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Zien Nets Four as Ohio Finishes 13th with 7-4 Win Over No. 18 Minnesota at National Collegiate Club Championship
ATHENS, Ohio -- Pete Zien (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) scored four goals to earn Player of the Game honors and lead Ohio University to a 7-4 win over the No. 18 Gophers of the University of Minnesota in the first of two 13th place games at the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship on the campus of Ohio University.
Ohio, which earned the No. 16 seed for the championship by serving as host for the championship, knocked off the nationally ranked Gophers in part due to an early scoring run by Zien, John Ubbing (Fr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) and Hart Williams (Sr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead with 2:25 left in the first period.
Zien opened the scoring with 3:16 into the game as he drilled a penalty shot inside the far post for a 1-0 lead. Ubbing netted a goal with 2:50 left in the period and Williams added a score at the 2:25 mark to give Ohio a 3-0 lead.
The lead forced Minnesota to play catch-up as David Hamming (Gr., Lake Forest, Ill.) rattled off four straight goals from the end of the first period to midway through the third.
Hamming broke the ice with his first score at 1:50 of the first period, added second period goals at 5:41 and 25 seconds and put the Gophers in front 4-3 with another goal at 3:27 of the third period as the momentum appeared to shift to Minnesota.
However, Zien took over the game in the remaining three minutes of the third period as he scored at 2:56, 2:13 and 13 seconds to push the Bobcats in front 6-4 with a period to play.
Minnesota was unable to achieve another rally to pull even with Ohio as the Bobcats added an exclusion goal by Williams at 2:27 of the fourth period for the three goal victory.
In goal, Brandon Crawford (Jr., Sylvania, Ohio) stopped four shots to pick up the win for Ohio, while Matt Dahlberg (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) made seven saves for Minnesota.
Due to the loss, Minnesota finishes in a tie for 15th in the final tournament standings. In the previous two National Championship tournaments, the Gophers had finished 12th (2007) and 15th (2006).
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| University of Minnesota | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Ohio University | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
Ohio Goals: Pete Zien (4); Hart Williams (2); John Ubbing
Minnesota Goals: David Hamming (4)
Saves: Ohio - Brandon Crawford (4) ; Minnesota - Matt Dahlberg (7)
Ejections: Ohio - 3 ; Minnesota - 5
Sprints: Ohio - 2 (1st & 2nd) ; Minnesota - 2 (3rd & 4th)
