Bjork goals lift Irish
Bruins prospect Anders Bjork scored midway through the third period to snap a tie score and complete Notre Dame’s rally to a 3-2 victory over top-seeded Minnesota yesterday in a Northeast Regional semifinal at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H.
Cal Petersen stopped 31 shots as the Fighting Irish (22-11-5) advanced to the regional final against UMass-Lowell today.
The winner was Bjork’s second of the game as Jake Evans (two assists) and Jordan Gross set up the go-ahead tally with 11:18 left.
Connor Reilly put the Golden Gophers (23-12-3) up 1-0 just 2:07 into the game.
Vinni Lettieri’s power-play tally 30 seconds into the second period padded the Minnesota lead.
Notre Dame responded with goals by Andrew Oglevie and Bjork with 5:21 and 4:27 left in the second period, respectively.
Denver 5, Michigan Tech 2 — Colin Staub had a pair of power-play goals in the opening period as the top-seeded Pioneers (30-7-4) jumped out to a substantial early lead and coasted to victory over the fourth-seeded Huskies (23-15-7) in the Midwest Regional semifinal at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
Staub scored just 4:42 into the game. He doubled the Pioneers’ lead with 7:15 left in the first.
Emil Romig and Will Butcher added even-strength goals with 5:09 and 4:34 left, respectively, in the first period for Denver. Tyson McLellan’s second-period tally staked goalie Tanner Jaillet (16 saves) to a 5-0 lead.
Denver advanced to face the Penn State tonight for a spot in the Frozen Four.
Penn State 10, Union 3 — Nate Sucese and Chase Berger each had two goals plus an assist for the Nittany Lions (25-11-2) in a Midwest Regional semifinal win over the Dutchmen (25-10-3) at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
Spencer Foo had a pair of goals for Union and former Malden Catholic star Mike Vecchione had an assist.