Okabe’s Overtime Strike Sends No. 7 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey to NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game

Friday, March 17

St. Paul, Minn.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

23-12-3

North Dakota

18-15-6

OT 1

North Dakota

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Luke Schmidt

Okabe’s Overtime Strike Sends No. 7 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey to NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game

3/17/2023 11:35:00 PM | Men's Hockey

Box Score

SCSU advances to NCHC Championship Game with 3-2 overtime win over North Dakota

ST. PAUL, Minn. – No. 7 St. Cloud State Men's Hockey (23-12-3, 12-9-3 NCHC) senior forward Zach Okabe (Okotoks, Alberta) scored the game-winning overtime goal as the Huskies downed No. 17 North Dakota (18-15-6, 10-10-4 NCHC) in an instant classic at the Xcel Energy Center on Friday night in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff Semifinal. With the win, the Huskies advance to the 2023 NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game for a date with Colorado College – marking St. Cloud State's sixth trip to the title game since the tournament's inception in 2014.

The top line of Okabe, Jami Krannila (Nokia, Finland) and Veeti Miettinen (Espoo, Finland) enjoyed a phenomenal performance as each skater scored a goal and provided at least one assist – including two for Miettinen as part of a game-high three points – while accounting for 11 of the Huskies' 21 shots on goal. Graduate forward Grant Cruikshank (Delafield, Wis.) and freshman defenseman Cooper Wylie (Stillwater, Minn.) both recorded an assist while the former led the Huskies in the dot with a 12-win effort on draws.

Goaltender Jaxon Castor (Phoenix, Ariz.) stopped 23-of-25 shots to earn the win in net. Castor turned away each of the final 12 shots put on by North Dakota including 7-of-7 in the third, helping the Huskies kill off a pair of UND power plays.

St. Cloud State fell behind 1-0 early as North Dakota's power play unit scored on its first chance of the game. The Huskies bounced back and went back to work in the offensive end, outshooting UND 5-3 for the next 11 minutes of play. After a Fighting Hawk was called for holding, St. Cloud State's power play struck with under three to go in the period and less than a minute left on the advantage as a beautiful entry by Cruikshank and Adam Ingram (West St. Paul, Manitoba) drew the defense towards the near wall. Miettinen slipped down to the right circle and took a feed from Wylie, blistering home a one-timer for the equalizer.

North Dakota regained the lead in the second period on a scrum in front of the net, poking home a rebound. In need of an answer early in the third, the top line established a phenomenal chance by way of a smooth entry into the offensive zone through neutral ice. Sophomore defenseman Jack Peart (Grand Rapids, Minn.) led the rush, skating hard through neutral, drew in a pair of defenders then dished wide to Miettinen. The latter sent the puck back in towards the high slot, one-touched by Okabe to the right dot for a crashing Krannila – the newly-minted NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year rocketed a one-timer past the North Dakota tender to make it a 2-2 game.

Headed to overtime locked at two, the Huskies earned their sixth trip to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game by sticking to the script that netted them their first two goals. A one-touch pass by Miettinen off a loose puck in neutral found its way to Krannila's stick as the top line created plenty of time and space in their offensive zone entry. Krannila drew the attention of the UND defense and threaded the needle to find Okabe – fresh off of loosing his man with a strong move to the slot – for a point-blank backhand try. Okabe buried the chance over the goalie's shoulder, electrifying the X and emptying the Huskies bench.

TOP HUSKIES

Okabe's game-winning goal was his team-leading fifth of the season and 17^th overall as he added an assist for a two-point night while leading all skaters with five shots on goal.
Miettinen went 1-2-3 for his fourth game with at least three points this season.
Krannila scored a goal, tallied an assist and skated to a game-best plus-two.

NOTES

With the win, St. Cloud State improved to 49-80-16 against North Dakota and 3-1 against the Fighting Hawks at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff including 3-0 in the semifinals.
Okabe scored his 17^th goal and added his 17^th assist for 34 points on the season.
Miettinen pushed his season scoring line to 11-23-34 on the year.
Krannila scored his 20^th goal and provided his 19^th assist to make it a 39-point season.
With his 20^th goal, the Huskies now have a pair of 20-goal scorers (Cruikshank, 21) for the first time since 2015-16 when Joey Benik (23) and Patrick Russell (20) both reached the mark.
Cruikshank tallied his 12^th assist of the season while going 12-12 on draws.
Wylie provided his third assist of 2022-23 while skating to a plus-one.
Castor earned his 12^th win while stopping 23-of-25 shots.

UP NEXT

St. Cloud State will face Colorado College in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game on Saturday, March 18 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. CT, with the game being televised on CBS Sports Network and radio coverage on KNSI.