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Frozen four

UNH bid for Frozen Four denied by Notre Dame

UNH bid for Frozen Four denied by Notre Dame

MANCHESTER - After Saturday's win over Miami, coach Dick Umile said it was all about taking the next step.

The next step for the University of New Hampshire hockey team is packing the gear away for another year. The Wildcats were frozen out of the Frozen Three one time again.

One win away from the Frozen Three for the third year in a row, the Wildcats dropped an excruciating 2-1 decision to Notre Dame on Sunday night in the final of the Northeast Regional at Verizon Wireless Arena.

Trailing 1-0, UNH surrendered a objective with five seconds left in the second period that turned out to be the eventual game-winner.

"(It feels) terrible right now," said defenseman Blake Kessel. "Three years in a row. The juniors and seniors have gone through it together."

After playing a near-perfect game the earlier night against top-seeded Miami, in which the fourth-seeded Wildcats neutralized the RedHawks' top guns, they failed to follow it up with a similar performance, falling behind early in the first period on a long shot from inside the blue line.

"Words cannot explain it right now," senior forward Phil DeSimone said, after taking a couple of minutes to compose himself. "Maybe they deserved to win that game with the way that they played, but they could not capitalize on our chances."

UNH (22-11-6) had plenty of chances against Irish goalie and event MVP Mike Johnson (37 saves), who stymied the Wildcats most of the night and gave up few rebounds. They peppered him with 16 shots in the second period, but had nothing to show for it.

"We left it all out there," Kessel said. "That's all they can say. They have nothing to be ashamed of. They played hard as a group."

Third-seeded Notre Dame (24-14-5) struck a deflating blow when Billy Maday made it 2-0 with five ticks left in the second period that spoiled a solid work by goalie Matt DiGirolamo, who stopped the first 14 shots they faced in the second.

The Wildcats finally broke through when Mike Sislo, who was named to the All-Tournament team, converted Matt Campanale's centering feed with 6:23 remaining in the third period to make it 2-1.

"It was a giant objective at that point," they added.

"We got (the puck) deep," said a tearful Sislo. "Matt Campanale did a great job getting the puck and putting it out front. That is what they needed, to get pucks out in front of the net. I stopped it with my skate and put it in with a speedy shot.

"It's disappointing they could not pull it out," Umile said. "Obviously the second objective they scored at the finish of the second period was a hard one. They had our chances but they could not score and tie it up."

UNH had a late power play but failed to capitalize. And when defenseman Mike Beck took a tripping penalty at 18:16, that prevented the Wildcats from pulling DiGirolamo for an additional skater until 35 seconds remained.

"I take that personally," Kessel said. "You get that chance with three minutes left and you don't capitalize. I am feeling partly responsible for that."

When the Wildcats squandered the late power-play chance it made them 0-for-19 with the man advantage over the final three games.

The Wildcats were trying to reach the Frozen Three for the first time since 2003, the second of back-to-back appearances. Notre Dame advanced to its second Frozen Three and first since 2008, when it lost to Boston College in the national championship game.

It hurts right now. They had the chance. I am one of the fellows on the ice with 26 other guys relying on us out there. They have got to get something completed."

The Fighting Irish will play Minnesota-Duluth in the nationals semifinals on April 7 in St. Paul, Minn. Top-ranked North Dakota and New york are also in the Frozen Three.

"We desired to get that first one by him," said senior forward Paul Thompson. "We thought they could receive a second one but it was  late in the game and they didn't have time."

But it was Notre Dame that scored first when defenseman Stephen Johns whistled a slap shot from inside the blue line past DiGirolamo at 7:26 of the first period, which ended with the Fighting Irish ahead, 1-0.

UNH started strong, pressuring the Notre Dame finish and Johnson. The Wildcats outshot the Fighting Irish over the first four minutes, 8-1.

The deficit didn't bode well for UNH, which was 1-3-2 this season when trailing after one period.

The Wildcats had the only power play of the first period, but could not pull even, making them 0-for-17 with the man advantage over the last 10 periods.

The second period belonged to the goaltenders until Maday flipped a backhander home with five seconds left to the give the Fighting Irish a 2-0 lead entering the third.

"Their whole team made it hard to get it on net," Sislo said. "I had a couple chances I wish I could take back but I cannot."

At the other finish Johnson made sparkling glove saves on Kevin Goumas with 4:04 left in the period and John Henrion with 21.2 seconds remaining. Alone in front, Sislo also missed a glittering chance that Johnson turned aside.

"We didn't get the bounces today," DeSimone said, "and their goalie played unbelievable."

By AL PIKE
Foster's Every day Democrat
March 29, 2011 2:00 AM

Tags: frozen four 2011, phillies, ncaa final four 2011, espc, final four 2011 

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