A sign outside the Wisconsin-Superior dressing room held the key to this year's Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

The sign read, "HTD," which also included the Yellowjackets' logo.

Hard work. Teamwork. Determination.

Those words were much-needed for Wisconsin-Superior. Playing in their fourth straight semifinal weekend, the Yellowjackets trailed Norwich, 2-1, with 1:26 to play. Colin Kendall took HTD to heart, scoring a goal to tie the game and force overtime.

Then, just 23 seconds into extra time, Kendall struck again, this time collecting a rebound and lifting a shot past sprawling Norwich goaltender Kevin Schieve.

"It's the best feeling in the world," said Kendall afterward.

The Yellowjackets did it by living the HTD principles.

"It's something that goes way back to the alumni and the first (finals appearance)," said Wisconsin-Superior coach Dan Stauber. "It's pretty special to us. It's what Jacket hockey is all about."

The Jackets made their fourth straight trip to the semifinal weekend one to remember. The senior class owns second-, third- and fourth-place finishes to go with this year's championship.

"This completes the set," said goaltender Nate Ziemski, who made 26 saves. "This is a huge monkey off our backs."

In the semifinal games, Norwich defeated host Middlebury, 5-2, and Wisconsin-Superior ousted Plattsburgh State, 5-0. Middlebury and Plattsburgh State finished in a tie for third.

Things started well for the Cadets, who came out strong in front of a considerable Norwich contingent in Middlebury's Kenyon Arena. The semifinal games were played March 15 and the final March 16.

"I thought we followed our game plan," said Norwich head coach Mike McShane. "Our kids played hard the entire game, the entire weekend."

Norwich used its power play effectively throughout the weekend, converting on four of eight chances in the two games. Kurtis McLean scored on a Cadets power play to open the scoring at the 13:38 mark of the first period.

"They really took it to us," Stauber said. "I thought they controlled play for much of the first period."

The Yellowjackets answered Norwich's tally with one of their own less than a minute later. Randy Currie took a feed from Kris Wilson to tie the score at one.

At the 14:25 mark of the second period, the Cadets grabbed the lead again on Matt Schmidt's unassisted goal. From there, Norwich controlled play and limited Wisconsin-Superior's scoring opportunities.

That set the table for Kendall's heroics.

"We knew if we could get to this game, we would have the confidence to win it," said Ziemski. "To be the (Wisconsin-Superior) team that won it, it's awesome."

All it took was hard work, determination and teamwork.

SEMIFINALS

Norwich 5, Middlebury 2

First period: N -- Ed Boudreau (Tim Kyrkostas), 0:31; N -- Phil Aucoin (Kurtis McLean, Matt Schmidt), 8:07 (pp).

Penalties: N -- Kyrkostas (hitting from behind), 4:22; N -- Toza Crnilovic (hitting after the whistle), 6:17; M -- Andrew Helming (hitting after the whistle, cross-checking), 6:17; M -- Patrick Nugent (cross-checking), 10:53; N -- Matt Moran (roughing), 15:41; M -- Adam Foote (roughing), 15:41; M -- Helming (obstruction-interference), 19:13.

Second period: N -- Schmidt (Aucoin, Vadim Beliaev), 8:37 (pp); N -- Boudreau (McLean, Mario Chinelli), 13:34 (pp).

Penalties: M -- Foote (elbowing), 7:38; M -- Matt Dunn (cross-checking), 9:29; N -- Beliaev (tripping), 17:42.

Third period: M -- Robert Chisholm (Jack Kennedy, Grayson Fertig), 0:13; M --Helming (John Dawson), 10:41; N -- Chinelli (McLean, Peter Catalano), 19:42 (en).

Penalties: None.

Shots on goal: Norwich -- 11-5-5 -- 21; Middlebury -- 4-5-11 -- 20. Saves: Norwich -- Kevin Schieve, 4-5-9--18; Middlebury -- Christian Carlsson, 9-3-4 -- 16. Penalties: Norwich -- 4 for 8 minutes; Middlebury -- 7 for 17 minutes. Referees: Fred Campatelli, James Doyle; Linesman: Tim Hooton. A: 2,600.

Wis.-Superior 5, Plattsburgh St. 0

First period: W -- Rob Whidden (unassisted), 13:36; W -- Yann Poirier (Whidden), 16:09 (sh).

Penalties: W -- Jay Stewart (obstruction-hooking), 9:32; W -- Randy Currie (obstruction-hooking), 14:46; P -- Peter Ollari (elbowing), 19:48.

Second period: W -- Reed Larson (Colin Kendall, Josh Liebenow), 6:24; Ryan Kalbrener (unassisted), 19:18.

Penalties: P -- Jayson Barnhart (interference), 7:28; P -- Jeff Hopkins (tripping), 19:59.

Third period: W -- Dale Lupul (Randall Smisko, Liebenow), 0:48 (pp).

Penalties: P -- James Coleman (holding), 1:11; W -- Chris Hackett (interference), 7:36; P -- Coleman (slashing), 10:49.

Shots on goal: Wis.-Superior -- 8-10-5 -- 23; Plattsburgh St. -- 7-5-4--16. Saves: Wis.-Superior -- Nathan Ziemski, 7-5-4--16; Plattsburgh St. -- Niklas Sundberg, 6-8-4--18; Troy Seariac, 0. Penalties: Wis.-Superior -- 3 for 6 minutes; Plattsburgh St. -- 5 for 10 minutes. Referees: Bob Hawkes, Robert Tisi; Linesman: Dean Gilbert. A: 2,600.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Wis.-Superior 3, Norwich 2 (ot)

First period: N -- Kurtis McLean (Ed Boudreau, Toza Crnilovic), 13:38 (pp); W --Randy Currie (Kris Wilson), 14:25.

Penalties: W -- Reed Larson (interference), 12:08; N -- Keith Maurice (roughing), 14:38; W -- Randall Smisko (roughing).

Second period: N -- Matt Schmidt (unassisted), 5:31.

Penalties: W -- Too many players on the ice (served by Yann Poirier), 9:51; N -- Schmidt (goaltender interference), 10:43; N -- Toza Crnilovic (obstruction-interference), 16:31.

Third period: W -- Colin Kendall (Michael Wiggins, Bruce Leonard), 19:03.

Penalties: None.

Overtime: W -- Kendall (Dale Lupul), 0:23.

Penalties: None.

Shots on goal: Wis.-Superior -- 6-6-65-2 -- 19; Norwich -- 13-8-7-0 -- 28. Saves: Norwich -- Kevin Schieve, 5-6-4-1--16; Wis.-Superior -- 12-7-7-0--26. Penalties: Norwich -- 3 for 6 minutes; Wis.-Superior -- 3 for 6 mintues. Referees: Bob Hawkes, Robert Tisi; Linesman: Dean Gilder. A -- 2,600.