NCRHA Nationals, Day Three

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

Back at the Tour Arena... fantastic game between Truman State vs. Maine right now -- incredible game... 7-7 tie.

39 shots for Truman, 32 for Maine. Maine had a power play to end the game, but couldn't score to put the game away.

[CRadigan]

Just got done listening to that. Sounded like a great game. Dane w/ 6 goals? Ridiculous

I wanted to thank you Richard for the updates. I couldn't make it to CO to watch and your game summaries have been great.

[RichardGraham]

Hi CRadigan,

Thanks! For a moment, I thought that no one was reading 'em!

[RichardGraham]

OK, now we've got Cal Poly Pomona vs Southern Illinois -- calling Ace Jerseys! You've got to design SIU some new jerseys! (That said, they ARE leading, 1-0.)

Cal Poly has a two-man advantage... make that HAD... they took a penalty just to make me look bad... They don't score... justice!

Cal Poly's defenseman Lyntton dives face forward to block a shot that catches him on the shoulder -- both teams are giving up the body to block shots and stop rushes. Expect bruises tomorrow, boys.

#12 scores for Cal Poly... but he's not listed on the roster... oh well.

Derek Sergison scores for Cal Poly just before the end of the first period; 2-1 Cal Poly leads.

[RichardGraham]

Cal Poly continues to roll... 3-1 with 10:26 to go in the second. Make that 4-1, with 10:16 to go. The wheels are falling off for SIU at the moment.

Nice passing play by Cal Poly makes it 4-1, goal by Cody Mead. Mead was doing something to his stick at the water fountain when the game first started... whatever it was, it will be interesting to find out.

Cal Poly is buzzing on the power play, but passes are just a bit off, and then SIU's goalie makes a good save to keep it a four-goal differential. Shots favor Cal Poly, 24-11.

Southern Illinois scores a power play goal to make it 5-2, but on the next rush, Cal Poly gets its four-goal lead back; 6-2.

With 1:04 to go in the second, it's now 7-2. It's the jersey's, SIU...

[RichardGraham]

It's 8-2 with 7:22 to go in the third period; shots favor Cal Poly 42-19. Now 10-2. SIU has been outscored 10-1 since scoring the first goal of the game.

Cal Poly is one shot away from 50 for the game. They got it... 50-22 in shots, final score 10-2.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

Here are the final scores from all of today's games, up to this point.

UNLV - 3 Buffalo - 6
Florida International - 4 Michigan - 6
Neumann - 9 Sam Houston State - 2
Elon - 10 Washington (STL) - 3
Missouri State - 0 Temple - 1
Grand Valley State - 6 Albany - 6
UC San Diego - 11 Tampa - 2
San Bernardino - 6 Western Carolina - 3
Truman State - 7 Maine - 7
West Chester - 3 Saint Louis - 4
Cal Poly Pomona - 10 SIU - Carbondale - 2

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

Now it's Rutgers vs. Florida International. FIU takes an early 2-0 lead, but Rutgers cuts the deficit in half with a goal near the end of the first period. Shots favor Rutgers 11-10.

The FIU Golden Panthers get a final shot after a Rutgers' player breaks his stick on a shot, but Rutgers' backup goalie sticks out a pad and kicks it out, just before the buzzer ending the first period.

[RichardGraham]

Rutgers scores on a nice top-shelf wrister to tie the game, 2-2, early in the second.

Caleb Towne, Rutgers' first-string goaltender, went down in practice after slipping on condensation and pulling a groin muscle. Backup goalie Ryan McCoyd is doing a good job, considering he was thrown into the fire in his first game of the tournament -- the very first game of the tournament, in fact -- against defending NCRHA champion Lindenwood University.

Rutgers had a power play with 5:18 left to go in the second, but picked up a penalty of their own. In 3-on-3 play, the pace slows considerably, as Rutgers sets up in its own zone.

Other team's players in the stands loudly razz the referees and flubbed shots.

At the end of the second, the score remains tied at 2-2, and Florida International has a 25-23 advantage in shots.

[RichardGraham]

At 10:43 in the third, Rutgers gets its first lead of the game, 3-2, on a goal by Collin Brady. At 8:57, Rutgers extends its lead to 4-2 on a power play goal by James Kinosian.

FIU scores to make it 4-3, but a very poor decision on a drop pass by an FIU player burns them, as Rutgers steals the loose puck, gets a breakaway and scores, 5-3, Rutgers. Tempers are beginning to flare, as well.

With 2:07 left in the game, FIU scores to tighten things up; 5-4. This could get interesting. With 1:34 to go, FIU gets the break it's looking for, as Rutgers takes a penalty in front of their own net. Florida will end regulation play with a man advantage. 1:10 left in the game, 1:36 on the penalty clock. FIU gets several chances but can't jam the puck in the net. 30 seconds to go, another great chance, the bounces seem to be going Rutgers way. Woops, spoke to soon again... with 6.6 seconds left, FIU scores, and the crowd cheers wildly -- are they for FIU, or are they just being loudly ironic? Who knows? It doesn't matter... we're now in the elimination round, and this game's going into overtime.

[RichardGraham]

Both teams are at full and equal strength at the beginning of overtime. FIU comes up with the puck. Shots favor Rutgers 44-32.

Jay Mills FIU takes a shot that deflects off Rutger goalie McCoyd's helmet, the puck lies in the crease, and an FIU player scores, breaking his stick on the play. The crowd cheers wildly, McCoyd slams his helmet into the boards, and FIU moves on in the tournament. Rutgers is done.

[RichardGraham]

In the second elimination-round game at Tour Arena, it's Missouri-Columbia vs. Long Beach State, and LBS has a 2-0 lead with 7:22 left in the first. The west-coasters also have a 8-1 advantage in shots.

Mo-Co makes it 2-1 after keeping the puck in the LB zone for quite some time.

Ryan Burrows is Long Beach's most obvious threats -- he's getting lots of opportunities. He scored 88 points on 54 goals and 34 assists this season. First period ends, 2-1, Long Beach in the lead.

[betteronice]

Richard I appreciate the updates, you're doing a great job!

On another note, does anybody know when the D2 seedings will be posted?

[RichardGraham]

Second period, Long Beach on the power play early. Long Beach takes a 3-1 lead while I'm yakking to Dave Resky and Dave Smallwood at the Mission-Itech booth. When I get back to my laptop, there's 2:33 left in the second and Co-Mo scores to make it 3-2.

Shots favor Long Beach 28-19, and there's 1:36 left in the period. Co-Mo takes a penalty, and LBS will be on the power play for the rest of the period... which ends at 3-2.

[BLIZARD_HOCKEY]

Rhode Island - 0
Eastern Michigan - 0

Pre-Game

1st Period Goals
No goals scored.

1st Period Penalties
No penalties assessed.