Reginald P. Morelli (December 10, 1935 – November 11, 2020) was a Canadian ice hockey

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who was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1959 NCAA Tournament.

Career

Morelli was a scorer for

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

from the moment he joined the varsity squad in 1957. As a sophomore he produced a more than point-per-game pace and helped the Fighting Sioux win their first

WIHL The Western International Hockey League (WIHL) was a senior level ice hockey league that featured teams from the Western United States and Western Canada. It operated from 1946–62 and 1963–88. It grew out of the West Kootenay League, whi ...

championship (tied) and make their first NCAA tournament bid. The team throttled

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the semifinal but couldn't overcome

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in the final and finished as the runners-up in 1958. While the WIHL collapsed that summer, UND continued to play well and received their second bid in 1959 on the strength of an 18–10–1 record and having defeated Denver in the season series. The Fighting Sioux escaped an ignominious fate with an overtime win over

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in the semifinal, then turned their attention to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

in the final. The Spartans scored first but a 3-goal outburst from the Sioux put the team firmly in the lead. Morelli assisted on the goal that got the ball rolling and with just 20 minutes left it looked like the Sioux had things well in hand. MSU, however, had other ideas; the Spartans returned the favor in the third, scoring twice to tie the game and send the championship match into overtime for only the second time in history. Just over four minutes into the extra frame, UND got its first shot on goal, and it was the only one they needed as Morelli sent the puck past a sprawled Joe Selinger and the team won the NCAA Championship. Morelli was named as the Most Outstanding Player and made the All-Tournament First Team. As a senior, Morelli's scored 34 goals and 65 points in 31 games, setting a program record for points that would stand until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. He was named to both the All-

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

First Team and AHCA All-American West Team. Morelli continued to play hockey for several years after graduating, winning the

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

as a member of the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. He was inducted into the UND Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977, and got to see both his son Matt and grandson Mason play collegiate ice hockey. He died on November 11, 2020 at the age of 84.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morelli, Reg 1935 births 2020 deaths Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Ontario Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players St. Paul Saints (IHL) players Warroad Lakers players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans