Gophers Reach Men's Hockey Finals on Last-Second Goal

ED NOTE: Sorry Minnesota fans! We accidentally referred to the Golden Gophers as the "Badgers" in the original headline of this article.

March Madness might be over, but there's still a Final Four happening in college sports. Frozen Four, to be more precise. The NCAA men's hockey seasons wrap up this weekend with the championship game in Philadelphia. University of Minnesota Gophers take on the Union (NY) Dutchmen in a David-and-Goliath final — the Gophers, one of the best college hockey programs in the country, are going for their six title and first since 2003; the Dutchmen are playing in their first men's hockey championship in school history.

But as exciting as the game should be, it won't have anything on last night's Minnesota-North Dakota semi-final matchup. The two teams were evenly matched, going scoreless through two periods, thanks in large part to some big-time play by Gophers goalie Adam Wilcox. Both teams scored a goal in the third, and with time ticking down to an inevitable overtime, Minnesota's Justin Holl did what every coach tells every player to do: Throw the puck on net. You never know what will happen.

Skip to 1:16 to see how this heavyweight fight ended:


Unreal. You should go back and watch the rest of the recap and check out the great play from both sides, especially Wilcox and the goal scored by North Dakota's Connor Gaarder. But seriously, can you think of a wilder end to a game than a short-handed goal being scored with .6 seconds left on the clock?

The women's Final Four wrapped up late last month. Clarkson defeated Minnesota, 5-4, so there won't be the possibility of a UConn-style celebration of dual national championships in Minneapolis this season.


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