SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Ryan Fanti was simply fantastic Saturday for the second straight night. The junior goaltender guided fifth-seeded Minnesota Duluth to a 3-0 win over third-seeded Western Michigan in the Frozen Faceoff Championship Game at Xcel Energy Center, earning UMD the program's third NCHC Tournament title.

“He’s had a great year for us,” said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. “I mean, defense is team defense, and he's the last line. But when you have a guy playing the way he's played all year and certainly now, when your guys see that, you breathe a little bit easier. 

“There's no question. Ryan's been a real leader in the room too. When you hear him talk he’s just (saying) the right things and he's been really, really outstanding for us.”

In the waning minutes of Saturday night’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff Final, a group of UMD fans inside Xcel Energy Center started chanting MVP. Much to their delight, Fanti was a unanimous selection as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. 

Fanti, the NCHC Goaltender of the Year, stopped all 25 shots he saw Saturday night and all 55 shots he saw on the weekend. Those 55 saves came against the highest-scoring offense in the country, Denver, and the fourth-highest scoring team, Western Michigan (25-11-1). 

The First-Team All-NCHC selection stood on his head all night and between his play and the blocked shots in front of him, the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought win against a tough Western Michigan team.

As for Fanti individually, there’s another trophy he’s hoping to hoist next month in Boston. But winning the Frozen Faceoff and the individual awards are something he doesn’t take lightly.

“It's pretty cool,” he said. “This was something that was a goal collectively of ours at the start of the year. Something that we wrote out and had something to look at and look forward to, but that next one is even bigger. So I definitely think we're going to enjoy this one more here in the moment. 

“I think it'd be pretty stupid not to and I think it’s going to help gel our group a little bit even more, but get back after it this week once we get home and translate it to whoever we're playing next.”

If NCHC and college hockey fans have learned anything over the past decade, it’s this -- don’t bet against Sandelin or the Bulldogs once the calendar flips to March. UMD has now won three of the last five NCHC Frozen Faceoffs.

After going through an up and down regular season, UMD (21-15-4) swept St. Cloud State on the road last weekend in the Quarterfinals and rolled that momentum into Saint Paul. UMD was technically the lowest seed entering this weekend, but every year the Bulldogs seemingly find a way to turn it on once the postseason hits.

UMD is now 16-10 all-time in the NCHC Tournament.

“Obviously Ryan was outstanding for us all weekend and when you have that, it gives your team a lot of confidence,” Sandelin said. “But I'm really proud of this group because there were times in the second half where we weren't sure where we were going.

“We've seen a lot of good things with this team and consistency was maybe not quite there. But like I said, we went into St. Cloud last weekend and it felt different. We got two wins and we carried a lot of that same type of play and mentality into this weekend.”

Speaking of momentum, Dominic James gave UMD a 1-0 lead 5:26 into the contest. The freshman snuck a shot past Brandon Bussi for his sixth goal of the season. Just under six minutes into the second, Casey Gilling doubled the lead, redirecting a Wyatt Kaiser shot past Bussi.

“(Western Michigan) had the better of the play and then Dom goes down and we get a goal, and next thing you know, we’ve got some positivity,” Sandelin said. “I think we built off that and that's the importance sometimes of getting that first goal. It doesn't mean you're going to win a hockey game, but we were able to extend the lead, which was great.” 

With the way Fanti was playing, there was little doubt on the UMD bench.

“Having a two-goal lead with Ryan in the net gives us a lot of confidence and I thought after that we were making strong plays and playing in their zone,” said senior captain Noah Cates. “Just making hard plays for them and not really giving them any chances or any offensive zone time.”

Cates, who won the 2019 National Championship with UMD, said this current group of Bulldogs are confident and playing their best hockey of the season. They couldn’t have picked a better team to hit their stride.

“It feels great to kind of have that new season feel,” Cates said. “We had a lot of good in the regular season, a lot of bad. So we kind of flushed the bad, took the good and got the consistency that we needed.”

As for Kaiser, the sophomore defenseman wasn’t done factoring into the scoring either. With 10:48 left in the third period, the Chicago Blackhawks pick charged down the far side and cut to the middle, backhanding a shot into the back of the net. 

Kaiser’s goal gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead and all but iced it for UMD.

“I was just trying to bring some speed up the ice and take it to the net,” he said. “I got around them and saw an opening and just put it there.”

Although it’s a 3-0 loss for the Broncos, the game was much closer than that score indicates. Western Michigan, who will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, put up an impressive showing this weekend and had their chances Saturday night. However, the Broncos ultimately weren't able to beat a hot goaltender.

“I’m really proud of our players and I thought we battled all game,” said Western Michigan head coach Pat Ferschweiler. “It was not an easy game on either side and both teams battled. They found a way to score and Ryan Fanti decided not to let us score.”

Western Michigan put up 14 of their 25 shots in the third period and made a late push. Of Fanti's 25 saves, the biggest one, and arguably the save of the season, came with 4:36 left in the second period though. Fanti lunged across the crease and robbed Max Sasson on a rebound. 

While Fanti described it as a lucky save after the game, his incredible effort kept the game at 2-0. Sandelin has said he's been UMD’s MVP this season and Saturday night, Fanti was exactly that. Now he has an award to prove it.

Along with UMD and WMU, three other NCHC teams (Denver, North Dakota and St. Cloud State) are expected to make the NCAA Tournament, with the field set to be announced Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

2022 Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team
F - Blake Biondi, UMD
F - Ty Glover, WMU
F - Dominic James, UMD
D - Ronnie Attard, WMU
D - Wyatt Kaiser, UMD
G - Ryan Fanti, UMD
MOP - Ryan Fanti, UMD

--#NCHChockey--