Rearview: Division I Semifinals

(Photo by Lance Wendt)

by E.J. Freeman | MCLA.us

RICHMOND- We had a runaway and a slug fest, but we have our finalists in Brigham Young and Virginia Tech

#1 Brigham Young over #4 Florida State 19-8 –  The Seminoles scored first in this one and it was back and forth for about a quarter and a half.  The Noles were able to run and had looks early, but left too many goals on the table.  The Cougars were more than willing to take advantage of any opportunities that the Noles gave them.    Mason Quick and Stew Vassau led the way for the Cougars scoring 14 of their first 15 goals.  The Cougars, after a slow start Monday, have found their mojo and appear to be clicking on all cylinders now. 

The possession game was always going to be key in this game if the Noles were going to advance; unfortunately for them they only won 43% of the faceoffs; the target for the Seminoles at the dot was probably 70%.

When the Seminoles had the ball and had open teammates, too often the pass was off just enough to disrupt the timing and that created just enough time for the long BYU defenders to close the gap and shut the door on the scoring opportunity.  Taylor Crump and the Brigham Young defense limited the Florida State offense to eight goals, which is their lowest output of the season.   

Quick and Vassau shot a combined 14 for 20 which is a great place to start for the Cougars.    If the Cougars are that efficient they will be almost impossible to beat.

Similar to the Georgia game the Cougars were ahead, but the Noles were in striking distance at halftime and then the Cougars just ran away with the game in the second half. 

 #3 Virginia Tech over #2 Utah Valley 11-10 – The lack of intrigue in game one was offset by a more typical semifinal game in our second game of the evening.  We all knew Virginia Tech faceoff specialist Jack McKenzie was very good, but I do not think anyone outside of Blacksburg had him knocking Jacob Lundin to winning 5 of 11 faceoffs.  Lundin has had a stellar career for the Wolverines and I have never seen someone do what McKenzie did tonight.  McKenzie was wildly impressive.  Utah Valley seemed to be in a fog for the entire first half and started showing signs of coming out of it in the third quarter.

The script for Utah Valley games over the last several years has been dominant faceoff play, aggressive riding and defense, and an offense that just keeps coming at you to go along with relentless energy all over the field.  It seemed as though the faceoff game going against them along with Virginia Tech matching their intensity and throwing it right back at them knocked the Wolverines on their heels.  They did not have their trademark ferocity and in fact the Hokies became the aggressors for much of the first three quarters. 

The Wolverines took an early lead in the first quarter and scored some surprising goals.  The Hokies were unfazed and stayed in the fight and cut the lead to 4-3 to end the first quarter. 

In the second quarter McKenzie kept feeding the Hokies the ball and their offense found openings inside as well as with their stepdown shooters.  It was the Hokies who forced multiple turnovers in the ride flipping the Utah Valley script on them.  The mounting possessions took their toll on the Wolverine defense and caused the Wolverine offense to lose any sense of rhythm or flow.  The Wolverines looked dazed throughout the second quarter as the Hokies won the quarter 5-0.

The Hokies opened the second half with more of the same as Alex Ashley scored the first goal of the half on an outside shot during an extra man opportunity.  Ashley also scored the only other goal of the period when Matthew Patrone found him inside with 4:23 remaining in the quarter.  The quarter flew by with neither team scoring.  The Wolverines were outscored 2-0, but there was a change in their demeanor.  They started to run their ten-man ride and forced a couple turnovers and their energy was noticeably different.  The Wolverines began to win more confrontations all over the field and the ride was effective even if it did not show up for them on the scoreboard.   Wolverine goalie Patrick Thomas made several strong saves to keep the game in  reach while Wolverines found their energy.

The Wolverines scored on their opening possession of the fourth quarter on an outside bounce shot that found home in the top half of the cage and then scored again on their next possession after drawing a penalty on the Hokies.  The Wolverines also began winning some faceoffs consecutively allowing their offense to find a rhythm as they began to attack from the wings sweeping over the top.  The sense of belief gave the Wolverines even more energy.  The Wolverines cut the lead to 10-7 with 6:19 remaining.  The ten-man ride then began to come to life even more as the Wolverines turned the Hokies over near midfield twice in a row and turned the second one into a Blake Yates goal from 50 yards away as the Hokie goaltender scrambled to get back to his goal.  The Wolverines tied it up when Gage Rudolph scored on a hammer from the point on extra man with 2:20 remaining. 

The Hokies cleared the ball and called timeout with 19 seconds remaining.  Austin Ashley took the ball and dodged from the wing all the way behind and turned the corner before slipping a shot into the net with 0:08 remaining.  The Wolverines won the ensuing faceoff and had a chance, but could not tie the game.

The Hokies advance to the title game for second time and will face the Brigham Young Cougars.