On Campus: Top performers at NCAA Tournament regionals

The NCAA Tournament featured four entertaining and hard-fought regionals last weekend, with
Minnesota State, Michigan, Denver and Minnesota advancing to the Frozen Four in Boston from April 7-9.

Here are 10 players who rose to the occasion when the spotlight shone brightly at the regional sites.
Justen Close, G, Minnesota
When starting goalie Jack LaFontaine left school to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 9, the next man up was Close, who had played four games in his first two college seasons.
This season the undrafted junior is 14-4-0 with a 1.83 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and three shutouts in 20 games. He has won 11 of his past 12 games, including 24 saves in a 3-0 win against Western Michigan in the Northeast Regional Final in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Sunday. He also was named to the region all-star team.
Ryan Fanti, G, Minnesota Duluth
Fanti, an undrafted junior, had back-to-back shutouts against Denver and Western Michigan in the NCHC tournament, then kept the scoreless streak going with a shutout of Michigan Tech in the West Regional Semifinals in Loveland, Colorado, on March 24. His run was broken in the first period of a 2-1 loss to Denver in the regional final. He was named to the regional all-star team.
Fanti went 20-12-4 with a 1.83 GAA, .929 save percentage and seven shutouts in 37 games. He signed a two-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers on March 28 that starts next season and will play the rest of this season with Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on an amateur tryout.
Cole Guttman, F, Denver
Guttman scored the first goal and assisted on the second for Denver in its win against Minnesota Duluth in the West Final. He was selected to the regional all-star team and named its most outstanding player.
Guttman, a sixth-round pick (No. 180) in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, has scored 45 points (19 goals, 26 assists) in 39 games.
Matthew Knies, F, Minnesota
Knies scored goal in each of Minnesota's wins in the Northeast Regional, including the tying goal in the third period that helped Minnesota to a 4-3 win against Massachusetts in the semifinals, and was named the regional's most outstanding player.

"That goal that Knies scored, that's ridiculous," Massachusetts coach Greg Carvel said. "He looked like Auston Matthews. He grabbed the puck, dropped it at his feet and it's in the top shelf. What do you do?"
Knies, a second-round pick (No. 57) of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL Draft, has scored 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 32 games. He also scored two points (one goal, one assist) for the United States at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Dryden McKay, G, Minnesota State
The undrafted senior was named most outstanding player of the East Regional in Albany, New York, after he made 23 saves in a 1-0 win against Notre Dame in the regional final.
The shutout was McKay's 34th, an NCAA record. He is 37-4-0 with a 1.28 GAA, .934 save percentage and 10 shutouts in 41 games this season.
Owen Power, D, Michigan
Power, selected by the Buffalo Sabres with the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, had an assist against American International and four assists against Quinnipiac to help Michigan win the Midwest Regional in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The sophomore was named to the regional all-star team.
Power is tied for sixth among NCAA defensemen with 32 points (three goals, 29 assists) in 32 games this season.
Kobe Roth, F, Minnesota Duluth
The undrafted graduate student forward scored two goals in a 3-0 win against Michigan Tech in the West Semifinals and was named to the regional all-star team.
In 42 games, Roth scored 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists).
Carter Savoie, F, Denver
Savoie scored the game-winner against Minnesota Duluth in the West Final and was named to the regional all-star team.
A fourth-round pick (No. 100) in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, Savoie has scored 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists) in 37 games this season.

Nathan Smith, F, Minnesota State
Smith scored in a 1-0 victory against Notre Dame in the East Final and was named to the region's all-star team.
The junior is second among NCAA players with 50 points (19 goals, 31 assists) in 36 games, and also scored two points (one goal, one assist) for the United States at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Smith was selected by the Winnipeg Jets in the third round (No. 91) of the 2018 NHL Draft and was traded to the Arizona Coyotes, along with forward Bryan Little, for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft on March 21.
Garrett Van Wyhe, F, Michigan
The undrafted senior ended a 20-game goal drought by scoring against American International in the Midwest Semifinals, and then scored again against Quinnipiac in the final, earning a place on the region's all-star team.
Van Wyhe scored 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 41 games.