Okabe Nets Natural Hat Trick, No. 3 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Sweeps North Dakota

Saturday, December 3

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

13-3-0, 6-2-0

North Dakota

6-8-3, 2-5-1

North Dakota

St. Cloud St.

Okabe Nets Natural Hat Trick, No. 3 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Sweeps North Dakota

12/4/2022 1:54:00 AM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

Huskies record first sweep over Fight Hawks since 2013, and first at home since 2001

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Different night, same story, as No. 3 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (13-3-0, 6-2-0 NCHC) fell behind but bounced back and scored six unanswered goals to defeat North Dakota (6-8-3, 2-4-1 NCHC), 6-3, on Saturday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Senior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) played the hero card on the night, as he recorded his second career hat trick and first career natural hat trick, netting the second, third and fourth goals of the game for the Huskies.

The win was St. Cloud State's first sweep against North Dakota since Nov. 1-2, 2013 (3-2 & 3-1 in Grand Forks) and its first at home since Nov. 2-3, 2001 (8-4 & 6-1). The Huskies 13 goals are also the most it has scored in a series against North Dakota since that same 2001 series.

TURNING POINT

North Dakota jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, scoring three goals in the game's first 22 minutes while outshooting the Huskies 11-6 in the opening period. St. Cloud State was looking for a change of momentum, and it began with the Huskies first goal. Just seconds after UND's Riese Gaber scored a power play goal, St. Cloud State responded an odd man rush where senior forward Grant Cruikshank (Delafield, Wis.) found graduate defenseman Brendan Bushy (Thief River Falls, Minn.) in the high slot where he fired a wrist shot past the UND goalie for the Huskies first score. His second goal of the season at the 2:04 mark of the season period made the score 3-1.

It was the spark St. Cloud State needed, as momentum was now in the Huskies favor. Okabe's hat trick began near the end of period, as he scored his first goal of the game at the 18:12 mark of the period off assists from senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn (Calgary, Alberta) and freshman forward Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba). His second goal happened just 55 seconds into the third period, scoring off an assist from junior forward Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) to knot the score at 3-3. Seven minutes later, Okabe put the Huskies on top for good, scoring on a centering pass from sophomore defenseman Josh Luedtke (Minnetonka, Minn.).

TOP HUSKIES

Okabe scored his ninth, 10^th and 11^th goals with his hat trick.
Anhorn notched his fourth multi-point game of the season with a pair of assists.
Ingram set a new season-high with two assists in the game.

NOTES

With its win, the Huskies improve to 7-1-0 at home and 7-1-0 in the second game of a series.
St. Cloud State recorded its first sweep against North Dakota since Nov. 1-2, 2013 (3-2 & 3-1 in Grand Forks) and its first at home since Nov. 2-3, 2001 (8-4 & 6-1).
The Huskies 13 goals are also the most it has scored in a series against North Dakota since that same 2001 series.
Okabe recorded the 65^th hat trick in the Division-I history of St. Cloud State and the first since Easton Brodzinski scored three against North Dakota on Dec. 3, 2021. It was the first natural hat trick since Nolan Walker recorded one against Miami on Feb. 6, 2021.
Okabe now has two of the last four hat tricks in program history after recording four goals against Minnesota State on Dec. 28, 2020.
The Husky senior matched his career-best for goals in a season with 11, equaling the mark he set last season in 37 games.
Bushy scored second goal of the season and extended his point streak to four consecutive games.
Sophomore defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) recorded a goal and assist for third multi-point game of the season and his sixth of his career.
Senior forward Kyler Kupka (Camrose, Alberta) scored for the second consecutive game and for the fourth time this season.
Anhorn recorded his fourth multi-assist game of the season and the ninth of his career with a pair of assists.
Ingram set a new career-best with two assists while also recording his second career multi-point game.
Cruikshank produced an assist to record his 19^th point of the season, setting a new career-best in points in a season, surpassing his 18 points as a freshman with Colorado College in 2018-19.

POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT

Next, St. Cloud State will head to Miami for a conference matchup in Oxford, Ohio. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT on Friday and 4:00 p.m. CT on Saturday on NCHC.tv.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Hockey, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Tickets for the 2022-23 season are available at www.scsutickets.com, downloading the St. Cloud State Huskies app or by calling 1-877-SCSUTIX / 320-308-2137.