"The Brotherhood" punch their ticket for Motor City Madness

In an incredible hockey game, that lasted around 4 hours, Miami University defeated the University of Michigan, 3-2 in double overtime. The victory gave Miami the NCAA Midwest Regional championship, and a ticket to the Frozen Four in Detroit. This is the second straight trip to the Frozen Four for Miami.
In a weekend filled with upsets throughout the NCAA hockey tournament, Miami was able to do enough to avoid the upset bid by Michigan. Miami got the scoring underway with a power-play goal by Pat Cannone, 12:08 into the game. Michigan tied the game, a little over a minute later on a goal by David Wohlberg. The two teams were deadlocked at 1 heading into the 2nd period.
The start of the period didn't go the way the Redhawks had planned, as Wolverines defenseman Chad Langlais scored on the powerplay, 49 seconds into the period to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead. Cannone struck again for the Redhawks, beating Wolverines goalie Shawn Hunwick, in a mad scramble in front of the net to tie the game at two.
The game stayed tied through the 3rd period and into the first overtime period. However, the deadlock and the Michigan hearts were broken, on a goal from Alden Hirschfeld, 1:54 into the 2nd overtime, sending the Miami bench and Miami cheering section into a frenzy. Miami did survive a scare, with the help of the referee, as Michigan appeared to have scored the game winner in the first overtime. Michigan's Carl Hagelin fed Kevin Lynch the puck and Lynch put it past Knapp. However, referee got a little whistle happy and blew the play dead before the puck went into the net. The whistle was blown for a high-sticking penalty on Miami's Joe Hartman. The whistle should not have blown and play should have continued until Miami had possession of the puck. Miami did survive another scare about 12 minutes in, when Michgian forward Matt Rust blasted a shot off the crossbar.
A big shout out goes out to Miami goalie Connor Knapp. Knapp made an astounding 55 saves in the game, as he was under siege throughout the 3rd period and the first overtime. Knapp made the big saves when he had to. Hunwick also played extremely well, making big save after big save. A lot was made fun of Hunwick's height, considering he barely can see over the crossbar when he is standing up, but in all seriousness, Hunwick stood tall and gave Michigan a chance to advance to the Frozen Four again.
I am very proud of Miami, as this team has had to overcome obstacle after huge obstacle. As Scott and I discussed on the long car ride home, we know how much this win means to the program and the coaching staff, as we have never seen a coaching staff so excited and ecstatic after a victory. The "Brotherhood" once again banded together, as they have all year, and have made the trip to the Frozen Four for the second straight year. Keep up the amazing work Rico and lets bring a championship back to Oxford!!!! Stay tuned for pictures from the tournament to be posted on the blog as soon as we are able to upload them.