UMD tops North Dakota in record 5 OTs to reach Frozen Four
Luke Mylymok scored at 2:13 of the fifth overtime to send Minnesota Duluth into the Frozen Four with a 3-2 victory over North Dakota early Sunday — in the longest game in NCAA Tournament history.
Minnesota Duluth, which has won the last two national championships, became the first team to reach four straight Frozen Fours since North Dakota accomplished the feat from 2005-08.
Also winning in games that started Saturday were Minnesota and Minnesota State Mankato, who will face off Sunday with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. And St. Cloud State also won Saturday; the Huskies will play Boston College on Sunday for a spot in the Frozen Four.
But it’s unlikely that any of Sunday’s games will last as long as UMD-North Dakota, which started just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday and ended after midnight.
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The game lasted 142 minutes, 13 seconds — surpassing the previous mark of 123:53 set in St. Lawrence’s four-overtime victory against Boston University in 2000.
North Dakota nearly won it just moments before Mylymok’s goal when Jake Sanderson’s shot hit the post.
UMD (15-10-2) took the Fargo Regional and will play UMass in a Frozen Four semifinal April 8 in Pittsburgh. The winner advances to the national title game April 10.
Minnesota Duluth scored twice in 80 seconds early in the third period to take a 2-0 lead, only to see the Fighting Hawks (22-6-1) tie it on two late goals in 44 seconds with an extra skater on the ice. North Dakota pulled even on a goal by captain Jordan Kawaguchi at 19:03.
After four scoreless overtimes at Scheels Arena, Mylmok skated in alone on goalie Adam Scheel and finally scored the winner with a wrist shot.
Scheel finished with 51 saves.
Minnesota Duluth freshman Zach Stejskal stopped 57 shots. After cramping up, he was replaced by sophomore Ryan Fanti in the fourth overtime. Fanti made six saves in 17:36.
In Saturday’s other games involving Minnesota teams:
Ryan Sandelin — son of UMD coach Scott Sandelin — scored the game-winner in overtime as Minnesota State Mankato rallied to beat Quinnipiac 4-3. It's the first NCAA Division I tourney win for the Mavericks. They’ll face Minnesota on Sunday night.
The Gophers advanced with a 7-2 victory on Saturday over Nebraska Omaha. Mason Nevers scored twice for the Gophers, and Brock Faber tied a school record with five assists.
St. Cloud State beat Boston University 6-2. Easton Brodzinski scored twice for the Huskies, who advanced to play Boston College on Sunday.
And after upsetting Wisconsin to open the tournament, Bemidji State fell to Massachusetts 4-0 on Saturday.