St. Cloud State
University of North Dakota (NCHC Playoffs Best of 3)
Players Mentioned
SCSU Men's Hockey Notes - NCHC First Round Playoffs March 10-12
3/7/2017 12:38:00 PM | Men's Hockey
The St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (16-17-1, 10-13-1 NCHC) will open play in the 2017 NCHC tournament with first round games at the University of North Dakota on March 10-12. This is a best-of-three series and it will be played at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. The first game is slated for 7:37 p.m. on Friday, March 10. The second game on Saturday, March 11 will begin at 7:07 p.m. and, if needed, the third game will be played on Sunday, March 12 at 7:07 p.m.
SCSU MEN'S HOCKEY CENTRAL:
RADIO: REV 96.7 FM (www.rev967.com)
TV: Midco Sports Network (Midco Cable systems)
VIDEO STREAM: NCHC.tv/scsu
LIVE STATS: UND Live Stats
WEEKLY NOTES: SCSU Notes
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES: Listen to the games this weekend on REV 96.7 FM (www.rev967.com) with Jim Erickson and Dave Reichel on the call. If you have Midco cable, the games will be televised on the Midco Sports Network. You can also watch on the internet at NCHC.tv/scsu
POLL POSITION: The Huskies were ranked #20 in the USCHO.com poll and did not receive votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll this week. UND was ranked #13 in the USA Today/USA Hockey and #14 in the USCHO.com polls this week. As of March 2, SCSU was ranked 14th in the Pairwise rankings.
THE FROZEN FACEOFF: The winner of this weekend's playoff series between SCSU and North Dakota will advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, which will be held on March 17-18 at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, Minn. The Frozen Faceoff is the ultimate college hockey conference tournament experience and it features a wide range of fun fan activities, events and great college hockey competition. To purchase tickets for the event, please visit the Frozen Faceoff website at www.nchchockey.com/frozenfaceoff
POSTSEASON FACTS: In the NCHC tournament, the Huskies own a 4-2 record in first round action. SCSU did not advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in 2014 due to a pair of first round setbacks against Miami at the HBNHC. In 2015, SCSU hit the road to Omaha and gained a 2-1 OT and 3-1 sweep to earn its ticket to the Target Center. In 2016, SCSU swept Western Michigan by scores of 4-3 OT and 4-2 to gain the first round win...SCSU is 2-2 in first round games played at the HBNHC and 2-0 in first round games played on the road...at the Frozen Faceoff, the Huskies own a 3-1 record. In 2015, SCSU finished as the NCHC tournament runner up with a 3-1 win over UND and a 3-2 loss to Miami. In 2016, the Huskies won the Frozen Faceoff trophy with a 4-2 win over Denver and a 3-1 win over UMD in the title game...of note, SCSU is 1-0 in action against UND in the NCHC playoffs.
BY THE NUMBERS: In first round playoff games (WCHA and NCHC combined), SCSU owns a 35-26 record dating back to 1991...SCSU is 1-4 in play against UND in first round playoff games and 3-10 in all conference playoff games since 1991...SCSU is 46-43 in all conference playoff games since 1991.
WEEKEND SPLIT: The #20 Huskies wrapped up the regular season with a weekend split against Colorado College at the HBNHC. On March 3, the Huskies rolled to a 5-2 win vs. CC and on March 4, SCSU dropped a 2-1 decision against the Tigers. In the win over CC, Judd Peterson (1g/1a), Jacob Benson (1g/1a), Jack Poehling (1g/1a) and Jon Lizotte (2a) all had two points for the Huskies. Jeff Smith was the goalie of record in both games for the Huskies with 30 saves on Mar. 3 and 18 saves on Mar. 4. In the loss, SCSU's Jimmy Schuldt scored the Huskies' lone goal on the power play.
FIRST GOAL: Freshman Nick Poehling scored his first collegiate goal in the SCSU victory over CC on Mar. 3. On the season, Poehling now has one goal and nine assists.
