Final: A crazy couple of minutes. Miami, who was on the power play, pulled Zatkoff and scored a 6-on-4 goal with 38 seconds left. Michigan killed the ensuing half minute to clinch a CCHA championship.
2:38 left in the third: Michigan has done a good job holding off the inevitable Miami rush. There really hasn’t been too much offensive action on either net since the Wolverines netted their last goal. If the RedHawks can’t pick up some offensive rhythm soon, it’ll be Michigan walking away with the hardware tonight.
10:00 left in the third: The roles have been reversed this period, with the Wolverines controlling the puck for almost the whole ten minutes so far. Michigan has tied up the once-lopsided shots on goal and has racked up several nice possessions in the RedHawk zone.

End of the second period: Michigan is getting outplayed in every way, except on the scoreboard. The RedHawks have posted 21 shots on Sauer, who has been the Wolverines’ saving grace thus far. Without a stellar performance from him, Miami would most likely has a huge lead by now.
5:38 left in the second: There’s been a lot of play in the Michigan zone since its goal a few minutes ago. If the RedHawks continue to attack Sauer like this, it’s only a matter of time before the score is tied.

12:22 left in the second: Up until this point, the RedHawks had really controlled the flow of the second period. They put together a couple really nice, sustained possessions in the Michigan zone and got some nice pucks to the net. But the Wolverines just turned the tide with a huge goal, awakening the mostly Michigan crowd.

In a defensive battle like this, momentum is huge, and Michigan definitely picked some up with that tally.

End of the first period: Miami really picked it up the the last couple of minutes, notching some really good scoring chances. And after a Ryan Jones wraparound almost found the back of the net, the RedHawks are definitely heading into the locker room with all the momentum.

14:00 left in the first: Miami is a little slow out of the gates. The RedHawks have tallied just two shots on goal compared to Michigan’s four. The potent Miami offense has been held at bay all weekend — the RedHawks had to rely on their blueline to pot both of their goals last night.
17:50 left in the first: After last night’s win, Michigan forward Tim Miller said the Wolverines would have to cut down on the opposition’s transition opportunities, because the RedHawks are a great team in transition. Well, in a shorthanded situation, Miami just broke free with the puck on its first transition chance of the night. Sauer made the save, but I’ll track how the Michigan D tries to slow down the RedHawk attack through the rest of the game.
Pregame: Joe Louis Arena is absolutely rocking for tonight’s matchup between the Wolverines and RedHawks. There a ton of people here to watch this game, and it seems the majority of them are wearing maize and blue. But Miami has a nice contingent of fans here, too.
Both teams are coming into the final after squeeking out closer-than-expected games in the semis. Both Miami and Michigan had weaknesses exposed in their wins: Michigan goaltender Billy Sauer let in three of Northern Michigan’s first six shots on goal, and the RedHawks, which have posted gaudy offensive numbers this year, were severally slowed down against Notre Dame defensive scheme.

6:06 into overtime: Alec Martinez just ripped a slapshot from just inside the blue line and off of Pearce’s glove to clinch the game for Miami. The RedHawks just swarmed the ice in celebration of the comeback win. They’ll face the winner of Michigan vs. Northern Michigan in the CCHA Championship game.

2.3 seconds remaining in the third: WOW. After 55 minutes of no goals, we just had another within a few minutes. Miami pulled Zatkoff with 40 seconds left, but struggled to get any offense going until Mitch Ganzak netted one on a desperate shot with a big crowd in front of the crease. The crowd just went insane and this game is headed to overtime now.

4:30 remaining in the third period: Well the Fighting Irish didn’t score there, but less than a couple minutes later they put it in. Third-liner Evan Rankin found the back of the net after his backhanded shot barely tipped off of Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff’s glove.

6:11 remaining in the third period: It just looked like Notre Dame captain Mark Van Guilder broke the game’s scoreless streak. Except the senior’s shot — from the center of the left circle on the power play — didn’t completely cross the goal line. The senior wristed a bullet top shelf, but the puck hit the crossbar, bounced nearly straight down and failed to cross the red line. The no-goal call after the review garnered the loudest cheers of the night from the Miami-heavy crowd.

End of the second period: So much for the RedHawks being close to scoring because this one is still scoreless after two. The stands have filled up a little more and the crowd is a little louder, but the atmosphere will probably stay relatively tame until someone finally breaks through with what would likely be the game-deciding goal.

End of the first period: The first frame just came to a close and, well, it’s still scoreless, but Miami looks pretty close to breaking through — Pearce has had to come up with some pretty great saves to keep the game even. Notre Dame’s offense, on the other hand, hasn’t gotten nearly as much going and has tallied just three shots through 20 minutes.

5:00 left in the first period: This game’s been a pretty defensive and physical one so far and no pucks have found the back of the net yet even though both teams have had a pair of power-play opportunities. Notre Dame goalie Jordan Pearce has stood on his head, especially when the Fighting Irish were down a man, keeping the nation’s top offense in check.

The first of two CCHA semifinal games is about to get underway between the Fighting Irish and RedHawks. Joe Louis Arena is relatively empty — the lower bowl is about half filled — but both school bands are already clashing from opposite sides of the arena.