Men's Hockey Swept by North Dakota

by Dan Myers
Issue date: 10/31/06 Section: Mens Sports

Rarely does a team score 10 goals in a series and get swept.

That was the case for the Minnesota State men's hockey team this weekend, a weekend where defense and goaltending were nonexistent. In the end, however, MSU just couldn't find the go-ahead goal it needed to upset No. 10 North Dakota.

Both nights, UND took a 3-0 lead to the first intermission. Both nights, the Mavericks fought back to eventually tie the game at three. But MSU could not find the lead in either game, as the Sioux used incredible energy to squash both Maverick spurts of momentum.

"When you're ahead, and you give up a lead, and then you gain it back like that, I think it gives you a little extra juice," said MSU head coach Troy Jutting. "We kept playing hard, but they had a little extra after that."

The Sioux used that energy both nights to catapult themselves to a 5-4 win Friday followed by an 8-5 decision - one which was closer than the score would indicate - to sweep the series Saturday.

The story of both losses was the Mavericks' inability to stop UND during the first period. Much like its loss last weekend to St. Cloud State, MSU came out flat early. UND scored the opening goal of both games within six minutes of the start, including a pair of goals in the first four minutes Saturday.

"They got us down 3-0 and all of the sudden we are back on our heels," said forward Mick Berge, who scored three goals on the weekend.

"We came out slow and penalties killed us," said captain Travis Morin. "We came back in the second and couldn't finish."

It was Morin's goal in the second period Saturday that appeared to change the direction of the series.

Back in the game at 3-2, freshman Trevor Bruess appeared to make a grave mistake by making a lazy pass to Morin in his own zone. The puck bounced over Taylor Chorney's stick, however, and landed on Morin's. The senior took off on a break away, putting a shot over UND goalie Anthony Grieco's glove to knot the game at three.

"I was a little surprised," Morin said. "I was about to turn around to go back check and then it came bouncing to me and I got a full break away from the far blue line."

Any momentum the Mavericks gained from the play vanished just moments later as Andrew Kozek scored his second goal of the game to give UND the 4-3 lead.

"They never got down on themselves," said Morin of UND, who lost a lead on five different occasions, but never trailed during the series. "Give them credit, they didn't let down and came back just as hard."

Freshman Kael Mouillierat tied the game at four just under three minutes later, but UND assumed the lead once again just two minutes after that. Kyle Radke's power-play goal was the Sioux's fourth man-advantage tally of the game, and seventh of the series.

Berge tied the game at five at 16:40 of the second, a score that held until the wee moments of the final period. Chris Porter's goal at 1:07 of the third came off a deflection and was the game-winner in a wild series.

"This shows that we have a lot of heart," Berge said. "We were still working hard even though we were down 3-0 both games, but we can't keep doing that to ourselves. We're not giving ourselves a chance."

UND would add a pair of goals in the final minutes of Saturday's game to seal the victory. Until the final period, the game was a carbon copy of Friday's opener. After falling behind 3-0 in the first, MSU rallied to tie it at three in the second. UND regained the lead soon after. Friday, however, the Mavs would tie the score at four early in the third, before submitting the game winner at 11:53.

"We are a better team than a lot of people think we are," Jutting said. "Offensively, we played plenty good this weekend."

Dan Myers is the Reporter Sports Editor