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DETROIT — Alec Martinez put the last, glorious touch on a Miami University hockey victory for the ages Friday night, March 21.

Spurred by a miraculous goal from teammate Mitch Ganzak with 3.4 seconds remaining in regulation, Martinez ripped a shot past Notre Dame goalie Jordan Pearce at the 6:06 mark of overtime as the RedHawks pulled off a stunning 2-1 triumph at Joe Louis Arena.

"It's pretty scary being on the bottom," a smiling Martinez said of getting mobbed by his teammates on the ice. "You've got all the guys jumping on you. (But) it's a good feeling."

The semifinal victory in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association tournament keeps Miami (32-6-1) alive in its quest for history.

The RedHawks have never won the conference tourney, and they'll try to do just that today when they face top-ranked Michigan at 7:30 p.m. The Wolverines beat Northern Michigan 6-4 in Friday's second semifinal.

"We've been on the other end of some of those games," MU coach Enrico Blasi said of his squad's win. "I'm just happy that I'm a part of this team and blessed to have the guys in the locker room. I know our guys played hard and their guys played hard, and somebody had to lose. I guess it was just our time to win."

Jeff Zatkoff collected 20 saves in goal for Miami. His Irish counterpart, Pearce, was outstanding as well with 28 saves.

Notre Dame had an apparent goal by Mark Van Guilder disallowed after a video review with 6:11 left in regulation. Evan Rankin put the Irish ahead 101 seconds later with a goal off Zatkoff's glove.

With 41.2 seconds left, Blasi pulled Zatkoff off the ice for an extra attacker. What happened next was pure athletic drama.

The game was seemingly over when Ganzak let loose with a rocket shot from between the blue line and the circle to Pearce's right. The puck made its way through human traffic and into the net.

"All I'm thinking is, 'Please, please, something good happen,' " Ganzak said. "There wasn't much else I could do but let the damn thing rip. I don't know how the puck came to me. I just let it rip."

Notre Dame (24-14-4) was understandably crushed.

"It was kind of a scramble," Van Guilder said. "Guys had broken sticks. Guys were falling over. I didn't really see what happened in front of the net. You don't think it's over until you hear the buzzer because we've been through this kind of thing before."

Carter Camper and Jarod Palmer assisted Ganzak's goal. Brian Kaufman and Ryan Jones had assists on the game-winner.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2194 or rcassano@coxohio.com.

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