There were potentially just 20 minutes left in the hockey season for Aurora. The Spartans trailed St. Norbert by a goal heading into the final period of an NCHA tournament semifinal showdown at home Saturday night.
It was in that third period that momentum began to swing in favor of the Spartans, who weren’t ready to this special year for the program end, and ultimately, they didn’t let it end, rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Green Knights.
The win sends the Spartans to the championship game of the conference tourney for the first time in program history.
Less than two minutes into the third, Lukas Sedlacek scored to tie the game at 2-2.
Then, nine seconds later, Simon Boyko put the Spartans in front 3-2. At the 11:26 mark of the third, Gio Procopio scored to extend the Aurora lead to 4-2.
Once down 2-0, the Spartans (19-7-2), ranked 12th in the USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, were now on the edge of a big-time postseason win.
It took two big saves in the final minute to seal the deal. Kolby Thornton made one of them and Nate Keeley then laid out his own body to stop a point-blank shot and keep the Spartans on top.
Jack Jaunich and Boyko both tallied a goal and an assist. Thornton played one of the best games of his life in goal, stopping 52 shots. Aurora managed only 24 shots.
The Green Knights (17-9-2), tied for 12th nationally, led 2-0 on first-period goals by Ben Schmidling and Adam Stacho but couldn’t hold on against the Spartans, who now face Adrian for the championship.
Bulldogs earn another berth in conference final
Reigning national champion Adrian is headed to another Harris Cup final after rolling past Trine 6-2 in a semifinal battle Saturday night between two nationally ranked teams.
The third-ranked Bulldogs won their third game in a row behind a four-point night from Matius Spodniak, who tallied three assists and a goal.
Mathew Rehding scored a goal and dished out two assists while Alessio Luciani punched in two goals.
Adrian (22-4-2) also got a solid effort from goaltender Nic Tallarico, who made 33 saves, with 12 of those coming in the third period.
No. 15 Trine (18-9-1) sees another successful year come to a close after playing in their third semifinal matchup in the last four seasons.
MIAC Tournament
Saints go marching into MIAC final
St. Scholastica has been the team to beat all season in the MIAC, winning the regular-season title. On Sunday night, the Saints moved one step closer to being the champions of the conference tourney as well.
St. Scholastica (17-6-3), eliminated in the first round a year ago, held on for a 3-2 win over reigning conference tourney champ St. Olaf.
The Ledenkov brothers gave the Saints a 2-0 lead after one period of play. Filimon scored first at the 6:47 mark and Arkhip punched in a goal two minutes later.
Connor Kaithoff pulled the Oles within one just past the midway point of the second period before Bryce Johnson answered a few minutes later to extend the Saints’ lead to 3-1.
Tyler Cooper’s goal with under three minutes to play in the second cut the St. Scholastica lead to 3-2.
Jack Bostedt stepped up in goal, racking up 21 saves, including seven in the third. Thomas Lalonde made 22 saves for St. Olaf, including nine in the third period.
The Saints now take on Augsburg next weekend with an automatic spot in the NCAA tourney on the line.
Auggies back in a familiar place
Augsburg is no stranger to the MIAC championship game. And after topping Saint John’s 3-1 Saturday night in semifinal matchup, the Auggies are headed to the final for the eighth time in program history.
Augsburg (15-9-2), winners of six of its last eight games, also maintained its run of perfection against the Johnnies in the conference tourney, improving to 6-0 all-time,
The Auggies, who have now reached the championship game six time in its last eight trips to the MIAC tourney, are aiming for their fifth title and first since 2019.
Neither team scored in the opening period. But the Auggies scored twice in the second to take a 2-0 lead.
Austin Dollimer led the way with a pair of goals. Vincent Weis also scored for the Auggies.
Max Borst tallied the lone goal for the Johnnies (13-10-3), who held a 35-26 advantage in shots.
Samuel Vyletelka made 24 saves for the Auggies.
WIAC Tournament
Nine in a row
UW-Stevens Point is headed back to the WIAC title game. The Pointers punched their ticket after completing a sweep of its semifinal series with a 5-0 win over UW-Stout.
Fletcher Anderson came through with a goal and an assist while Ryan Wagner made 32 saves in the shutout victory.
The game was scoreless until near the midway point of the second period when Jordan Fader scored to put the Pointers (18-5-4) in front. UW-Stevens Point led 2-0 after the second and scored its final three goals in the third.
The Blue Devils (17-11-1) saw their turnaround season come to a close. They more than doubled their win total from a year ago despite ending the year with back-to-back losses. Tyler Masternak made 31 saves in Saturday’s game, which marked only the fourth time all year the Blue Devils have been held scoreless.
The Pointers, ranked eighth nationally, won Friday’s series opener 4-2. They have won their last five games and now have a chance to clinch the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
On to the title game
UW-Eau Claire grinded out an overtime win against UW-Superior Friday and then capped a semifinal series sweep with a shutout win over the Yellowjackets on Saturday.
Dawson Klein scored just under two minutes into the OT session on Friday to lift the Blugolds to a wild 6-5 win.
UW-Eau Claire seemed destined to win it regulation, leading 5-3 less than five minutes into the third period.
But UW-Superior scored twice in the final nine minutes of regulation to tie the game. Charles Martin and Gavin Rasmussen both came through with goals to help the Yellowjackets force an extra session of hockey.
The Blugolds led 3-2 going into the final period. Leo Bacallao paced the Blugolds with a goal and two assists. Readman added two assists, including one on the game winner.
Saturday’s game wasn’t nearly as crazy as the Blugolds (18-8-1) scored twice in the third to finish out the win. Sammy Martel tallied both goals in the final period. UW-Eau Claire heads to the championship game having won its last four games.
The Yellowjackets (15-12-2) end the year dropping five of their final six games.
