April 10 , 2003
NCAA Semifinal
New Hampshire's Redemption Song

NCAA Tournament Coverage

Brackets | Info UNH-Cornell Notebook Other Stories --------------------------------- Michigan's Andy Burnes Minnesota's C. Harrington Cornell's Sam Paolini UNH's Patrick Foley --------------------------------- Midwest Reg. Final East Regional Final Northeast Regional Final West Regional Final Midwest Reg. First Round East Regional First Round Northeast Reg. First Rd. West Reg. First Round --------------------------------- East Reg. Capsules Northeast Reg. Capsules Midwest Reg. Capsules West Reg. Capsules East Reg. Preview Northeast Reg. Preview Midwest Reg. Preview West Reg. Preview

By Mike Eidelbes

BUFFALO, N.Y. – "Redemption" was the word most associated with New Hampshire in the days leading up to this year's NCAA Frozen Four. As in, could they avoid a repeat performance of last year's semifinal game in St. Paul, when the favored Wildcats – and goaltender Michael Ayers – stumbled badly in a 7-2 loss to Maine?

Redemption came in the form of Ayers, who made 19 saves, and forward Steve Saviano, who scored twice to help UNH (28-7-6 overall) to a 3-2 win over top-ranked Cornell (30-5-1) in the first Frozen Four semifinal at HSBC Arena Thursday afternoon.

New Hampshire 3, Cornell 2
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-NH	Tim Horst (7)	EV
14:21	T. Scott
Second Period
2-NH	Steve Saviano (8)	EV
1:23	N. Martz, S. Collins
3-NH	Saviano (9)	PP
7:10	Martz
1-CU	Ryan Vesce (19)	PP
9:52	S. Bâby, D. Murray
Third Period
2-CU	Chris Abbott (5)	EV
9:52	Cam Abbott, G. Hornby
Goaltending
NH: Michael Ayers, 60:00, 19saves, 2 GA
CU: Dave LeNeveu, 59:00, 18 saves, 3 GA
Penalties: NH 6/12; CU 4/8
Power Plays: NH 1-4; CU 1-6
Attendance: 19,022

"The guys have redeemed themselves from last year," said a relieved coach Dick Umile after the game. "Now we get to relax a little bit and look forward to the championship game."

Ayers outperformed his more heralded counterpart for Cornell – sophomore netminder Dave LeNeveu – especially during the game's first 10 minutes when the Big Red controlled the pace by cycling the puck down low in the Wildcat zone. The UNH goaltender stopped seven shots before his teammates could even muster a shot on goal.

"Obviously, you want to be the number one guy, not the number two guy. That was in the back of my mind going into it," said Ayers about his duel with the LeNeveu, who led the nation in every major goaltending category this season as is one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award. "At the start of the game, they had our number a little bit and had some shots on."

Ayers also kept Cornell at bay late in the third period as the Big Red pulled LeNeveu for an extra attacker in an effort to get the tying goal. His best save of the game was on a shot by Stephen Bâby with less than a minute left in regulation, when Ayers lunged to his right to get in front of the Cornell captain's attempt. The puck hit Ayers' mask, glanced off the post and out of harm's way.

"I knew he had short side," Ayers said. "I just threw everything I had into it."

"We had a lot of traffic in front of him," Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. "The saves he made showed he was worthy of all the press built up before this tournament."

Cornell thought it had taken an early lead when Shane Palahicky, stationed in the slot about 10 feet in front of Ayers, tipped a Jeremy Downs shot from the near point past Ayers midway through the first period. But after a lengthy review, the replay official in the HSBC Arena press box ruled Palahicky played the puck with a high stick and waved off the goal.

"I immediately went to the referee (Don Adam) and said my piece," Ayers said. "He said 'We'll go upstairs with it. No big deal.' I had a good feeling about it and we were fortunate enough to get the right call."

The reversal of fortune awoke the lethargic Wildcats, who outshot Cornell 12-0 over the last 10 minutes of the first period and the first three minutes of the second period. The flurry also included two Wildcat goals, the first a pretty scoring play by Tyler Scott, who set up linemate Tim Horst 14:21 into the first. Scott stole the puck behind the Cornell net and found Horst all alone between the faceoff circles for his seventh goal of the season.

"That was a key goal by our fourth line," Umile said. "In a game like this, the top lines tend to balance out."

Saviano scored his first goal 1:23 into the second period on a chance created by the patience of centerman Nathan Martz. Martz lugged the puck up the right wing into the Cornell zone and waited for Saviano, who was the trailer on the play, to catch up before hitting him in stride with a perfect pass as he drove hard to the net.

"Our second line knew we had to step up," Saviano said of his unit that features Martz and left wing Sean Collins. "We knew we needed some more balance on offense. We put that on our shoulders."

UNH's third goal – and Saviano's second of the game – came at 7:10 of the second period during the Wildcats' second power play opportunity. The junior from Reading, Mass., got the puck near the bottom of the far faceoff circle and got off a shallow-angle shot that squeezed through a narrow gap between the post and LeNeveu's left shoulder.

The Big Red finally solved Ayers 9:38 into the second period on a power play tally of their own. Junior Ryan Vesce got his stick on a Bâby shot from the point and the re-directed puck seeped through Ayers' leg pads and trickled across the goal line. Cornell would narrow the margin to 3-2 nearly 20 minutes later thanks to the efforts of its fourth line and brothers Chris and Cam Abbott, who would race into their offensive end on a two-on-one. Chris Abbott's one-timer off a perfect backhand feed from his brother 9:52 into the last period caught Ayers as he was dropping to the ice.

Redemption is no longer an issue for New Hampshire. Now the Wildcats – college hockey's version of Phil Mickelson as the best team never to a national title – focus on another word: championship.