This overtime thing isn’t anything new for St. Norbert.
Which is why the Green Knights responded to the pressure of an OT game in the NCAA tournament Saturday night.
Instead, the sixth-ranked team in the nation in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll remained poised, needing less than a minute of extra hockey seal the deal on a big postseason win.
Michael Spethmann struck for the game-winning goal 56 seconds into the extra session of a heart-stopping, sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat opening round game and lifted St. Norbert to a thrilling 4-3 victory.
It was the fourth OT game of the year for the Green Knights, and like the previous three, it ended with a victory, tying a school record for OT wins in a season.
Only this victory, which seemed unlikely with St. Norbert trailing 3-1 heading into the third period, sends the Green Knights (24-6) into the national quarterfinal round next weekend where it will take on fourth-ranked Augsburg.
Spethmann was open at the blue line and beat a defenseman to the goal to get off a shot that ignited a celebration inside the Cornerstone Community Center.
The Oles (11-15-3) came in as the underdog and the only team to ever reach the NCAA tournament with a below .500 record. They got here by winning the MIAC tournament as the seventh seed, knocking off the top three seeds along the way.
And while this was St. Olaf’s first trip to the tournament since 2006 and just their second in program history, the Oles played as if they’ve been here on a regular basis.
Tyler Cooper and Parker Casey scored the first two goals, with Cooper punching one in two minutes into the game. It was his 14th of the year.
Casey scored 10 minutes later to push the St. Olaf lead to 2-0. It was his sixth of the season.
Evan Cholak cut the St. Olaf lead in half at the 14:18 mark of the opening period but Jonathan Young scored with 3:35 left in the second to give the Oles a 3-1 lead advantage.
Liam Frasher sparked the comeback for the Green Knights, scoring at the 4:14 mark of the third. Brendan Marks then scored a little over eight minutes later to tie the game at 3-3.
NCHA Player of the Year Peter Bates didn’t score but he did dish out two assists. Cooper and Casey recorded multi-point games for the Oles, with each player tallying an assist.
The Green Knights held a decisive edge in shots at 51-26, with 35 of those shots coming in the final two periods, but Oles goalie Lukas Haugen made a career-best 47 saves. Colby Entz stopped 23 shots for the Green Knights.
St. Norbert will take on Augsburg Saturday night in Minnesota for the right to go to the final four. This will be the fifth time the two national powers have met in the quarterfinal round. St. Norbert won all four of those games.
The Auggies (24-4) had a bye in the opening round despite finishing as the MIAC runner-up and will be facing the Green Knights for the third time this season. Augsburg opened its season against St. Norbert and won 3-1 and 4-1 at home.
