UMD, Michigan make Frozen Four

Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan are going to the NCAA Frozen Four.

Minnesota-Duluth won the East Regional the hard way -- the Bulldogs beat Yale, the top seed in the tournament, 5-3 in Bridgeport, Conn., less than a half-hour from Yale's campus in New Haven. Michigan, coached by former Blues star Red Berenson, won the West Regional in St. Louis by edging Colorado College 2-1.

The other two Frozen Four berths will be decided Sunday. Notre Dame will play New Hampshire in the Northeast Regional final at Manchester, N.H., and North Dakota will play WCHA rival Denver for the Midwest title in Green Bay, Wis.

East - Bridgeport, Conn.
Minnesota-Duluth 5, Yale 3

Minnesota-Duluth scored four times on the power play to grab a 5-1 lead, then held on in the third period to end Yale's season in the Eastern final for the second straight year, disappointing the pro-Yale crowd in Bridgeport.

Just eight seconds after Brian O'Neill scored for Yale to cut the deficit to 3-1, he ran over UMD's Jake Hendrickson at center ice and was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for contact to the head.

"In hindsight the game was over then," Yale coach Keith Allain said. "We don't feel that way in the middle of the game, because we're working our tails off to the final buzzer. But if you look back, I think they definitely got the momentum and took one of our top players out of the game."

The Elis took another penalty, creating a 5-on-3, and UMD (24-10-6) scored during the two-man advantage.  Duluth added another during the remaining major power play and a four-goal lead after 40 minutes. Yale's two power-play goals in the third period weren't enough.

"This is pretty exciting — I couldn't be more proud of our guys," Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said after his team advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2004. "I thought coming into this tournament nobody gave us a lot of credit. Our guys showed resiliency throughout this tournament."

The defeat marked just the second time this season Yale (28-7-1) had allowed five goals. The Elis, who lost to Boston College in the East Final last season in Worcester, Mass., have allowed 14 goals combined in their last two season-ending games.

West - St. Louis
Michigan 2, Colorado College 1

Michigan made the Frozen Four for a record 24th time, as first-period goals by Scooter Vaughan and Lee Moffie were enough to fend off Colorado College for the West Regional title in St. Louis.

Shawn Hunwick made 21 saves as the Wolverines (27-10-4) outshot CC 43-22. Michigan, seeking its record 10th NCAA title, will play the winner of the North Dakota-Denver game on Sunday in the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn., on April 7.

Vaughan opened the scoring just 2:23 into the game, going backhand-to-forehand before flipping a shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Joe Howe. Moffie scored on a 5-on-3 power play for a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless middle period, the Tigers (23-18-3) cut the deficit to one with 3:35 remaining when Rylan Schwartz emerged from a scrum in front of the net and scored. The Tigers pulled Howe for an extra attacker with 46 seconds to play, but Hunwick made a last-second stop on a wraparound to send Michigan to the Frozen Four.

Regional Semifinals
Northeast - Manchester, N.H.
New Hampshire 3, Miami (Ohio) 1
Notre Dame 4, Merrimack 3 (OT)

New Hampshire got two goals by Kevin Goumas and upset top-seeded Miami of Ohio to advance to the Northeast final. Notre Dame prevented an all-Hockey East regional final by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to beat Merrimack in the second game.

Things didn't start well for fourth-seeded UNH (22-10-6). The RedHawks (23-10-6) started fast, as Byron Paulazzo knocked his own rebound past goaltender Matt Di Girolamo just 53 seconds into the game.

But the lead lasted exactly one minute. Goumas tied the game when he picked up the carom of Matt Campanale's shot off the end boards and tucked it inside the left post.

"We were doing good things early on,” UNH coach Dick Umile said. "We came back right after that and I felt that it was going to come down to the wire after that."

The Wildcats went ahead 39 seconds into the third period when Blake Kessel, brother of Toronto's Phil Kessel, threaded a pass from the top of the right circle to the left post, where Mike Sislo swept the puck behind Cody Reichard into the back of the net.

