DCU Center’s greatest NCAA regional moments

Worcester’s DCU Center is the elder statesman among the five venues hosting portions of the 2018 NCAA men’s hockey tournament.

The 36-year-old building originally known as the Centrum will log its 15th regional of all time this weekend. It has taken a turn at least once every two years since the regionals started taking to neutral sites in 1992.

The Centrum/DCU Center’s first go-round predates the existence of its 2018 partners by at least seven years. St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, which will host its third Frozen Four this year, opened in 2000. Fellow regional sites in Allentown, Bridgeport and Sioux Falls all opened in the current century. Two of them are new to NCAA postseason hockey altogether.

This Monday will mark the 25th anniversary of the Centrum’s own collegiate icebreaker. A preliminary-round doubleheader of Harvard-Northern Michigan and Clarkson-Minnesota was the ticket on March 26, 1993.

Another 46 NCAA tournament games have occurred at the Centrum/DCU Center since then. By the silver anniversary, the grand total will be 51.

Whoever emerges with the passport to St. Paul will try to become the eighth national champion to pave their road through Worcester. But can they and their Northeast Regional foes match any of these 10 moments in the DCU Center chronicles?

10. 2002: Day 2
This was the final year of the 12-team bracket, which saw two regional sites host six teams and four games.

In the East Regional, Maine and Cornell prevailed on Day 1, matching with the byes from Boston University and New Hampshire, respectively. That March 24 doubleheader would live as a Sunday of squeakers.

UNH edged Cornell, 4-3, on Jim Abbott’s go-ahead goal with 2:39 left in regulation. Hours later, Maine upset BU by the same score on Colin Shields’ strike with 4:23 remaining in the third.

That gave the Black Bears the only two-goal lead for any party on the day, and the insurance proved vital. BU’s David Klemma responded 81 seconds later to whittle the deficit down to 4-3. He thus joined Maine’s Lucas Lawson and UNH’s Colin Hemingway among the day’s two-goal scorers.

But Maine held up for the final 3:02. The results set up a quick rematch of the Hockey East final in the national semis.

9. 2002: Maine vs. Harvard
The Black Bears secured their bout with BU by repressing an upset-minded, overtime-seasoned Harvard team.

Entering the East Regional as the sixth seed, the Crimson struck first at 7:55 of the opening frame. They later opened a 2-1 advantage before allowing two unanswered tallies within 2:14 late in the second period.

With Tom Cavanagh’s power-play conversion early in the third, Harvard forced overtime for its fourth consecutive outing. It was coming off three straight sudden-death wins, including two in double-OT, for the all-important ECAC automatic bid. In addition, it was 4-0-4 on the year in games played beyond 60 minutes.

That unbeaten mark changed when Maine’s John Ronan converted Paul Falco’s setup at 2:02 of the fourth frame.

8. 2008: Miami vs. Air Force
Frank Serratore and Don Cherry have much to discuss, if they so please.

The long-time Air Force bench boss and his troops were 7:50 away from grounding the top-seeded Miami RedHawks. They had usurped a 2-1 lead with a pair of unanswered goals in the middle frame of the first Northeast Regional semifinal.

But then their bench was caught deploying too many men. With 26 seconds to spare on its power play, Miami buried the 2-2 equalizer via Carter Camper.

The deadlock held up for the final 6:16 of regulation. In a subsequent back-and-forth overtime, Air Force’s Andrew Volkening and Miami’s Jeff Zatkoff faced and repelled six shots apiece.

Then on the RedHawks’ seventh sudden-death bid, Justin Mercier scored unassisted, quelling the Falcons’ upset bid.

7. 1993: Northern Michigan vs. Harvard
Before we get back to the titanic tangles the DCU Center has hosted in late March, here is one more upset attempt. Specifically, here is the only successful upset attempt by a sixth seed against a third seed.

While NMU’s WCHA sent four team to the 1993 NCAA bracket, no one was higher than fourth in either region. Hockey East and the CCHA were the implicit favorites to produce the national champion, as they each had a pair of first-round byes.

Meanwhile, Harvard and Clarkson represented the ECAC as the designated home teams in the East Regional’s play-in round. The third-seeded Crimson had cruised to a 22-5-3 record, and drew the scrappy, sixth-seeded, 20-17-4 Wildcats.

But with upperclassmen held over from its epic 1991 national championship triumph, NMU made another multi-overtime memory. A goal at 2:43 of the second sudden-death period secured a 3-2 shocker.

6. 1999: New Hampshire vs. Michigan
One year prior, UNH’s first Frozen Four experienced fizzled at the hands of the mighty Wolverines. Putting in its fourth straight national semifinal appearance, Michigan blanked the Wildcats, 4-0, at Boston’s FleetCenter. Two nights later, the Wolverines erased a 2-1 deficit and attained their second title in three years against Boston College.

With a bye into the second round of the 1999 East Regional, UNH waited before drawing Michigan yet again. The Wolverines got there with yet another come-from-behind victory over Denver.

So when Bobby Hayes drew a 1-1 knot at the exact halfway mark of the third period, many had to wonder if old patterns would repeat. Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn faced 13 more shots than fellow freshman Ty Conklin of UNH, but matched his efficiency.

