The fifth-ranked St. Scholastica hockey team advanced to the semifinals of the NCHA Peters Cup Tournament with an epic mini-game victory over the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets Saturday night at Mars Lakeview Arena.
The two teams skated to a 3-3 tie in game two of their series earlier in the night to force the deciding mini game, which the Saints won 1-0 in overtime.
Aaron Spotts was the first hero of the night, as he netted a goal with just over one minute remaining in regulation of the Saints' first game while CSS had the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. For the second night in a row, the two teams skated to an overtime tie to force a 20-minute mini game.
In less-than-surprising fashion, the mini-game also went to sudden death overtime, where in the first minute, Jeremy Dawes netted the unassisted game-winner during a scrum in front of the Yellowjackets' net to send the Saints into the next round of the Peters Cup tournament.
CSS did not lead during the entirety of the first game, with the 'Jackets scoring their first two goals while short-handed, only to have CSS tie it up during the same power-play opportunity.
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Tyler Fletcher netted the first goal for UWS, but the Saints tied it up 48 seconds later as Spotts netted his first of the night, with assists from Jordan Baird and Brett Corcoran.
A little more than two minutes into the second period, Talon Berlando put the 'Jackets up 2-1 with another short-handed goal, but CSS tied it exactly one minute later with a power-play goal by Riley Riddell . Austin Brown and Tyler Miller had the assists.
Berlando scored his second of the night later in the second period, and the 'Jackets held their lead until the Spotts' goal to close out the third. Dawes and Dustin DeGagne assisted on the game-tying goal.
It was the second time in as many postseason series that the Saints and 'Jackets played in a mini-game, with the Saints scoring an overtime goal back in the 2006-07 season to edge out their rivals. This is also the first time in the history of the two programs that the Saints were undefeated against Superior in a season where the teams met at least five times. The Saints' last winning season against UWS came in 1985-86 when they swept the two-game series with their bridge rivals.
The Saints set the program record for ties in a season with their sixth of the year and are now 17-4-6 on the season with hockey yet to play. The season comes to a close for UWS, which ends its campaign at 9-11-7.
With the mini-game victory, St. Scholastica will host UW-River Falls Saturday night in the NCHA Peters Cup semifinals at Mars Lakeview Arena with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m. The Saints were 1-1-1 against the No. 15 Falcons in the regular season series.
UWS owned a 37-28 edge in shots on goal in the second game, but the Saints had 11 of the 15 shots in the mini-game.
UW-Superior 1-2-0-0--3
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St. Scholastica 1-1-1-0--3
First period -- 1. UWS, Tyler Fletcher, 16:33 (sh); 2. CSS, Aaron Spotts (Jordan Baird, Brett Corcoran), 17:21 (pp).
Second period -- 3. UWS, Talon Berlando (Chris Wilson), 2:22 (sh); 4, CSS, Riley Riddell (Austin Brown, Tyler Miller), 3:22 (pp); 5. UWS, Berlando (Wilson, Derek Stauber), 15:41 (pp).
Third period -- 6. CSS, Spotts (Jeremy Dawes, Dustin DeGagne), 18:54.
Overtime -- No scoring.
Saves -- Bryan Dalbec, UWS, 25; Zach Kleiman, CSS, 34.
