MILWAUKEE -- Jim Montgomery scored three straight goals in the third period Saturday night to rally Maine to its first NCAA ice hockey championship, a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind win over defending champion Lake Superior State.
The Lakers grabbed a 4-2 through two periods, but Montgomery, the leading scorer in Maine history, recorded the rare natural hat trick, including the go-ahead tally with 11:06 remaining.
Lake Superior State, 30-8-5, fell short in its bid to become the first team to win back-to-back NCAA hockey titles since Boston University in 1971-72.
The Black Bears, 42-1-2 and the top-ranked team in the country this season whose only loss came against Boston University, was making its seventh straight appearance in the NCAA tournament but first in the title game.
Montgomery started their comeback by scoring at 4:19 into the third and tallied twice in a 74-second span midway through to put the Black Bears ahead to stay.
Lake Superior State, the No. 1 seed in the West when the tournament began, lost for just the second time in its last 22 games (19-2-1). Maine was the No. 1 seed out of the East.
The victory capped a memorable day for Maine, whose Paul Kariya earlier Saturday became the first freshman ever to win the prestigious Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in college hockey.
Patrice Tardif and Chris Ferraro scored in the first eight minutes of the game to stake the Black Bears to a 2-0 lead, but Mike Bachusz scored with 2:58 left in the opening period to cut Maine's lead in half.
Clayton Beddoes, John Hendry and Wayne Strachan tallied in the second period to put Lake Superior State ahead.
