Huskies close regular season with 4-3 victory over UMD

Saturday, March 9

St. Cloud, Minn.

4:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State

27-4-3, 19-2-3NCHC

University of Minnesota Duluth

21-11-2, 14-9-1NCHC

Minnesota Duluth

St. Cloud State

Sam Hentges scores the game-winning goal in the final period against Minnesota-Duluth.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

3/9/2019 8:09:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The No. 1 ranked St. Cloud State men's hockey team closed the 2018-19 regular season in the perfect way possible, with a win over the team's biggest rival the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Thanks to a late comeback, the Huskies closed 2018-19 with a thrilling win and preserved their perfect record at home with a 4-3 victory over the Bulldogs.

"It was a heavy weight fight," head coach Brett Larson said in a post game interview. "No one wanted to budge, and it was a good challenge for us. We had to earn every point and we are happy to come out with both wins."

St. Cloud State knew it wasn't going to be easy closing the regular season with a win over Minnesota-Duluth. The Huskies and Bulldogs were two of the most evenly matched teams, not just in the National College Hockey Conference (NCHC), but in the nation as well, as they are both the No. 1 and 3 ranked teams respectively. Minnesota-Duluth wasn't simply going to hand St. Cloud State the victory, and it showed in the first period, as it was all Bulldogs in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period and held an 8-6 shot advantage over the Huskies before extending the lead to 2-0 in the early minutes of period No. 2.

Minnesota-Duluth's second goal was exactly what St. Cloud State needed to jump start the offense, as the Huskies quickly scored two powerplay goals of their own to tie the game at 1-1. Nolan Walker (Anchorage, Alaska / Culver Academy) got the scoring started, as he deflected a Jack Ahcan (Savage, Minn. / Burnsville) slapshot behind Bulldog netminder Hunter Shepard to cut the lead to 2-1. Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) then evened things up with a powerplay goal of his own, poking in the equalizer at 10:29 in the second period.

Neither team was able to find the back of the next in the remaining 9:32 of the second period, and both Shepard and St. Cloud State starter Jeff Smith (Maple Ridge, B.C. / Powell River) were outstanding at the start of the third. Both goalies turned away every shot they faced in the first seven minutes of the final period, until Ahcan put a stop to it at 7:59. After having his shot deflected in the second period, the junior defenseman scored a goal of his own at 7:59 in the third period to give the Huskies their first lead at 3-2.

The Bulldogs simply would not go away, as they evened the score at 3-3 with under four minutes remaining in regulation. Seemingly headed for a second-consecutive overtime game against Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State put together one last rush with 1:11 left on the scoreboard. That was when the Huskies took a lead they would never relinquish. Freshman forward Sam Hentges (Fridley, Minn. / Totino-Grace) stuck with the bouncing puck in front of the net, eventually pushing it past Shepard to score the game-winning goal at clinch the 4-3 win for St. Cloud State.

Hentges was named the game's first star after scoring the game-winner, while Ahcan and senior Jimmy Schuldt (Minnetonka, Minn. / Minnetonka) earned second and third star honors after tallying multi-point games for the Huskies.

"Tonight, we played in a great environment," Larson commented. "It was two good hockey teams getting after it, and great preparation for what we will face in the NCHC and NCAA tournaments."

St. Cloud State concludes the regular season with an overall record of 26-4-3 and a 18-2-3 mark in NCHC play. The top-ranked Huskies will host the opening round of the NCHC playoff March 15-17 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. More information regarding St. Cloud State's opponent and puck drop times will be available later in the week.