UND and BSU slug out a 2-2 tie

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grand Forks, ND – Tonight was senior night for six seniors and it’s an emotional time for all of them. Assistant captain Corban Knight showed up to the post-game press conference still wearing his home white and he was obviously choked up. When asked to explain his emotions, Corban Knight said this.

“Tough to explain – you know – putting something to a program for the last four years, it’s coming to an end, it’s tough to explain.

It was obvious; the tie didn’t sit well with the senior forward as he banged his stick on the ice as the clock ticked down the horn sounded, ending the game in a 2-2 tie. At times the Beavers kept the 12,117 fans (second most all-time) frustrated as well as the Beavers kept UND’s shots to the outside and protected their net blocking shot after shot.

When asked about his team’s tenacious shot blocking was a key to the game, Bemidji State Beavers head coach Tom Serratore said.

“You got to block shots,” Serratore said. “That’s hockey; that’s not a key, that’s automatic, that’s non-negotiable, that’s part of being a hockey player, that’s sacrifice.

The Bemidji State Beavers are a hard team to play against, they get in the shooting and they limit your time and space and they pack it in around their net. Tonight, was no different, throughout the game, the Beavers were in UND’s grill.

“It’s always tough to playing against those guys,” Corban Knight said. “The way they play, they really pack it in defensively. It’s a grind against those guys. That was definitely the case tonight. It was a hard fought 65 minutes; it was pretty low scoring hockey – not a lot of chances – it’s the way they play and it’s tough to play against.”

A late power play goal at the 08:37 mark of the third period by freshman defenseman Jordan Schmaltzhelped the University of North Dakota  (18-9-7, 13-6-7 WCHA)  salvage a 2-2 tie with the 11^th place Bemidji State Beavers (6-18-8, 5-14-7 WCHA).

After the game UND head coach Dave Hakstol seem pleased with the effort of his team.

“One point, great performance,” Hakstol said.  “High level of pride for our senior class”

Freshman defenseman Jordan Schmaltz scored at the 08:37 mark of the third period to force the extra session. Schmaltz has been very noticeable on the ice the last 4-5 series and coach Hakstol agreed.

“I think his game took a step about a month ago,” Hakstol said. He’s held it as a pretty good level. I think the challenge for him is no different than it is for the rest of our team, we want to take one more step yet in terms of our over-all performance.”

It was obvious from the replay in the press box that Jordan Schmaltz had scored the game tying goal but the on ice official Brad Shepherd waved the goal off on the ice. After a short review, the goal was confirmed. Tie game. 

“I got a pass from Carter Rowney and kind of made one quick move,” Schmaltz said. “Was lucky to get it on net, it went post and in”

Next weekend, UND travels to Mankato to play the Minnesota State Mavericks in an important two game series, that will go a long way in determining who UND plays during their first round of the WCHA playoffs.

CONFIRMED: UND has officially clinched home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. — North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) March 3, 2013

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MacMillan (X2) lead UND past BSU 4-2

Seal of the University of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grand Forks, ND – Coming into tonight’s game, UND senior forward Danny Kristo had never scored a goal, or recorded a single point in six career games against the Bemidji State Beavers.

No, you don’t need to check your eyes.

During his four year career at the University of North Dakota, Kristo had racked up an impressive (62g-91a—153pts) in a 148 games, but had never scored a single point in his four year career against the Bemidji State Beavers.

Wait, what? Not a single one.

In his seventh game against the Bemidji State Beavers, Kristo finally was able to record a single assist on UND’s third goal that was scored by UND defenseman Joe Gleason.

Apparently, Kristo’s pointless streak against the Beavers was a point of discussion during this week in practice. 

Unlike Danny Kristo, Mark MacMillan has little trouble during his two seasons at UND scoring against the Bemidji State Beavers, coming into tonight’s game, MacMillan had recorded (1g-4a—5 pts) in four games against the Beavers.  Mark added (2g-1a—3pts) to his point total and was awarded the game’s first star of the game as he lead UND (18-9-6, 13-6-6 WCHA) to a 4-2 over the Bemidji State Beavers (6-17-7, 5-13-6 WCHA).

Mark’s brother Mitch MacMillan also chipped in a (1g-1a—2pts) as that line seemed to give BSU fits all night long. One has to wonder if the MacMillan boys are finding their magic they had when they played together in juniors back in Alberni Valley of the BCHL, in British Colombia.

“Hopefully, it seemed to work out well tonight,” Mark MacMillan said.  The chemistry between us is slowly starting to come back. Obviously the college game is little different than junior hockey.”

The University of North Dakota is 8-4-4 when the opposition scores the first goal. That is the second game in a row that the opposition has scored the first goal of the game that UND has come back to win.

The game was tired 1-1 going into the third period, before UND scored four straight goals. BSU head coach Tom Serratore seemed upbeat after the game, even though his team lost.

First off, I thought it was a good hockey game,” Serratore said.  “You know what, you go into third period in this building tied 1-1,  to me it was where we wanted them at that particular time.  Obviously, the second and third goals were killers. We probably could have prevented those goals.”

I don’t think it would be an understatement to say that tonight’s game wasn’t all that entertaining. It was a gut-it-out gritty style of game. The Beavers are a tough team to play against, they get in the shooting lanes and they play a high pressure game. Some like to incorrectly call the Beavers style of play a trap. The head coach of the Beavers agreed that it was tough sledding, out on the ice.

“Tonight, I thought the game was pretty much a turf war,” Serratore said.

When asked if he thought the game was a turf war, head coach Dave Hakstol was hesitant to use the term, he said, “you can call it what you want. It was a hard fought hockey game. At times there wasn't a lot of flow to it.”

 Cross-posted a the Hockey Writes Combine.