BTN.com staff, April 10, 2014

Minnesota scored the game-winning goal against North Dakota with less than second left to win the Gophers' NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament semifinal Thursday night in Philadelphia. Minnesota (28-6-6) advances to play Union College (N.Y.) for the championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Union beat Boston College 5-4 in the first semifinal Thursday. The Golden Gophers withstood a fierce North Dakota power play near the end of regulation time, then countered with a late rush to score the game-winner shorthanded.

Minnesota's Justin Holl netted the goal with 0.6 seconds left assisted by Kyle Rau and Brady Skjei. It was Holl's first goal of the season. Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox made 36 saves on the night.

The game was scoreless through two periods before Minnesota scored in the third to make it 1-0 with 9:09 left. North Dakota answered right back on the next shift and tied it 1-1. The tight-checking game appeared to be headed to overtime before Minnesota pulled off the last-second win in regulation.

This will be Minnesota's 11th championship game and the first visit since 2003 when they won.

Here's the full box score and play-by-play at NCAA.com. Get more from GopherSports.com's live blog of the game.

 

Minnesota celebrates
Minnesota Gophers celebrates after defeating North Dakota Sioux in the semifinals of the Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Wells Fargo Center. Minnesota defeated North Dakota, 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports