fishkin@ucbvax.UUCP (Ken Fishkin) (03/27/84)
Today's USA Today had an article about the NCAA's;
for those of us who live umong the Unenlightened, this is the
best we'll get, so here goes:
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BOWLING GREEN CAPTURES CLASSIC FINAL,
BEATS DULUTH 5-4 IN 4 OTs
There has never been a college hockey championship game like Bowling
Green University's 5-4 victory against Minnesota-Duluth Saturday.
Gino Cavallini ended the longest playoff game in college hockey history
with a goal at 7:11 of the fourth overtime.
When BG coach Jerry York finally caught his breath,
he labeled the game a classic.
"It might go down as the greatest playoff game ever," said York.
"for an overtime game there was everything: breakaways, great saves.
It had everything that makes college hockey such a great sport...
It was a night to remember forever."
What spectators will remember most will be the play of the
freshman goaltenders: UMD's Rick Kosti and BG's Gary Kruzich.
Kosti was the key to UMD's 2-1 overtime victory in the semifinal
against North Dakota. He was even sharper against BG, rejecting 55 of 60
shots to tie a tourney record for saves. He was helpless when BG center
Dan Kane set up Cavalline for a break off the left wing.
"He (Kosti) didn't give me anything on the stick side", said
Cavallini, who cut across the crease on his backhand, "so I went across
and when he went down I hit the mesh".
UMD had fewer, but better scoring chances. Several breakaways
in OT barely misfired. Kruzich - the tournament MVP - stopped
everything else.
"The second OT went by; then the third," said Kruzich.
"I was beginning to think we'd miss our plane. I like pressure and
stuff, but four OTs for the national championship? I can't take that
again. I'm 19 years old and I'd have a nervous breakdown."
UMD capitalized early, taking 3-1 and 4-2 leads. Then,
with 1:47 left in regulation, BG got the kind of break that can lead
to a title.
Wayne Wilson dumped the puck into the UMD end. Unexpectedly,
it caromed off the boards behind the net. The puck was in front of
the net and Kosti was behind. John Samanski was first to the puck,
forcing the overtime.
"The breaks of the game", said coach Mike Sertich of UMD.
"I can't take any consolation from the fact we played that much hockey
with a one-goal difference."
Every game in the tournament was decided by one goal,
and three were decided in OT. BG edged top-seeded MSU 2-1 in a semifinal
and UND defeated MSU 5-4 in OT for third place.
BG's championsip was the first for a CCHA team."
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BOX SCORE
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B.G. 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 - 5
UMD 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 4
Shots on goal:
BG 13 10 16 10 4 0 7 - 60
UMD 8 7 6 2 5 6 2 - 36
Att. : 7, 918
Third place: UND 6, MSU 5, OT
Semifinals:
UMD 2, UND 1, OT
BG 2, MSU 1
Hobey Baker award: Tom Kurvers, senior defenseman, UMD
All-tournament team:
MVP - Gary Kruzich, goalie, BG
Goalie - Kosti, UMD (how come the MVP wasn't even on the
all-tournament team?)
Defense - Galley, BG; Ellet, BG (same for Hobey!)
Forward - Barness, UND; Phair, MSU; Lakso, UMD
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Flames and comments: how come Gary "Sieve" Kruzich was MVP, allowing
4 goals on a paltry 21 shots in regulation?
Why was the tournament in scummy Lake Placid, unreachable
from virtually every hockey school in the country? Especially
with a capacity of a piddling 7,918.
The box score shows how tired the teams must have gotten;
here's the 2-team net shots on goal by period:
21 17 22 12 9 6 9
Especially in the third OT; 6 shots in 10 minutes ain't much!
Ken "sour grapes" Fishkin, UW '82
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fishkin@BERKELEY