One More Broadmoor: Frattin's 2nd OT Goal Gives UND Second Straight Title

• Frattin congratulated

North Dakota's Matt Frattin, left, is congratulated after his winning goal in the second overtime against Denver as North Dakota won the WCHA Final Five Championship hockey game 3-2 Saturday, March 19, 2011 in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
• Frattin scores winning goal

North Dakota's Matt Frattin, lower left, scores the winning goal against Denver's Sam Brittain (1) in the secondt overtime to win the WCHA Final Five Championship hockey game Saturday, March 19, 2011 in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Frattin and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux stormed the ice and surrounded the Broadmoor Trophy to celebrate their second straight WCHA tournament title.

Nobody touched it, though. That's against the rule. The Sioux seniors decided they'd rather wait for an NCAA championship.

Frattin's rebound shot in the second overtime on Saturday night lifted North Dakota to a 3-2 victory over Denver in the WCHA title game, sending the Sioux into the NCAA tournament with plenty of momentum.

"We're saving it for hopefully the biggest," said defenseman Derrick LaPoint.

Dustin Jackson scored early for Denver, and Anthony Maiani tied the game late — with 2:13 left in regulation to force overtime. Freshman goalie Sam Brittain was a force, making all kinds of tricky saves for the Pioneers (24-11-5).

Danny Kristo and Brent Davidson gave North Dakota second-period goals, and Aaron Dell was just as steady for the Fighting Sioux (30-8-3) in goal — making 40 saves.

"Both goalies were the MVP of the game," said Frattin, who smacked the crossbar earlier in the second overtime with a blistering slap shot. "They both stood on their head."

North Dakota has a 13-game unbeaten streak, with just one tie since Jan. 28, and became the first team in four years to win both the regular-season and postseason titles.

"They worked hard. They got the greasy goals," Brittain said.

Evan Trupp — Frattin called him the "Energizer Bunny" — led the winning rush up the right wing and fed Chay Genoway for a slap shot that glanced off Brittain and right to Frattin parked on the edge of the crease on the other side.

"We've got a rule on our team: If you enter the offensive zone and Frattin's on the ice, you have to give it to him," North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said, deadpanning.

Said Frattin: "Probably the biggest goal I've scored in my four years of college year."

With Minnesota again failing to reach the Final Five, the green-and-white-wearing North Dakota fans took over Xcel Energy Center and filled it up for a home-away-from-home advantage for the Fighting Sioux. The crowd, announced at 16,731, broke out in a "Hobey Baker!" chant for Frattin when the WCHA Player of the Year was announced before the game. The school pep band played often from the upper deck.

Though seeds and regional sites were still on the agenda this weekend, both teams are safely in the NCAA tournament, making this game more about staying sharp and staying healthy.

Both teams survived scares in the second period, when Denver's 21-goal scorer Jason Zucker left with an upper-body injury. North Dakota, already missing standout forward Jason Gregoire for an unspecified health reason, saw captain Genoway doubled over in pain with his hands on his knees as he struggled to leave the ice at the end of the middle frame. Zucker and Genoway each returned for the third period, though.

"As I told Dave, I'm glad the game ended when it did because I didn't want either team to get too tired for the darn regionals," said Denver coach George Gwozdecky.

These Denver-North Dakota games are always feisty, and this was no different — 12 penalties in the first two periods and plenty of scuffling and shoving. North Dakota's Brad Malone was called for boarding when he came up behind Luke Salazar and knocked him back-of-the-neck-first into the side wall in front of the benches. Salazar was all right, but the sequence caused flashbacks to last fall when Denver's Jesse Martin suffered a broken neck after a hit by Malone.

Six years ago at the Final Five, North Dakota's Robbie Bina broke his neck on a hit by Geoff Paukovich. Bina came back to play a year later, but Martin has not.

Kyle Ostrow plucked the puck off the end boards and sent it to the slot for Jackson, who gave the Pioneers a lead barely five minutes into the game with his shot.

Denver, which whiffed on all six power-play chances in regulation, didn't seize the momentous opportunities that came next. Instead, North Dakota tied the game with less than three minutes elapsed from the second period.

Kristo, who missed 10 games this season after suffering severe frostbite on his right foot, sneaked a shot from the goal line that glanced off Nick Shore's right skate and in. Then the Fighting Sioux went in front, when Brent Davidson lost the puck on a rush up the right wing but had it bounce off the end boards right back to him for a wraparound shot got by Brittain.

Brittain made the save of the game a few minutes later, sprawled out on his stomach, when he snagged Corban Knight's close-range shot by sticking his glove out and gobbling up the puck. Brittain made a highlight-reel kick save in overtime, too, to deny Davidson and keep the game going.

Denver was headed for defeat with all those missed chances, but Maiani came through before it was too late with his one-timer off a behind-the-net feed from Beau Bennett.

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