Eliot: Bulldogs beat Colgate, will now take on North Dakota

Photo by Amanda O'Toole/MiHockey

 

By Darren Eliot – 

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Ferris State Bulldogs take on North Dakota at 6:30 p.m. in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final in Cincinnati, Ohio (ESPNU for TV coverage). North Dakota upset regional No. 1 seed Wisconsin 5-2 on the strength of Rocco Grimaldi’s first hat trick of his collegiate career. The real story for North Dakota, though, was the continued strong play of the Drake Caggiula-Mark MacMillan-Michael Parks line. Parks opened the scoring on a feed from Caggiula and MacMillan scored the game-winner with 1:44 left in the third. In all the line counted six points with MacMillan going 1-2-3.

The Bulldogs – the only program from the state of Michigan to makes the field of sixteen – relied on Hobey Baker finalist CJ Motte yesterday afternoon. The junior netminder was outstanding in stopping all 35 Colgate shots on goal and particularly strong in backstopping the Bulldogs’ 5-for-5 penalty kill effort. It was a lone special-teams goal that proved the difference offensively as freshman Gerald Mayhew scored a power-play goal in the first period – his fourth goal overall in three straight games and coming off all tournament honors in the WCHA event last weekend.

The regional final pits the long history of North Dakota against the recent run of the Bulldogs. Coach Bob Daniels took his team to the national title game two years ago, falling to Boston College 4-1. That was the Bulldogs’ only Frozen Four appearance, as they try to make it to Philadelphia and make it two times in three seasons. Eight players who were part of the 2012 Frozen Four are upperclassmen on this team, so they have experience and prospective.

Coach Dave Hakstol has made the NCAA Tournament each of his 10 seasons behind the bench at his alma mater North Dakota. That stretch is part of the current run of twelve-straight appearances for the school, which his the longest current streak in college hockey. This current senior class, led by the son of former Spartan Craig Simpson, Dillon, has reached this point – the regional final – each year, only to have to watch the Frozen Four from afar. In fact, North Dakota last made the Frozen Four in 2005 and won the last of their seven national titles in 2000. With eight freshmen, many doubted this could be the year.

So, it is a match-up of recent success versus long-standing success. It comes down to one game. Both these teams like to get after it on the forechecking and are extremely disciplined in the neutral zone. This game will come down to establishing the forecheck. Which team has the forward push and which team has the back end puck movement to elude the pressure. Meaning, it will be a total team effort, whoever prevails. Neither has a real game-breaker, although Grimaldi might be close to fitting in that category for North Dakota, so it will be a battle of attrition.

Expect hard, honest hockey and exceptional goaltending. Be ready to be entertained.