| | MINNEAPOLIS -- Greg Gardner stopped 34 shots, and Mikko Sivonen scored two goals as upstart Niagara posted a 4-1 victory over New Hampshire in the opening game of the NCAA West Regional on Friday.
Sixth-seed Niagara faces WCHA playoff champion North Dakota (28-5-5) Saturday night for the chance to go to the Frozen Four tournament in Providence, R.I. in two weeks.
|  | | Nate Handrahan and his Niagara teammates were an NCAA hurdle Garrett Stafford and UNH couldn't clear. |
The Purple Eagles (30-7-4), who are in just their second full season as a Division I program, were the regular season and postseason champion of the fledgling College Hockey America league.
New Hampshire, the third seed, finished 23-9-6.
"It feels great to win," said Niagara coach Blaise McDonald. "But all it really does is give us a chance to play hard again tomorrow."
Gardner, one of Niagara's 15 seniors, was solid early, rejecting five shots in the first six minutes of play. Randy Harris then got Niagara on the board when his shot deflected off New Hampshire defenseman Sean Austin's stick and into the net at 7:23.
Kyle Martin scored at 9:06 of the period, beating goalie Ty Conklin on the short side to make it 2-0. Sivonen added a second-period goal.
Darren Haydar scored New Hampshire's lone goal early in the third period.
Gardner took care of the rest of the game, stopping Lanny Gare twice from point-blank range late in the game to save the victory.
"We talked a lot about being unfazed no matter what happens in our end," McDonald said. "There's no variable for experience. We've been through a lot this year so tonight was nothing new."
"I hope that people now know who Niagara is," Gardner said. "We're a dream school. Our tradition is still ahead of us."
Conklin, a finalist for the Hobey Baker award, made 15 saves. With the Purple Eagles leading 3-1, he was pulled for a sixth attacker with 1:29 to play. Sivonen ruined the strategy by firing the puck into an empty net.
"We generated some good-scoring opportunities in the third period, but Gardner wouldn't let us get back within one," said Wildcat coach Dick Umile. | |
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