POINTS FOR PETERSON: SCSU junior Judd Peterson scored a goal and an assist on March 3 vs. CC. He is SCSU's active career goal leader with 31 goals as a Husky over 109 career games played. He also has 47 career points.
GOALS FOR/GOALS AGAINST: SCSU has scored 98 goals this season and they have allowed 98 goals this season. Of note, the team record for fewest goals allowed in a season is 90 in 2015-16 and the fewest goals scored in a season was 109 in 2004-05 and 2014-15.
BACK HOME: Jacob Benson and Jon Lizotte are both residents of Grand Forks, N.D. and both attended Red River H.S. Benson charted one goal and two assists in the weekend series against CC and now has 10g/10a this season. Lizotte hit two assists in the win over CC on March 3 and currently has 2g/6a for the Huskies in 2016-17.
THE NOTEBOOK: SCSU is led on offense by Mikey Eyssimont with 14 goals and 29 points. In his career, Eyssimont now has 28g/34a for 62 points after two seasons with the Huskies...Patrick Newell leads SCSU with 20 assists this season...Blake Winiecki and Newell are currently tied for second on the team in scoring with 23 points apiece...Jeff Smith has started the last 19 games for the Huskies. He currently owns a 2.58 GAA and a .910 save rate with a 10-11-0 record to his credit.
A FEW MORE PLAYOFF NOTES: Under the leadership of Coach Bob Motzko, SCSU owns a 16-9 record in first round conference playoff action. SCSU won first round conference playoff series in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013 in the WCHA playoffs and the Huskies have won first round playoff series in the NCHC in 2015 and 2016...at last year's NCHC Frozen Faceoff, Mikey Eyssimont was named the tourney MVP with three goals to his credit...last year in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, SCSU posted a 4-3 OT win and a 4-2 win over Western Michigan.
UND NOTES: SCSU and UND have faced off in the first round of conference playoff action twice since 1991. In SCSU's first year in the WCHA, the Huskies opened the tournament with a 4-2 win at UND on March 1, 1991. UND went on to pick up a 10-2 win and a 7-4 win on March 2 and March 3 to earn the ticket to the WCHA Final Five that year. In the other first round meeting, SCSU lost a two-game set by scores of 3-2 and 5-2 vs. North Dakota on March 10-11, 1995. The series was played in St. Cloud, Minn...SCSU and UND have not played a first round series in NCHC playoff action. The only time that SCSU and UND have played in NCHC playoff action was a 3-1 victory for SCSU on March 30, 2015 at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
NCHC FROZEN FACEOFF: Don't miss a minute of the action at the 2017 NCHC Frozen Faceoff, which will take place at the Minneapolis Target Center on March 17-18. For complete ticket details, please visit www.axs.com
NEXT UP: The winner of this best of three series in Grand Forks will gain a spot in the upcoming NCHC Frozen Faceoff tournament at the Target Center in Minneapolis on March 17-18. For complete ticket details, please visit www.axs.com
OPPONENT NOTES: The Huskies own a 1-3-0 record against North Dakota in 2016-17. Earlier this season, SCSU lost a pair of games at the HBNHC by scores of 4-0 and 3-0 on Nov. 18-19, 2016...in the rematch at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on Feb. 3-4, 2017, the Huskies gained a 3-1 victory in game one and then lost a 2-1 decision in OT against the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks...SCSU is 2-3-0 in the last five games played against UND and 3-7-0 in the last 10 games played against UND...SCSU is 9-15-4 in games played at the new REA...Coach Motzko is 18-28-6 in games played against UND during his career at SCSU...Shane Gersich leads the UND club with 19g/15a/34 points...St. Cloud resident Austin Poganski has 9g/12a/21 points for UND this season...Cam Johnson is UND's top netminder with a 2.34 GAA and a .905 save rate. He is 17-11-3 this season between the pipes...SCSU's Jon Lizotte and Jacob Benson are both residents of Grand Forks, N.D. and both played prep hockey at Red River H.S.
