Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Minnesota-Duluth wins first national championship, beats Michigan 3-2 in overtime

NCAA Men's Frozen Four - Michigan Wolverines v Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

of the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs of the Michigan Wolverines during the championship game of the 2011 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four on April 9, 2011 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Elsa

The University of Minnesota-Duluth can finally call themselves champions of men’s hockey.

Minnesota-Duluth defeated Michigan in the national championship game 3-2 with a thrilling overtime victory. Minnesota native Kyle Schmidt scored the game-winning goal thanks to a great pass from Travis Oleksuk at 3:22 of overtime.

In a game that was back and forth and saw both teams deliver great goals and great saves, ultimately it was Minnesota-Duluth’s destiny as Kenny Reiter made 22 saves to lead the Bulldogs to victory. Semifinals hero for Michigan Shawn Hunwick did everything he could to lead the Wolverines, but ultimately fell short after saving 35 shots in the loss.

Michigan’s Ben Winnett scored in the first period to get the Wolverines a lead after one, but in the second, UMD roared back.

Oleksuk was the night’s hero scoring a goal to tie the game in the second period while adding an assist on the game-winning goal. Max Tardy scored his first goal of the season on the power play for UMD in the second period to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-1. Jeff Rohrkemper would knot things up late in the second scoring his third goal of the year. After a scoreless third the teams headed to overtime where Schmidt would end it for the Bulldogs.

The national championship was Minnesota-Duluth’s first for their men’s team in their history. Their women’s team won the NCAA title last year. Just like that, all of a sudden Duluth, Minnesota is college hockey’s version of title town. The school that once was home to NHL Hall of Famer Brett Hull can now claim their first title and the fans in Duluth couldn’t be prouder.