St. Cloud takes out UMD in ‘war’ of a game

Cole Koepke takes a breather while waiting for a faceoff in the NCHC quarterfinal against Western Michigan on Saturday. Photo by Hunter Dunteman

UMD fell to the No. 2 St. Cloud State Huskies in rough fashion in the NCHC semifinal matchup. The No. 3 Bulldogs didn’t do themselves any favors by committing six penalties, giving the Huskies over nine minutes of advantage.

After a 3-2 loss, the Bulldogs will start the bus, head home and patiently wait to find out their fate on Sunday night’s NCAA selection show. 

“Both teams are coming out to set the tone,” St. Cloud head coach Brett Larson said. “It’s just going to be a war from the drop of the puck.”

The game opened with a relatively early powerplay in UMD’s favor. St. Cloud’s Luke Jaycox was sentenced to two minutes for hooking, but Duluth failed to convert. 

Just seven minutes into the game, St. Cloud’s Jami Krannila fielded a slap shot deflection off Ryan Fanti and netted the puck, scoring his tenth goal of the season to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

A minor interference penalty on St. Cloud’s Jared Cockrell gave UMD another chance against the Huskies’ sixth-ranked penalty kill — this time converting. With 7:16 left in the first, senior left wing Kobe Roth tied up the game off a rebound from a Jackson Cates wrist shot.

A minor cross-checking penalty gave St. Cloud a power play. With two minutes of an extra man on the ice, St. Cloud’s Kevin Fitzgerald was able to score a close-proximity goal in the final seconds of advantage, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead which they would carry into the first intermission.

Early in the second period, the Bulldogs dominated the Huskies’ zone until Krannila skied the puck into the scoreboard. From this point, UMD lost momentum and organization.

Just under four minutes into the period, St. Cloud’s Nolan Walker was slow to get up when he was driven into the boards by Bulldog sophomore Quinn Olson for a minor penalty with 16:04 remaining. 

UMD was able to kill the following power play to seemingly no avail, as another one began less than three minutes later when Louie Roehl was penalized for cross-checking for a second time.

A beautiful save by Fanti against a Sam Hentges slapshot contributed to UMD once again killing the penalty.

Finally, UMD found a stroke of good fortune with a beautiful tap-in goal by Koby Bender off a sharp assist by Roth with 7:06 remaining in the period.

Trouble changing lines led to the Huskies having far too many men on the ice and the Bulldogs getting another power play. Unfortunately, the power play did not at all go UMD’s way. 

Not only did the Bulldogs fail to score, but the Huskies were able to score a heavily reviewed short-handed goal that barely teetered over the goal line right at the end of the power play. To make matters worse for UMD, they immediately handed the power play advantage back to St. Cloud, as Jesse Jacques was called for tripping.

UMD’s penalty kill success continued as the Huskies’ power play ended shortly before the second period rounded out.

A relatively uneventful start to the third period livened up with an enticing shot opportunity from Noah Cates about 3:30 into the period as Hrenak was displaced, but the Huskies’ goalie was able to recover for a big save. 

As the Huskies entered their fifth power play following a minor holding penalty by Darian Gotz, they actually spent a great deal of time on the defensive end with UMD continuously pushing the tempo.

The power play ended with aggressive play in UMD’s zone as the Bulldogs frantically tried to clear the puck. The Bulldogs’ play remained stagnant for the next several minutes until Bender drew a breakaway slashing penalty on Fitzgerald with 7:43 remaining, giving the Bulldogs a much-needed power play.

UMD spent the power play on the attack, but staunch Huskies defense and continued consistency from Hrenak proved too much for the Bulldogs. Following the power play, the Huskies regained relative control of the game and never relinquished it. 

UMD called timeout with 2:02 remaining, as head coach Scott Sandelin ambitiously tried to draw out a game-winning plan. UMD had several optimistic goal-scoring opportunities, but a lack of breakaway puck control and a skillful approach on the Huskies’ defensive end led to the Bulldogs’ eventual demise. 

Sunday night’s selection show, announcing whether UMD will see a chance for a third-straight NCAA championship, will air on ESPN at an undetermined time.