Men’s Hockey Wins CCHA Championship with 4-2 Victory over Michigan
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
March 20, 2004
DETROIT – The Ohio State men’s hockey team defeated Michigan, 4-2, in the CCHA Super Six Championship to claim the Mason Cup and the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The league title is Ohio State’s first since 1972.
No. 4 seed Ohio State won three games in the tournament to win the title, beating No. 5 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals in overtime, 6-5 and No. 2 Miami in the semifinals in overtime, 4-3, before topping No. 1 seed Michigan for the championship. The Buckeyes are the first team in the nation to ever win their conference tournament after playing three games in three days in the tourney.
The bracket for the 2004 NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship will be announced at 2:30 p.m. Sunday live on ESPN2. Ohio State will be making it second consecutive appearance in the tournament and its fourth overall and in the last seven years.
Buckeye senior Paul Caponigri had a goal and an assist in the game to lead the Buckeyes and earn the Bill Beagan Trophy as the tournament’s MVP, the first Buckeye since Bill McKenzie in 1972 to do so. Goalie Dave Caruso, forwards Rod Pelley and Caponigri and defenseman Doug Andress all earned all-tournament accolades.
There was no scoring in the first. The Buckeyes dominated the play, outshooting the Wolverines, 17-5, but could not get the puck past UM goalie Al Montoya. Buckeye goalie Caruso (Fr., Roswell, Ga.) kept the Wolverines off the scoreboard with five saves, including a point-blank glove save with eight minutes remaining. Ohio State stopped Michigan on the one power-play chance of the period. The Buckeyes continued the pressure in the second and got three past Montoya. Ohio State scored twice in 1:14 with the teams skating 4-on-4 to take a 2-0 lead just 4:04 into the period. Caponigri (Sr., Oak Park, Ill.) scored on a wrap around that trickled through Montoya’s arm and over the line. Rod Pelley (So., Kitimat, British Columbia) picked up the assist on the goal, which came at 2:05. Andress (Sr., Iroquois Falls, Ontario) tallied at 4:04, picking up the rebound of a Matt Beaudoin (Fr., Rock Forest, Ill.) shot that hit the post and putting a slap shot into the net. Dan Knapp (So., Rochester, Mich.) extended the lead to 3-0 with just 33 seconds remaining in the period. With Ohio State on the power play, Caponigri passed to Andress, whose shot was saved. The rebound went to Knapp and his shot from the side of the net bounced off Montoya and in. Each team had nine shots on goal in the period.
In the third, Michigan cut the Buckeyes’ lead to one with goals at 10:40 by Milan Gajic and Brandon Rogers at 13:06. The Wolverines pulled Montoya for the extra skater before a Buckeye was assessed a penalty with 54 seconds remaining to give UM a 6-on-4 advantage. The Buckeyes held tough and Andress put the game out of reach with a shorthanded, empty-net goal at 19:29, lifting the puck the length of the ice and into the net.
Caruso played all 60 minutes, making 26 saves for the win, his third victory of the tournament. Montoya had 28 stops in the loss. OSU outshot the Wolverines, 32-28, in the game.
Ohio State scored on its one power-play chance, while holding Michigan scoreless on three opportunities.
Postgame Notes
OSU is the first team not based in Michigan to win the title since 1988 (Bowling Green) and ends a streak of eight years in a row Michigan or Michigan State won the crown. The Wolverines had won the last two titles.
Ohio State was ranked 11t/12th, while the Wolverines were ranked sixth.
The Buckeyes improved to 26-15-0 on the year, while the Wolverines fell to 26-13-2. The 26 wins for the Buckeyes are tied for the third-highest total in program history.
The four Buckeyes named to the all-tournament team are the first since four Buckeyes were honored in 1998 when the squad lost in the championship game to Michigan State in double overtime.
Ohio State is on a season-high six-game winning streak.
Pelley extended his scoring streak to four, with 2-4-6 totals in the stretch.
The game marked the fifth time Ohio State and Michigan met this season, with the Wolverines winning the series, 3-2. OSU stopped a two-game losing streak to UM with the win.
