Grand Forks, ND – At the Wednesday press conference, UND head coach Brad Berry was all business. The Fighting Hawks were already in playoff mode. There was a tension in the air. The coaches answers were short and intense. It’s March and the conference playoffs are almost here. The University of North Dakota entered Friday’s National Collegiate Hockey Conference game looking for points to solidify their seeding for the NCHC tourney.
Entering Friday’s game against the league-leading St Cloud State Huskies, the Fighting Hawks were sitting in fourth place three points clear of fifth place Colorado College, Nebraska-Omaha and Western Michigan. For those that are wondering, UND loses to the tiebreaker to UNO and WMU. If UND Ties either team in the final standings, and they’ll be on the road for the first round of the NCHC playoffs.
The task at hand isn’t easy. The Huskies entered the final regular-season series with the regular season title locked up. The Huskies were looking to spoil the Fighting Hawks senior weekend.
The game started well for the Fighting Hawks. During the opening period, the Fighting Hawks came out and pushed the pace, but still had nothing to show for after one period of play. In this writer’s humble opinion, it was one of UND’s best periods of the season. I’d also argue that UND played one of its best games of the season only to come up short. That’s hockey. It’s also the story of UND’s season.
“It was a great effort – great intensity – probably an effort good enough to win but we found a way to lose,” Berry said. “It’s been a common theme for a few game this year. We have to move forward now.”
Nonetheless, the two teams gave 11,923 fans something to cheer about. It was an epic heavyweight battle. The second period was fast and furious – it was very entertaining. The two teams traded a pair of goals during the middle period. At the 10:37 mark, Freshman forward Jordan Kawagucki put the Fighting hawks on the board first with his fourth goal of the year. That lead didn’t last very long. The Huskies answered 5:32 later with a goal from Grand Forks Red River alum John Lizotte.
UND and SCSU would close out the second period with a pair of power-play goals from SCSU’s Jimmy Schuldt and UND’s Christian Wolanin. You see where this is going.
In the third period, the Huskies would again take the lead with an amazing highlight reel goal from sophomore forward Ryan Poehling. See video below.
INCREDIBLE! A candidate for #SCTop10 – St. Cloud State sophomore forward Ryan Poehling's goal at 8:39 of the 3rd gives #1 SCSU a 3-2 lead at North Dakota on Mar. 2. Between the legs and into the net. @TheNCHC @NCAAIceHockey @collegehockey pic.twitter.com/eZ2c25RgjT
— St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_MH) March 3, 2018
Junior forward Nick Jones gave the hometown team a glimmer of hope when he noted the game at 3-3.
“We rallied about three times, we were down 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and came back each one of those times,” Jones said. Obviously, disappointing, we felt like we played a pretty good game. They’re a really good team. At times, I felt like we really took it to them. They found a way to win on the power play.”
In the end, it wasn’t mean to be. At the 1:41 mark of overtime, freshman defenseman Gabe Bast took an undisciplined penalty. A minute and seven seconds later, Ryan Poehling would score his second goal of the game on the power play to send the Fighting Hawks home empty-handed.
Despite taking three minor penalties, coach Berry said Bast needs to be in the lineup moving forward.
“He’s a big part of our team and we need him in our lineup,” Berry said. “He took three penalties tonight. Were they warranted, I guess that’s up for debate?
After Friday’s 4-3 overtime win, the Huskies are looking to close out the Fighting Hawks home schedule and send them on the road for the first time in 15 seasons. That still might happen, even if UND wins its final home game of the season.
