Husky Headlines
Husky Headlines
SCSU Tips Minnesota in Overtime, 8-7
Friday, March 17, 2006
Casey Borer (6) and Matt Hartman celebrate win over UM. Photo by Brad Person. |
St. Paul, MN -- St. Cloud State University sophomore forward Matt Hartman propelled the Husky men's hockey team (22-15-4) into the title game of the WCHA Final Five with an 8-7 overtime win over Minnesota (27-7-5) on Friday, March 17 in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center.
Hartman scored at 9:14 of the overtime session with assists from junior Nate Raduns and junior Dan Kronick. The goal was Hartman's second of the evening and his 10th goal of the season.
"Our guys just battle every night," SCSU coach Bob Motzko said. "They've battled so hard all year long...this is just a tremendous group to be around. This really turned out to be a game for the ages."
The Gophers opened the game's scoring at 9:36 with a goal by Ben Gordon. He was assisted on the play by Blake Wheeler and Chris Harrington.
SCSU broke the shutout with a goal by Hartman at 10:57 of the first period. The single assist on the play was provided by Matt Stephenson. The goal was Hartman's ninth of the season. He is the first St. Cloud resident to score a goal in Final Five action at SCSU.
Alex Goligoski provided the Gophers with a 2-1 lead at 13:33 of the first on an unassisted play. SCSU knotted the score at 2-2 at 15:02 as sophomore Andrew Gordon deflected a slapshot from the blueline by junior defender Justin Fletcher. Gordon was credited with his 20th goal of the season with assists going to Fletcher and senior forward Brock Hooton.
Gordon is the first player to score 20-or-more goals since Mark Hartigan posted a school record 37 goals in 2001-02.
Gordon added to his sterling performance at the Final Five with the Huskies' third goal at :58 of the second period. He was assisted on the go-ahead goal by Joe Jensen and David Carlisle.
The Huskies added to their lead with a goal at 3:50 of the second period by junior defender and team captain Casey Borer. He was assisted on the shot from the point by Gordon and Jensen. The goal was Borer's third of the season, and it was also Jensen's 98th career point.
Grant Clafton pushed the score to 5-2 with a deflected shot from T.J. McElroy at 5:54 of the second. In addition to McElroy, the second assist was credited to Hooton.
The Gophers kept the pressure on with a power play goal by Ryan Poltuny at 9:43 of the second period. Assists for the Gopher goal were credited to Phil Kessel and Chris Harrington.
The Husky offense quickly responded to UM's threat with another goal at 11:40 of the second period. Hooton made the score 6-3 with an unassisted goal for SCSU against UM goalie Jeff Frazee, who replaced starter Kellen Briggs after SCSU's fifth goal.
The scoring fireworks continued in the second period as Minnesota made it 6-4 with a goal at 14:08 by Poltuny on the power play. He was assisted by Danny Irmen and Harrington. Minnesota completed the second period with a power play goal by Potulny at 19:59. He was assisted on the play by Kessel and Harrington, which made the score 6-5.
At 16:21 of the third period, Hooton notched his second goal of the evening on an unassisted breakaway. The goal was Hooton's sixth of the season.
The Gophers made it 7-6 with a goal at 17:59 by Irmen, as assists were credited to Ryan Stoa and Potulny. Potulny charted his fourth goal of the game with at 19:45 of the third period. Irmen and Kessel had assists on the play, which forced the game into OT.
"It was frustrating to give up those goals at the end of the period, but we just fed off of it between periods," Hooton said. "We weren't going to let this game slip away."
The Huskies will advance to the title game of the WCHA Final 5 for the third time in team history. SCSU will play North Dakota at 7:37 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in the championship game. The game will be broadcast live on KNSI AM 1450 and KCML FM 99.9 out of St. Cloud and KVSC 88.1 FM. The game will also be televised live on Fox Sports Net North.
The attendance for tonight's match up between SCSU and UM was 19,353, which sets a new WCHA Final Five single-game attendance record.
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