In the longest ever NCAA Tournament men’s hockey game, Minnesota Duluth faced off against North Dakota. The Bulldogs finally ended the game at 12:42 a.m. on Sunday, with the game lasting 142 minutes, 13 seconds.
UMD Hockey Moves Onto Frozen Four
“Unbelievable game,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin. “North Dakota shows their resolve, comes back, ties it. Then we play a marathon overtime and we get a big goal from a freshman that got some ice time later in the overtimes…Thank God it ended.”
UMD hockey is the first team to reach four national semifinals in a row since North Dakota from 2005-08. Since COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs head into the Frozen Four as back-to-back National Champions, looking for the three-peat.
Freshman Hits Historic Shot
Freshman wing Luke Mylymok sent UMD to the NCAA Frozen Four for a fourth consecutive season, scoring unassisted 2:13 into the fifth overtime to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 victory over top overall seed North Dakota.
“You look around the room and they’re all national champions, besides the sophomores, and from what I watched last year, they could have been national champions,” Mylymok said about getting his teammates to another Frozen Four. “That’s all they know is Frozen Fours and winning those games. To be a part of that game and take them to that tournament, is just unbelievable. They’re all pumped. That’s their home, the Bulldog home.”
Despite losing, North Dakota coach Brad Berry said “I consider this probably the national championship game…The two teams, how hard they battle, there is a reason the NCHC is as good as it is.” While this was a terrific, historic game, this was not the National Championship, and pretending is something losers do.
UMD hockey actually does have a chance to return to the National Championship. Their next game will be against UMass.
