Friday, March 10
Grand Forks, ND
7:37 p.m.
St. Cloud State
16-18-1
2
at
5
University of North Dakota (NCHC Playoffs Best of 3)
19-14-3
1
2
3
F
St. Cloud State
0
1
1
2
North Dakota
2
1
2
5
Jimmy Schuldt carries the puck into the zone
Photo by: Maddie MacFarlane
St. Cloud State drops first game of NCHC playoffs 5-2 to UND
3/10/2017 10:50:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Grand Forks, N.D.- The #20 St. Cloud State men's hockey team (16-18-1) dropped a 5-2 decision in the first game of a best of three NCHC playoff series against the #14 University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (19-14-3) on Friday, March 10 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The Huskies held off the Fighting Hawks for much of the first period, but allowed two quick UND goals to entrench themselves in a two-goal deficit that remained for much of the game.
The loss means that the Huskies will have to defeat the Fighting Hawks in both Saturdays match up and the Sunday, if necessary, game to keep their hopes of defending their Frozen Faceoff Champtionship title next weekend at the Target Center alive.
The Fighting Hawks opened the scoring in the game at 13:39 when an errant pass in front of the net took an unfortunate bounce off a defender to pop the puck past goaltender Jeff Smith. The Huskies were unable to regain their composure and the Fighting Hawks converted on a defensive zone turnover when Shane Gersich stripped a Husky of the puck and beat Smith to put the home team up 2-0. The Huskies would go on the power play with just 1:20 remaining in the period but were unable to convert to get on the board before the period expired.
The Huskies couldn't capitalize on the final thirty seconds of the power play but were quickly rewarded with another chance when UND's Tyson Jost was whistled for a faceoff violation and sent to the box. The Huskies would find themselves unable to convert on the following two power play opportunities until Austin Poganski put the home team down a man when he was called for tripping. The Huskies would set up a beautiful play in front of netminder Cam Johnson, with Mikey Eyssimont finding Jacob Benson wide open on the back door allowing him to go top shelf with no UND player to hamper his shot, which pulled the Huskies within one at 2-1.
The Fighting Hawks would answer seven minutes later with a power play goal of their own to put themselves back up by two goals at 3-1. The score would remain at that notch as the final horn rang out on the second period.
The third period started uneventful for both teams until Brock Boeser made contact with Jeff Smith while skating through the crease and was whistled for goaltender interference, putting the Huskies back on the man advantage. The Huskies would pepper Johnson with shots, finally breaking through on a laser from sophomore captain Jimmy Schuldt, bringing the Huskies back within one at 3-2.
The Fighting Hawks would quickly regain their two-goal lead after Austin Poganski skated his way through the Huskies' zone, beating both defenseman Schuldt and eventually Smith, all alone. UND would later add an empty net goal from Janatuinen to secure the game one victory.
UND would outshoot the Huskies in the match by a count of 36 to 28. The Huskies would hold the advantage in faceoffs against the host team by a slim 33-29 margin. The Huskies were 2-for-5 on the power play with 10 total shots, while the Fighting Hawks were 1-for-3 with 9 shots.
The Huskies and Fighting Hawks will meet again on Saturday, March 11 at 7:07 for game two of the series from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. Fans can catch the game live on Midco Sports Network, NCHC.tv, or tune in to listen on 96.7 The Rev.
The Huskies held off the Fighting Hawks for much of the first period, but allowed two quick UND goals to entrench themselves in a two-goal deficit that remained for much of the game.
The loss means that the Huskies will have to defeat the Fighting Hawks in both Saturdays match up and the Sunday, if necessary, game to keep their hopes of defending their Frozen Faceoff Champtionship title next weekend at the Target Center alive.
The Fighting Hawks opened the scoring in the game at 13:39 when an errant pass in front of the net took an unfortunate bounce off a defender to pop the puck past goaltender Jeff Smith. The Huskies were unable to regain their composure and the Fighting Hawks converted on a defensive zone turnover when Shane Gersich stripped a Husky of the puck and beat Smith to put the home team up 2-0. The Huskies would go on the power play with just 1:20 remaining in the period but were unable to convert to get on the board before the period expired.
The Huskies couldn't capitalize on the final thirty seconds of the power play but were quickly rewarded with another chance when UND's Tyson Jost was whistled for a faceoff violation and sent to the box. The Huskies would find themselves unable to convert on the following two power play opportunities until Austin Poganski put the home team down a man when he was called for tripping. The Huskies would set up a beautiful play in front of netminder Cam Johnson, with Mikey Eyssimont finding Jacob Benson wide open on the back door allowing him to go top shelf with no UND player to hamper his shot, which pulled the Huskies within one at 2-1.
The Fighting Hawks would answer seven minutes later with a power play goal of their own to put themselves back up by two goals at 3-1. The score would remain at that notch as the final horn rang out on the second period.
The third period started uneventful for both teams until Brock Boeser made contact with Jeff Smith while skating through the crease and was whistled for goaltender interference, putting the Huskies back on the man advantage. The Huskies would pepper Johnson with shots, finally breaking through on a laser from sophomore captain Jimmy Schuldt, bringing the Huskies back within one at 3-2.
The Fighting Hawks would quickly regain their two-goal lead after Austin Poganski skated his way through the Huskies' zone, beating both defenseman Schuldt and eventually Smith, all alone. UND would later add an empty net goal from Janatuinen to secure the game one victory.
UND would outshoot the Huskies in the match by a count of 36 to 28. The Huskies would hold the advantage in faceoffs against the host team by a slim 33-29 margin. The Huskies were 2-for-5 on the power play with 10 total shots, while the Fighting Hawks were 1-for-3 with 9 shots.
The Huskies and Fighting Hawks will meet again on Saturday, March 11 at 7:07 for game two of the series from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. Fans can catch the game live on Midco Sports Network, NCHC.tv, or tune in to listen on 96.7 The Rev.
Team Stats
SCSU
UND
Shots
28
36
PPG
2
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
5
Penalty Mins
6
10
Faceoffs Won
33
29
Game Leaders
+/-
-4
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
1
+/-
-2
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
-2
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's HockeyF
/ Men's HockeyD
/ Men's Hockey
G
/ Men's HockeyPower Pups Camp | Powered by Xcel Energy and SCSU Men's Hockey
Friday, March 27
The Brett Larson Show (2/23/2026)
Tuesday, February 24
The Brett Larson Show (2/16/2026)
Tuesday, February 17
Web Highlights: SCSU vs. Colorado College (2/14/2026)
Sunday, February 15