That was until the 3:16 mark of overtime, when another rookie, Wildcat forward Darren Haydar, found the net.

5. 2016: Minnesota-Duluth vs. Providence
The 1998-99 Wolverines were not the first defending national champion to go down in Worcester. BU handed that distinction to Lake Superior State in a one-sided rematch of a one-sided 1994 national final.

As of 2016, Michigan is not the last team, either. But Providence became the first repeat-seeking Worcester-bound program to fall short as a higher seed.

The UMD Bulldogs had barely secured an at-large bid to the national bracket. Their deceptive 18-15-5 record reflected an ultracompetitive NCHC that had sent six teams to the dance.

As the No. 4 seed in the Northeast Regional, the Bulldogs drew the top-dog Friars in the first semifinal. A classic goaltender’s duel saw UMD’s Kasimir Kaskisuo repel all 11 third-period PC shots, then nine in the first overtime.

At the other end, Nick Ellis preserved the 1-1 draw with 20 and 13 saves in the third and fourth period. The DCU Center thus saw its third double-overtime college hockey game of all time. Although that fifth period never reached the minute mark, as Duluth’s Karson Kuhlman scored 57 seconds in.

4. 2014: Boston College vs. UMass-Lowell
The Riverhawks sought their second consecutive Frozen Four berth after reaching that frontier for the first time in 2013. The Eagles looked to win their fifth straight DCU Center-hosted regional.

A relatively clean contest saw all five of the regional final’s penalties called in the first period. Lowell, which never went on the penalty kill, drew a 1-1 knot on its second of three power plays. Its last man advantage carried over to the middle frame via Bill Arnold’s holding infraction.

None other than Arnold, however, restored BC’s lead to 2-1 in the middle frame. The Riverhawks retorted again, then nabbed their own edge via Evan Campbell in the opening minute of the third period.

That lead lasted all of 18 seconds, though, as Ryan Fitzgerald pulled the Eagles even at 3-3. Precisely 10 minutes and 15 seconds later, Ian McCoshen nudged BC back ahead.

Freshman goaltender Thatcher Demko and company then held up through UML’s protracted 6-on-5 attack for the better part of the final minute. They eventually cleared the zone in the waning seconds, cementing the 4-3 thriller.

3. 2008: Boston College vs. Miami
After a mediocre regular season, the Eagles were in unfamiliar territory in the Hockey East tournament. They needed to win out just to secure their sixth straight slot in the national bracket.

They did that, with a triple-overtime semifinal win over first-place UNH along the way. When they reached the regional final nine days later, the no-tomorrow instinct they had honed undoubtedly kicked in.

Miami, the regional’s top seed, opened an initial 2-0 lead. But BC erupted in the second period’s late stages, turning the two-goal deficit into a 3-2 edge within 1:58.

With the closing stanza’s lone tally, the RedHawks forced sudden death. In the first dozen minutes of overtime, they ran up a 10-3 edge in the shooting gallery. But BC freshman John Muse answered every call, then was rewarded when Joe Whitney deposited the winner at 12:12.

Two weeks later, the Eagles cruised to the national title in Denver.

2. 2001: Day 1
Colorado College, St. Lawrence, Minnesota and Maine combined for nine full or partial periods of play. The latter pair traded the lead three times in their nightcap.

The Tigers spilled a pair of one-goal leads in the opener, then forged what remains the DCU Center’s longest college hockey game to date. Saints goaltender Jeremy Symington stopped everything he faced for a cumulative 52 minutes and 39 seconds. He would have 46 saves to his credit by day’s end.

But at 3:30 of double-overtime, Paul Manning gave CC a permanent lead and a berth in the national quarterfinals.

Upon their belated start, the Black Bears filled 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 potholes in the first, second and third periods, respectively. Amidst a 6-on-4 attack, Michael Schuette forced overtime with three seconds remaining in regulation.

At 13:04 of the bonus round, Robert Liscak bested Gophers goaltender Adam Hauser for the 5-4 victory. Although Maine fell to Boston College, the eventual national champion, the next day.

1. 1997: Boston University vs. Denver
Crossover Pioneer-Avalanche fans watched with ambivalence as BU junior and Colorado prospect Chris Drury defined the day. The de facto home team in this East Regional second round trailed twice, then prevailed after allowing a seemingly momentum-swinging goal.

After Denver struck first, BU’s Shawn Bates thought he had an equalizer later in the opening frame. His fluttering bid from the high slot under pressure grazed the post, but he later joined a man-advantage conversion to get the Terriers on the board.

The 1-1 deadlock held up until the Pioneers regained the lead early in the third. But Albie O’Connell came through again at the midway point of the closing stanza. Bates finally found the twine on a breakaway within the final four minutes of regulation. But the Pioneers perked up to force the bonus round with 52.8 seconds to spare.

In the ensuing overtime, Drury gave a glimpse of his clutch aptitude. Using ample open ice during a 3-on-3 segment, he parked on the Pioneers porch, absorbed a distant feed from the point and laced it home. With the 4-3 triumph, BU advanced to its fifth straight Frozen Four.