ST. PAUL, Minn. – Zach Okabe scored at 5:45 of overtime to lead No. 7 St. Cloud State to a 3-2 victory over No. 17 North Dakota in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
UND (18-15-6) sees its season come to an end in overtime for the third straight year and fifth time in the last six seasons.
The Fighting Hawks held a 2-1 lead heading into the third period on a goal from Judd Caulfield just past the midway point of the contest, but Jami Krannila knotted the game with his 20th tally of the season on a rush at 5:06 of the final stanza to send the game into the extra session.
In the overtime, Griffin Ness, who was last weekend’s hero against Omaha on Sunday to send UND to St. Paul, nearly had a chance to win it, but the puck rolled off his stick with a yawning cage before Okabe struck less than two minutes later to send the Huskies (23-12-3) into the championship game against No. 7 seed Colorado College.
Drew DeRidder finished with 18 saves on 21 shots in his final collegiate game, collecting only his second loss in his last 10 starts. The fifth year was crucial in the dying moments of regulation, making a trio of grade-A stops to prevent SCSU from grabbing a late winner.
North Dakota jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the contest, with Ethan Frisch burying a power play goal on a great passing play from Jake Schmaltz and Jackson Blake for the senior’s seven tally of the season. SCSU answered back with a power play goal of its own from Veeti Miettinen to even the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.
UND took control in the second period, outshooting the Huskies by an 11-3 margin and moving back in front on the tally from Caulfield to carry the lead and the momentum into the final frame.
It was SCSU who had a bit more jump to begin the third; however, eventually tying the game at 2-2 before a back-and-forth remainder of the period sent the game into overtime.
Following a great penalty kill and a bevy of chances for the Fighting Hawks, it was St. Cloud State who ended the game on Okabe’s rush to the net and backhander over DeRidder to hand UND only its second loss in overtime in 11 contests.