University of Delaware Ice Arena

The University of Delaware Blue Hen Ice Hockey shocked the tournament field at this year's ACHA National Tournement finishing as National Runner- Ups. The Blue Hens entered the tournament as the #9 seed out of the twelve teams in the tournament.

In the round robin tournament format, Delaware drew the #1 seed and tournament favorite Eastern Michigan, and #8 seed Michighan-Dearborn. On day one of the tournament Delaware upset the #1 seed Easthern-Michigan. Freshman Nick Burke scored the game tying and winning goals, giving him a hat-trick for the day. Senior goaltender Bjorn Christiano made 41 saves in the win.

The following afternoon, the Blue Hens needed a win over Michigan-Dearborn to clinch a spot in the National Final Four. The Blue Hens came back from two, two goal deficits and the game went into overtime. With just 38 seconds into overtime, Chris Ferazzoli socred to give the Blue Hens their first-ever Final Four ACHA appearance. Sophomore Travis Bradach also had two goals on this historic day.

In the National Semi-Final, Delaware faced#5 Iowa State, winners of their own bracket with wins over Wisconsin-Whitewater and Ohio University. After weathering several key pentaty kills in the first period, Delaware went on to a convincing 7-2 victory. The Blue Hens had seven different scoreres on the day as Ryan Falvey,Travis Bradach, Cliff Demmer, Gary Kane, Chris Ferazzoli, Mike Wyeremann, and Jeff Earley all found the net. Bjorn Christiano made 32 saves in the win.

In the championship game the "Cinderella" story came to an end as the Blue Hens were defeated by defending National Champions Penn State, 7-2. Trailing 2-1 heading into the second period, a power play goal 31 seconds into the second wind took the wind out of the sails of the underdog Blue Hens. Sophomore Pete Arhangelsky and senior Cliff Demer had goals for the Hens in the loss.

The Blue Hens made history at the 2001 National Tournament becoming the first seed lower than a #5 to defeat a #1 seed. They were also the first seed lower than a #6 seed to advance to either the Final Four or Championship Game.

The Blue Hens ended their season on a historic note.

Tournament Overview:
Day 1 Delaware-6 Eastern Michigan-5
Day 2 Delaware-7 Michigan-Dearborn 6 (OT)
Day 3 National Semi-Finals Delaware-7 Iowa State-2
Day 4 National Championship Penn State-7 Delaware-2