LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK — St. Norbert finally won an overtime NCAA Division III national championship game, defeating Salve Regina, 3-2, in double overtime. With the victory, the Green Knights have now claimed five titles, the third won in Lake Placid.
“We’ve had good success here,” St. Norbert coach Tim Coghlin said. “We love Lake Placid!”
St. Norbert, which had lost two previous overtime finals, got the game-winner by Brad Pung at 9:42 on a perfect pass from captain Tanner Froese. It was his third primary assist of the game. It all came after St. Norbert blew a 2-0 lead.
“There is no better feeling out there in the world than when you’re a player and you hoist the national championship,” Coghlin said.
The twist is Pung was nearly scratched from the lineup.
“He was a questionable scratch before tonight’s game,” Coghlin admitted. “He has a broken finger. It happened in last night’s game. He’s got stitches up both sides. He’s wearing a little splint on his hand. I had an extra forward dressed during warmup, because we weren’t sure.”
Of course Pung had other ideas.
“The almost scratch I think was in Coghlin’s eyes,” Pung said. “I had it in my head from the time I woke up that I was playing this game. No offense coach.”
“None taken,” Coghlin gladly replied. “The decision was yours all the way.”
“The doctor did a great job getting me ready to go,” Pung said. “I knew Tanner was flying up the that right side. I started screaming for the puck. I knew I had an open shot. He put it right on my tape [in the right circle]. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.”
It ended Salve Regina’s unexpected dream season at 22-6-2.
“Double overtime game in the national championship. We gave everybody who came out to see it and watching back home a show,” Salve Regina coach Zech Klann said. “I’m proud of the guys. Two great teams went at it tonight on a big stage.”
Dominick Sacco broke the ice on a power play at 18:31 of the first period thanks to a perfect pass from Froese on the right side. Sacco took the pass in the slot and skated in a bit before ripping off a wrister to beat Blake Wojtala stick side.
A major penalty on Salve Regina’s Danny Eruzione – which needed a video review to call — for boarding turned into a wash.
St. Norbert got a power-play goal out of it, but 65 seconds later, Salve Regina answered with a short-hander.
Luke Davidson, on yet another pass from Froese, rifled it from the left point which sailed through a crowd, beating Wojtala stick side once again for the 2-0 lead.
The Seahawks quickly responded. With perhaps the pass of the game, Patrick Thompson, from behind the goal line, backhanded it between his legs to Cameron Russo. Russo, from the right side with a tough angle, lifted it far side over goalie T.J. Black’s glove to negate the previous power-play tally.
“It deleted their goal,” Klann said. “We used it for momentum. The guys kept pushing. They didn’t give up.”
Midway through the third, the Seahawks completed the comeback. The rebound on a Frankie Sullivan shot came out to the front. It appeared Paul Boutoussov had overskated it. However, he was able to gain partial control, turn 180 degrees, and shoot it past Black just inside the post.
“We knew it was going to be a tight game,” Klann said. “It was a very fun game to be a part of.”
Onto overtime it went. Davidson hit the post early. Late in the first overtime, Black made a save that deflected off his head, behind him, and then just wide of the goal.
This all setup a captain’s third perfect pass to a player who could have been in street clothes in St. Norbert’s 2018 national championship.
“If you’re going to go out, you go out swinging,” Klann said. “I think both teams played their best hockey tonight. And it took two periods of overtime to get through it. Congratulations to them. They played very well tonight.”
“You’re in the last game in the last night,” Coghlin said. “There’s a lot of things that have to go well.”
