Michigan
26-17-1
Bemidji State
23-10-4
Michigan Tops Bemidji State in NCAA Regional Semifinal
3/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
March 27, 2010
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Site: Fort Wayne, Ind. (Allen County War Memorial Coliseum)
Event: NCAA Midwest Regional (Semifinals)
Score: #11 Michigan 5, #9 Bemidji State 1
Records: U-M (26-17-1), BSU (23-10-4)
Attendance: 4,133
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 28 -- vs. Miami (Ohio) at NCAA Midwest Regional (Fort Wayne, Ind.), 8 p.m.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Junior left wing Carl Hagelin (Sodertalje, Sweden) scored twice in the third period to secure a 5-1 victory for the University of Michigan ice hockey team (No. 11 USA Today/No. 11 USCHO) over Bemidji State (No. 9 USA Today/No. 10 USCHO) in NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal Saturday evening (March 27) at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
With the win, Michigan will face off against Miami, which beat Alabama-Huntsville 2-1 in the other semifinal contest, on Sunday (March 28) in the NCAA Midwest Regional championship. The game is slated to start at 8 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPNU.
In the first meeting between these two hockey programs, Michigan outshot the Beavers 31-27 and never lost its lead en route to the 5-1 triumph.
Five seconds after Michigan's first power play of the game expired, sophomore right wing Luke Glendening (Grand Rapids, Mich.) tipped the puck past BSU netminder Dan Bakala to put Michigan up 1-0 at the 6:15 mark in the opening period. Junior defenseman Chad Langlais (Spokane, Wash.) collected a pass from senior defenseman Steve Kampfer (Jackson, Mich.) and then blasted a shot from the left point. His shot was tipped into the cage by Glendening, who somehow managed to tip the puck behind himself despite having his back to the net to score his career-high seventh goal this season.
Bemidji State did not register its first shot on goal until the second half of the initial stanza. Michigan closed out the first period with nearly three consecutive penalties in a span of 7:19, allowing the Beavers to record six shots on goal, but U-M finished the first 20 minutes with a 1-0 advantage.
Glendening almost netted his second goal of the evening at the 6:30 mark of the middle frame, nearly tipping in Caporusso's shot from the left faceoff circle. About two and a half minutes later, a pass found BSU left wing Jordan George all alone just outside the U-M crease, but junior goaltender Shawn Hunwick (Sterling Heights, Mich.) snuffed one of Bemidji State's leading goal scorers to keep it a 1-0 game. Hunwick made 26 saves in total for his seventh straight win.
After generating numerous chances during the game, junior center Louie Caporusso (Woodbridge, Ontario) finally found the back of the net with 39 seconds left in the second period during four-on-four play. Senior Brian Lebler (Penticton, B.C.) sent a bouncing cross-ice pass to freshman Chris Brown (Flower Mound, Texas) stationed in the left faceoff circle. Brown quickly fed the puck to Caporusso, who was near the dot in the right circle when he fired his shot past Bakala to extend Michigan's lead to two goals. The goal was Caporusso's eighth in the 2010 postseason and third tally in his last two games.
The Beavers got on the scoreboard at the 10:24 mark of the third frame when right wing Ian Lowe scored a power-play goal to bring Bemidji State within one. With 29 seconds remaining on the power play, a nice pass from center Matt Read perfectly set up Lowe for the goal.
Exactly two minutes after BSU scored its first goal of the evening, the Wolverines responded to regain their two-goal lead, 3-1, with 7:36 left in the contest. Bemidji State lost control of the puck just inside in the neutral zone and Hagelin beat the Beavers to the puck to ignite a two-on-one advantage. Hagelin and freshman Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) had a give-and-go play to set up the junior left wing for his 18th marker of the season.
Hagelin recorded his sixth multi-goal game of his career on a shorthanded breakaway, beating the BSU netminder with a slick deke, with 3:57 left on the clock to pad the Wolverines lead to 4-1.
Lebler notched his 14th goal of the season at the 18:02 mark in the third period with an empty-netter insurance tally to seal a 5-1 victory. Hagelin and junior center Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) picked up assists on the goal.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
