ST. CLOUD, Minn.– Jack Poehling’s goal early in the the third period broke a 1-all tie and gave St. Cloud State an upset 2-1 win over top-ranked North Dakota Saturday evening at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play. The loss trims UND’s lead in the league to six points with two weeks to play in the regular season.
SCSU (12-12-6, 9-9-2-1 NCHC) took the early advantage with a power-play goal in the first period during a five-minute major. It remained there until Collin Adams tied it midway through the second.
Ethan Frisch broke out of North Dakota’s defensive zone and slipped a pass to Adams streaking in front of the UND bench. Adams weaved around one defender and zinged one past David Hrenak for his 11th goal of the season to tie it.
Poehling’s goal in the third was part of a three-goal weekend as SCSU moved within a point of the all-important fourth spot in the NCHC Tournament seedings, the final team that would get home ice in the quarterfinal round.
Peter Thome made 17 stops for North Dakota but suffered his first loss of the season (6-1-2).
North Dakota will return home for its final homestand of the regular season. UND will host 19th-ranked Western Michigan on Friday and Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Notes: Junior Jordan Kawaguchi was scratched from the lineup as a precautionary measure and is listed as day-to-day … It was his first missed game since his freshman season … Shane Pinto was lost early in the game on a major and game misconduct for checking from behind … Jonny Tychonick, who dressed as the seventh defenseman, saw time as a forward later in the game … North Dakota still needs just a three-point win coupled with a Minnesota Duluth loss in regulation or overtime (0 points) to earn a least a share of the NCHC’s Penrose Cup.
