DENVER-
Chris Porter had a dilemma—charge hard after the puck despite being exhausted or head toward the bench for a quick breather.
The North Dakota senior chose the first option and went all out. Porter’s wraparound goal 9:43 into overtime gave North Dakota a 3-2 victory over Minnesota on Sunday night in the NCAA West Regional championship.
“I was kind of gassed, but I just wanted to get it on net,” said Porter, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “Like the old saying goes—put it on net and good things happen.”
The Fighting Sioux (24-13-5) advanced to their third straight Frozen Four and 17th in school history. North Dakota will face Boston College in the national semifinals on April 5 in St. Louis.
“We have a pretty large responsibility,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s been a lot of people over many, many years that have built the program. Our responsibility as coaches and players is to live up to that, carry that on and build on that. There’s a bunch of (players) that are playing for the crest on the front of their jersey.”
Porter simply raced into the Gophers’ zone, grabbed the puck, went around the net and stuffed the game winner past Minnesota goalie Jeff Frazee, setting off a wild celebration. There were gloves, helmets and sticks strewn all over the ice.
Porter’s goal helped North Dakota avenge a 3-2 overtime loss to Minnesota (31-10-3) in the championship game of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament on March 17.
“It was a sour taste for our team,” Porter said. “It stuck with us all week.”
The Sioux beat Michigan 8-5 in the semifinals on Saturday night.
Sioux goalie Philippe Lamoureux finished with 27 saves, including three in overtime.
Jay Barriball’s shot from the left circle trickled off Lamoureux and into the net at the 13:11 mark of the final period to tie the game at two apiece.
Robbie Bina had given North Dakota the lead when he scored a power-play goal early in the third period. The Fighting Sioux came into the game with the third-best power-play unit in the nation.
North Dakota’s Kyle Radke was assessed a five-minute game misconduct penalty soon after Bina’s goal for checking Minnesota’s Erik Johnson from behind.
However, the Fighting Sioux were able to kill the penalty. The Gophers had only four shots on the extended power play. It was a turning point in the game.
“We didn’t have much rhythm on the power play,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “It was the type of game we expected. North Dakota is a very good team.”
The Gophers thought they’d taken a 2-1 lead in the second period on a slapshot by captain Mike Vannelli. But the goal was disallowed after the referee ruled that a Minnesota player was in the crease.
“I haven’t seen it,” Lucia said of the controversial play. “I assume the correct call was made.”
Ryan Duncan scored his 31st goal of the season after a puck caromed off the back boards and right to him in the first period.
Mike Carman gave the Gophers an early lead when he scored his ninth goal of the season 2:22 into the game.
While the Gophers and Fighting Sioux are WCHA rivals, this was only the third meeting between the two schools in the NCAA tournament.
“There is a big rivalry between us,” said Sioux sophomore Matt Watkins, who set up Porter’s goal. “We had to beat them. The same score (as the conference tournament), only the other way. We got the one that counts more. This one gets us to the Frozen Four.”
