| | ALBANY, N.Y. -- Because his team didn't have to play a
first-round game and his opponent did, St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh
said he kept waiting for fatigue to become a factor in his team's
quarterfinal NCAA playoff game Sunday against Boston University.
|  | | BU's Mike Bussoli (2) and St. Lawrence's Blair Clarance were part of a game for the ages. |
As 60 minutes of regulation stretched to 80, then 100, then 120
minutes after three overtimes with the teams still tied 2-2 and no
end in sight, fatigue became both teams' opponent as much as the
players in the other uniforms.
"We kept saying that fatigue's got to be a factor with the
bye," Marsh said. "But they (BU) are an incredibly
well-conditioned, disciplined, fast team and fast teams are hard to
contain. ... I've got to tell you, that was one of the grittiest
performances I've ever seen on BU's part."
Robin Carruthers finally ended what became the longest NCAA
playoff game in history 3:53 into the fourth overtime period by
taking a loose puck to the BU goal mouth and slamming a rebound of
his first shot past Terrier goalie Rick DiPietro.
The 123 minutes, 53 seconds of game time shattered the record
for longest NCAA tournament contest of 100:28 set by Maine and
Michigan in the 1995 semifinals.
BU coach Jack Parker said his coaches have harped on trying to
get the Terriers to play hard and win games in the third period
this season.
"We won the third period this time, and we didn't win the
game," Parker said. "Then I said, 'All right, then win the
fourth.' And it got to the point where we were saying, 'Win the
seventh period.' ... This is one we'll all remember. It was quite a
mess out there."
Carruthers' goal also ended a memorable goaltending display by
DiPietro and St. Lawrence's Derek Gustafson -- both freshman -- who
combined for a record 149 saves.
It sent the St. Lawrence players into a mad celebration around
Carruthers while BU players merely slumped in exhaustion after
playing what amounted to three regulation games in little more than
one day.
St. Lawrence (27-7-2) will play Boston College (28-11-1) in a
national semifinal game April 6 in Providence, R.I. BC beat
Michigan State and top-seeded Wisconsin in the West Regional in
Minneapolis.
St. Lawrence, champions of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic
Conference, haven't been to hockey's Frozen Four since 1988. The
Saints lost that year in overtime in the championship game to Lake
Superior State.
A series of team and individual tournament records also fell
during the marathon, most notably for number of saves -- which both
DiPietro (77) and Gustafson (72) broke. The previous single-game
tournament record was 62 set by Providence's Chris Terreri against
Boston College in 1985.
"I would give back all 70 saves if we'd won the game,"
DiPietro said. "It's not a big deal."
Carruthers got a big assist on his winning goal from Jim
Lorentz, who poked the puck away from three Terriers along the side
boards to the right of DiPietro. Carruthers took the loose puck and
charged toward the BU goal. DiPietro stopped his first attempt but
Carruthers took the rebound and jammed it in between DiPietro's
legs.
St. Lawrence appeared ready to take command with goals by
Brandon Dietrich with 2:46 to play in the first period and by Jack
O'Brien 2:01 into the second.
But thanks to repeated power-play opportunities, BU (25-10-7)
got some momentum back. As one power play was about to expire, BU's
Mike Pandolfo cut down the left side of ice and wristed a shot
which eluded Gustafson to make it 2-1 St. Lawrence with 7:12 left
in the second period.
The Terriers, Hockey East regular champions, got the equalizer
with 8:10 left in regulation when Brian Collins tipped in Chris
Dyment's slap shot from the left circle. BU was on another
power play.
The goaltenders then took over, with Gustafson and then DiPietro
taking turns saving the game for their teams for the first three
overtime periods.
Gustafson's save against Jack Baker from right in front of the
goal with 5:50 gone in the first overtime and in denying Carl
Corazzini's breakaway with 9:21 left in the second overtime were
just two in a series of great stops. He also got lucky in the first
overtime when BU's Pat Aufiero hit the crossbar.
Gustafson is on a 15-game winning streak. He last lost on Jan. 7
vs. Wisconsin.
BU beat St. Cloud State 5-3 on Saturday in a first-round playoff
game while St. Lawrence had a bye. | |
ALSO SEE
Division I men's championship schedule, results
 |
