Familiar foes to battle for national title
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It's going to be an all-Connecticut national championship game after Quinnipiac and Yale were victorious on Thursday.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas played a role in two of Quinnipiac's three first-period goals, and the Bobcats rode the early outburst to a 4-1 win over St. Cloud State in the Frozen Four at CONSOL Energy Center.
Samuels-Thomas scored a power-play goal 1:49 into the game, then picked up the lone assist on Ben Arnt's tally at the 5:07 mark.
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Later on, Jeremy Langlois exited the penalty box and beat St. Cloud State goaltender Ryan Faragher to make it 3-0 at 11:19.
Joey Benik put the Huskies (25-16-1) on the board at 6:25 of the second period, but Kellen Jones restored the three-goal advantage eight minutes later.
Quinnipiac goaltender Eric Hartzell, one of the three finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, made nine of his 33 saves in the third period.
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The Bobcats (30-7-5) will have to beat ECAC rival Yale for a fourth time this season on Saturday in order to capture their first NCAA Division I title.
Yale advanced to its first-ever national championship game when captain Andrew Miller scored just under seven minutes into overtime in Thursday's first semifinal contest against UMass-Lowell.
Antoine Laganiere and Mitch Witeck each scored once for the Bulldogs (21-12-3), who shocked Minnesota in the West Regional Opener before upending perennial powerhouse North Dakota in the regional final to reach Pittsburgh.
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Jeff Malcolm made 16 saves to backstop the victory.
Joseph Pendenza and Riley Wetmore lit the lamp for UMass-Lowell (28-11-2), which won the Hockey East regular-season and playoff championships.
Connor Hellebuyck posted 44 saves in the setback.
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The Bulldogs potted a pair of goals in the first to take control after 20 minutes, but the River Hawks responded with two goals in a 14-second span late in the second to even the score.
After peppering Hellebuyck with 16 shots in a scoreless third period, Yale finally broke through just under seven minutes into overtime when Miller chipped the puck past a defender at the blue line and recovered it just above the right circle before cutting in front and beating Hellebuyck with a backhander through the five-hole to send his team to victory.