Terriers Advance To Ice Breaker Final On Zancanaro's Goal
October 11, 2002 | Men's Ice Hockey
| Game Statistics | Season Statistics |
Freshman Brad Zancanaro (Trenton, MI) scored a sudden death goal in the second shootout period as the nation's fifth-ranked Terrier hockey team got past Northern Michigan University and earned a spot in the finals of the Ice Breaker Tournament hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
Officially, the game will go in the record books as a 4-4 overtime tie, as the Terriers are now 0-0-1, heading into Saturday night's title game against RPI. However, because this was a tournament game, and a winner had to be determined in order for a team to advance, a shootout was necessitated.
In the first shootout, two of the five Terrier players selected scored goals. They were junior Frantisek Skladany (Martin, Slovakia) and freshman John Laliberte (Saco, Maine). In the meantime, Northern Michigan countered with goals by Chris Gobert and Jimmy Jackson.
That set the stage for the second shootout. Unlike the first where each team had five players take shots, the second shootout was sudden death.
The Terriers opened with sophomore Brian McConnell (Norfolk), whose shot in the first shootout hit the post. This time he was not denied as he came skating down the slot and went from right to left. It appeared he would not get his shot off in time. But, at the last minute, his nifty backhand slipped past the left of Northern goalie Craig Kowalski and the Terriers led with Northern getting a chance to tie. Once again, Gobert tallied for the Wildcats as his shot went just over Terrier goalie Sean Fields' (Edmonton, ALTA) glove for the equalizer.
In the second matchup neither Skladany nor Northern's Bryce Cockburn could score, which left it to Zancanaro. The 5-5 center took the puck at center ice and came skating toward Kowalski. Waiting until the last minute to get his shot off, his attempt beat Kowalski high to the glove side. Northern still had a chance to tie, but when Fields threw up his glove to stop an attempt by Dirk Southern, the game was over.
"I have been involved in a lot of shootouts over the past three years," Zancanaro said after the game. He was referring to his time in the U.S. Hockey League, which plays shootouts at the end of tie games. "I was really upset at myself when I missed my shot in the first shootout.
"I tried to deke the goalie, but the ice wasn't good and there was a lot of snow," he went on. "And, I should have known, with those conditions, you can't deke the goalie.
"I also had a chance to see how Brian (McConnell) and John (Laliberte) beat him high," said Zancanaro. "He is a small goalie, and he went down. So, I just went high over his glove."
It wasn't Zancanaro's first goal of the game. With the Terriers trailing 2-1 late in the second period, he took a pass at center ice from junior Kenny Magowan (Kelowna, BC) and came in alone on Kowalski. His shot beat the NMU goalie to tie the score at 2-2 at 18:14.
It appeared that's the way the second period would end before Laliberte staked the Terriers to a 3-2 lead with just 51 seconds to play. Junior Steve Greeley (Scituate) started the play in the Northern end when he passed the puck to sophomore David Klema (Roseau, MN). Klema, in turn, fed the puck to Laliberte who came in on Kowalski from the left circle. Showing real patience, Laliberte waited until Klema had set a screen in front of Kowalski. The Northern goalie never saw the puck, and the Terriers had a 3-2 lead entering the final period.
Northern, which went into the game ranked 12th in the nation, took advantage of two power play chances early in the third period to jump to a 4-3 lead at 7:25 of the period. Terry Harrison scored first at 1:34, and Mike Stutzel followed him at 7:25.
It wasn't until the 13:18 mark of the period before the Terriers were able to tie the score. Freshman Jekabs Redlihs (Riga, Latvia) collected the puck just to the left of Kowalski. Shooting into an empty net, Redlihs was able to score his first collegiate goal to tie the game at 4-4 and set the stage for the two shootout periods.
"I am very pleased overall with how we played," said Terrier head coach Jack Parker. "I thought they had us on our heels in the first period, but, after that, we gave them just 12 shots through the second and third periods and the overtime."
In the opening period, the Wildcats outshot the Terriers, 13-11, but each team could score just once. Northern opened the scoring at 9:34 with a power play goal by Jimmy Jackson. O'Connell countered with a power play goal of his own at 14:05.
The period actually belonged to the two goalies as Fields had 12 of his game total 21 saves in the opening period. In the meantime, Kowalski, who finished with 40 saves, had 10 in the opening 20 minutes of action.
"I am very excited about our freshmen," said Parker and for good reason as three of the four goals were scored by first-year players Laliberte, Zancanaro, and Redlihs. "They are going to get some points for us.
"Overall, I really liked what I saw tonight," concluded the coach. "We can really move around the rink."
If there is one concern, it was the Terriers' penalty killing unit. All four Northern goals came on the power play, as the Wildcats converted of 4-of-8 chances.
"This is just the first game of the year," pointed out Parker. "We have only been at practice less than two weeks, and we haven't spent a lot of time on special teams yet."
