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With an enrollment of 3,300 students, Minot State has the comfortable atmosphere that’s usually found in colleges of its size. The Minot State Beavers made things decidedly uncomfortable for their opponents en route to their first American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I men’s national championship.

Minot State skated out to a 3-0 lead in the championship game against Lindenwood and then coasted to a 9-5 victory on March 6 at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Ill.

The third-seeded Beavers blanked 14th-seeded Central Oklahoma 5-0 in the first round and then edged No. 6 Oklahoma 5-4 in overtime in the quarterfinals.

Minot State then beat No. 4 Ohio 5-1 in the semifinals to set up a championship match with ninth-ranked Lindenwood.

Brody Haygarth paced the Beavers with a hat trick plus an assist while tournament MVP Daniel Lamb contributed one goal and two assists in the championship game. Lamb finished the tournament with five goals in the four games.

Minot State built what proved to be that commanding 3-0 lead on first-period goals by Cam McGeough (his fourth of the tournament), Jared McIntosh (who was credited with six assists in his team’s first three games) and Haygarth.

Haygarth later scored a key short-handed goal in the third period.

Grant Gorczyca had a stick in every Linwood goal as he scored once and added four assists.

As impressive as the Beavers’ offense was, Wyatt Waselenchuk was equally as impressive in goal as he stopped 35 Linwood shots en route to his fourth victory of the tournament.

Joining Waselenchuck on the All-Tournament First Team were a trio of Beavers: defenseman Nigel Dube plus forwards McGeough and McIntosh.

Gorczyca and Linwood defenseman Nick Carey also were voted First Team All-Tournament honors.

Minnesota women shine on club level, too

How deep is women’s hockey at the University of Minnesota?

This deep.

Not only does the school boast one of the NCAA’s top women’s intercollegiate teams, but it also can boast of having the nation’s best women’s club hockey team.

The Gophers captured their first ACHA Division I championship by blanking Liberty University 2-0 in the finals on March 13 in Kalamazoo, Mich. The victory took some of the sting off a 3-1 loss to Northeastern in the 2012 championship contest.

Laura Gengler scored the only goal Minnesota would need when she buried a rebound at 15:41 of the first period.

Lauren Kirchoff added an insurance goal at 15:34 of the second when she pounced on her own rebound and flipped the puck past Liberty goaltender Samantha Rupp.

Two Minnesota players earned First Team All-Tournament honors: forward Molly Sparks, who also was voted the MVP, and defender Kristin Skoog.

Joining them on the first team were Rupp and teammate Stacey McCombe (forward), Massachusetts forward Sarah Oteri and Northeastern defender Megan Winters.

Third win for Michigan State coach

Call it the ACHA version of a hat trick.

The Michigan State men beat Grand Valley State 6-3 in the finals of the Division II Tournament on Tuesday in Chesterfield, Mo., for coach Jim Martin’s third championship.

MSU put this game away early by building a 5-0 lead and coasting the rest of the way, which again enabled it to rule a division that includes 181 teams.

MSU forward Anthony Casali was voted as the MVP.

West Chester wins first title

Becky Dobson delivered a singular performance as West Chester University beat Penn State to capture the ACHA Division II women’s title on March 10 in Ashburn, Va.

Dobson recorded a hat trick as West Chester overcame a 2-0 deficit and rallied for a 5-2 victory over Penn State in the championship game — the first national title ever for the Golden Rams.

Dobson, the tournament’s MVP, posted 15-1-16 totals and finished the season with an impressive total of 63 goals.

Adrian College takes back-to-back Div. III crowns

Adrian College made history in the ACHA Division III men’s tournament. By beating Michigan-Flint 4-1 in the finals Saturday in Springfield, Mo., the Bulldogs became just the second team to annex back-to-back national titles.

Russ Rizzo scored twice for the Bulldogs (33-3-0) while Nick Hurtle and Myles Maltz (on a power play) accounted for Adrian’s other goals.

Adrian’s Nicholas Reuter was voted the tournament’s MVP.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.