves for Minnesota, while Zane Gothberg made 26 stops for UND against his home-state school.

Union will seek its first national title and the ECAC’s second straight on Saturday, while Minnesota goes for its sixth NCAA crown and the Big Ten’s first ever in the fourth-ever encounter between the Dutchmen and the Gophers. Minnesota leads the all-time series, 2-1, with all three games played in Minnesota, although Union won the last meeting, 3-2, in 2010.

Something’s gotta give ….

2014 Hobey Baker Award Finalists Announced

The finalists for the 2014 Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey have been announced. Included are six forwards, three goaltenders, and a defenseman (listed below in alphabetical order):

Josh Archibald – U.Nebraska-Omaha, Jr., Forward
Greg Carey – St. Lawrence University, Sr., Forward
Nic Dowd – St. Cloud State University, Sr., Forward
Ryan Dzingel – Ohio State University, Jr., Forward
Johnny Gaudreau – Boston College, Jr., Forward
Shayne Gostisbehere – Union College, Jr., Defense
Kevin Hayes – Boston College, Sr., Forward
CJ Motte – Ferris State University, Jr., Goalie
Joel Rumpel – University of Wisconsin, Jr., Goalie
Adam Wilcox – University of Minnesota, So., Goalie

Carey and Gaudreau were Top 10 Hobey finalists a year ago, while Gaudreau was part of the 2013 Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists for the award that eventually went to St. Cloud State's Drew Leblanc.

The award's 27-member Selection Committee and an additional round of fan balloting (at www.hobeybakeraward.com from March 20-30) will now determine this year’s winner. The 10 finalists were chosen by all 59 Division I college hockey head coaches and by an inaugural online round of fan balloting.

The 2014 winner will be announced on April 11 in Philadelphia as part of the NCAA Division I Frozen Four men's ice hockey championship. Yale won last year's national title, its first ever, by beating ECAC rival Quinnipiac in Pittsburgh in the championship game.