ST. PAUL, Minn. MacGregor Sharp tallied a hat trick and Tournament MVP Alex Stalock made 20 saves to give No. 17 Minnesota Duluth a 4-0 win over No. 4 Denver in the championship game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five tonight before 16,749 fans at Xcel Energy Center.
Duluth improves to 21-12-8 with its first Final Five championship and third WCHA playoff title overall. The No. 5 seed Bulldogs become the first team to win the Broadmoor Trophy after playing in the play-in game on March 19.
Denver falls to 23-11-5 with its first loss at the Final Five since March 13, 1997. DU also suffers its first loss during the Final Five at the Xcel Center. However, DU is expecting a No. 1 seed at the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is announced during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN2 at 9:30 a.m. MT tomorrow morning.
“Duluth had a great tournament and Stalock certainly was the difference for them this weekend,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky. “We weren’t very sharp tonight and had several defensive breakdowns, especially on our penalty kill. We’ll learn from this loss and be ready for the NCAA Tournament next weekend.”
UMD struck first on the power play at 10:45 of the opening stanza. Sharp snuck the puck under Marc Cheverie’s (25 saves) leg with assists credited to Justin Fontaine and Mike Connolly.
Sharp lit the lamp again at 9:13 of the second off a nifty feed from Connolly to make it 2-0. Jack Connolly made it 3-0 moments later when he scored on the power play from the low slot at 11:57.
Sharp completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 17:28 of the third period.
UMD outshot DU, 30-20, and went 2-for-5 on the power play. DU was 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.
Notes: Pioneer defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Ridge, British Columbia) was named to the All-Tournament Team...DU has posted a 69-54-6 all-time record in the WCHA Playoffs, which includes a league-leading 15 playoff titles...The Pioneers are 3-2 against UMD this season. DU makes its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance next weekend.
