The Hope College ice hockey team refused to let its season come to an end. 

 

The top-ranked Flying Dutchmen mounted a furious third-period comeback, then notched the game-winning goal in overtime to stun the University of Michigan 4-3 Monday night in an American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 3 national semifinal at Patterson Ice Arena in Grand Rapids. 

 

The Flying Dutchmen (12-2-1) will play Arkansas on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Razorbacks knocked off Missouri State University 6-2 in the other national semifinal.

 

Freshman Jake Adams scored the game-winner on an assist from Mason Weiss with eight minutes remaining in overtime.

 

"It was a beautiful pass, and we've been practicing that all week," Adams said. "The defensemen stumbled, and it's an easy shot when you have passes like that."

 

 

The Flying Dutchmen trailed 3-0 entering the final period.   

 

"This team just never quits," Hope coach Chris Van Timmeren said. "We knew we had three goals in us from the beginning. We scored two on them in the third period the last time we played them, so we came out ready to go."

 

Junior Brad Baysore ignited the rally with a power-play goal in the first minute. It was followed by a goal from Brendan Sanders five minutes later to close the gap to 3-2.

 

"We knew this is a team that needs to get a goal to get momentum," Van Timmeren said. "I knew as soon as we got the first one we were going to keep getting momentum. This team thrives off of that. Once the first one went in, I knew we had a good chance."

 

In the closing seconds of regulation, Baysore ripped a pass to senior Allan Hirsch, who buried the shot to knot the game at 3-3.

 

"It was a heck of a period," Adams said. "We got a good start with the power play and then it went from there.  We knew if we got one on them it was over, and we were positive in the second intermission. We knew we could come back and we knew we were better than them in every way. It turned out perfect for us."

 

The Flying Dutchmen trailed early after allowing a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the game. 

 

The Wolverines added another goal in the second period to put Hope in a 3-0 hole.

 

"This is an older group that understands what it's like to deal with a 60-minute game, not a 5-  minute game," Van Timmeren said. "I think we knew that going through this there was going to be a lot of tests and that was the first one."

 

Hope will aim for its second national championship after winning the program's first in 2018. 

 

"Arkansas is a very good team, and they have a lot of skill," Van Timmeren said. "I think we match up well with them. Our seniors have played in a national championship so they know what that pressure is all about."