Goumas added an empty-netter with 1:25 remaining.

"We knew we had to play our very best to beat Miami,” Umile said. "I believe that's what we did tonight."

Miami coach Enrico Blaise agreed the Wildcats were the better team.

"If it wasn't for Cody (Reichard), it could have been a lot worse," Blaise said. "UNH outplayed us."

Notre Dame earned its berth in the regional final when freshman Anders Lee scored 5:18 into overtime.

Merrimack (25-10-4) dominated the overtime session, getting the first six shots. But the first time the Irish moved the puck into Merrimack's zone, Lee took a shot that hit a Warrior defender and slid into the net for the game-winner.

The Warriors led 2-1 after one period on goals by Kyle Bigos and Ryan Flanagan, then moved ahead 3-1 just 2:58 into the second period when Rhett Bly scored for the first time since Jan. 15.

Lee, one of the nation's top freshmen, made it 3-2 at 13:29, beating Joe Cannata for his 23rd of the season.

But the third period was all Notre Dame as the Irish (25-13-5) outshot Merrimack 17-4 and tied it at 5:32 when Billy Maday was credited with a goal after a shot glanced off a Merrimack defender and behind Cannata. Notre Dame has two power plays in the final 9:28 of regulation, but Merrimack killed them both as Cannata made huge stops on Ben Ryan and Riley Sheahan.

Midwest - Green Bay, Wis.
North Dakota 6, RPI 0
Denver 3, Western Michigan 2 (2 OT)

Top-seeded North Dakota scored four goals in the second period and routed RPI to set up a meeting with WCHA rival Denver for a Frozen Four berth.

Brad Malone scored twice and Matt Frattin added his nation-leading 36th goal of the season 42 seconds into the third period for North Dakota (31-8-3). Goaltender Aaron Dell stopped all 21 shots he faced to earn his sixth shutout of the season. He tied Ed Belfour's school record with his 29th victory of the season.

"Our focus coming in was getting the first win," said Malone, who opened the scoring at 5:25 of the first period and added a power-play goal at 3:58 of the second. "Now we move on to tomorrow, and no matter who we play, we'll have to prepare the same way."

Danny Kristo, Jason Gregoire and Corban Knight had the other goals in the second period as North Dakota extended its winning streak to 10 games and became the only No. 1 seen in a regional to make the final eight.

"It was a big game for us," Gregoire said. "It's do or die. Thankfully, our guys came out flying and we were rolling four lines. It was a fun win."

The Engineers, making their first appearance in the tournament since 1995, finished their season at 20-13-5. RPI was shut out in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament game -- it hasn't scored an NCAA Tournament goal since 1985, when it won the national championship.

"I thought we were very good in the first period," RPI coach Seth Appert said. "The game was probably even, if not, we might have had the better chances in the first period. We hit a couple of posts, (Aaron) Dell made a couple of big saves and they really responded and gave a great push-back in the second period. They forced us into breakdowns and turned the tide in their favor."

In the second game, Denver used a late rally to force overtime, and WCHA Rookie of the Year Jason Zucker scored at 11:14 of the second OT to put the Pioneers (25-11-5) into the regional final.

Western Michigan (19-13-10) lost in its first NCAA Tournament game since 1996.

Derek Roehl opened the scoring for the Broncos at 13:17 of the second period, and they appeared to be on their way to a meeting with North Dakota when Trevor Elias made it 2-0 at 3:32 of the third period.

But Kyle Ostrow's power-play goal with 4:29 remaining in regulation cut the lead to 2-1, and defenseman Matt Donovan tied it by beating Jerry Kuhn with 2:36 remaining.

Zucker won it when he got the rebound of his own blocked shot and rifled a shot past Kuhn high to the stick side.

Freshman Sam Brittain made 30 saves for the Pioneers. Kuhn stopped 35 shots.

Material from school media and wire services was used in this report.