ST. PAUL, Minn. — Zach Okabe scored at 5:45 of overtime to lift St. Cloud State to a 3-2 win over UND in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference semifinals. The Huskies advance to the NCHC title game against Colorado College, while UND's season comes to an end.
Herald three stars
First star: Veeti Miettinen, SCSU, 1 goal, 2 assists.
Second star: Zach Okabe, SCSU, game-winning goal, assist.
Third star: Judd Caulfield, UND, goal.
First period
UND 1, SCSU 0 — Ethan Frisch (Jake Schmaltz, Jackson Blake) 6:18 (pp). UND converts its first power-play chance of the night. Blake has the puck in the right circle and dishes to Schmaltz along the goal line. Schmaltz makes a no-look backhand pass to Frisch in the opposite circle and the Moorhead product puts it away for his seventh of the season.
A thing of beauty! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/G4Zu87Enh8
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 18, 2023
UND 1, SCSU 1 — Veeti Miettinen (Cooper Wylie, Grant Cruikshank) 17:16 (pp). St. Cloud State also converts its first power-play chance of the night quickly after a zone entry. Wylie finds Miettinen open in the right circle for a one-timer. He blasts it past UND goalie Drew DeRidder for his 10th point in the last nine games.
What a Finnish! 🇫🇮
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) March 18, 2023
Miettinen buries the one-timer on the power play to tie it for @SCSUHuskies_MH
📺: @CBSSportsNet #FrozenFaceoff // #HuskyHockey pic.twitter.com/4sSyrxENkC
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Second period
UND 2, SCSU 1 — Judd Caulfield (Mark Senden, Gavin Hain) 12:29. Hain has the puck at the top of the right circle and throws a shot toward the top of the crease, where Senden and Caulfield are hanging out. Caulfield wins the battle for the rebound and puts it away for his 10th goal of the season.
Crash the net, get rewarded! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/u3x6Ict8QN
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 18, 2023
Third period
UND 2, SCSU 2 — Jami Krannila (Zach Okabe, Veeti Miettinen) 5:06. After two good cycling shifts by St. Cloud State, the Huskies convert off the rush. Krannila gets the puck from the left side to Okabe in the high slot. Okabe spots Krannila wide open in the right circle and he doesn't miss. It's Krannila's 20th goal of the season.
All tied up again! 🚨
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) March 18, 2023
Krannila with another one-timer Finnish for @SCSUHuskies_MH
📺: @CBSSportsNet #FrozenFaceoff // #HuskyHockey pic.twitter.com/hRbGbvmFBv
Overtime
SCSU 3, UND 2 — Zach Okabe (Jami Krannila, Veeti Miettinen) 5:45. Okabe gets behind UND's defense and Krannila hits him with a pass from the right side. Okabe makes a move to his backhand and puts it away.
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UND's lines
Forwards
9 Jackson Blake—27 Louis Jamernik V—17 Riese Gaber
26 Dylan James—19 Mark Senden—29 Jackson Kunz
10 Gavin Hain—8 Jake Schmaltz—28 Judd Caulfield
13 Carson Albrecht—22 Owen McLaughlin—11 Griffin Ness
20 Nick Portz
Defensemen
25 Tyler Kleven—15 Ethan Frisch
7 Chris Jandric—2 Ryan Sidorski
4 Cooper Moore—3 Ty Farmer
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Goaltenders
34 Drew DeRidder
32 Jakob Hellsten
Not in lineup: F Dane Montgomery (inj), F Ben Strinden, F Matteo Costantini, D Luke Bast, D Brent Johnson, G Kaleb Johnson
St. Cloud State's lines
Forwards
29 Veeti Miettinen—13 Jami Krannila—14 Zach Okabe
10 Kyler Kupka—19 Grant Cruikshank—15 Micah Miller
27 Chase Brand—8 Aidan Spellacy—20 Jack Rogers
34 Adam Ingram—16 Mason Salquist—22 Joe Molenaar
Defensemen
5 Ondrej Trejbal—18 Brendan Bushy
23 Jack Peart—6 Mason Reiners
26 Cooper Wylie—9 Spencer Meier
21 Josh Luedtke
Goaltenders
40 Jaxon Castor
31 Dominic Basse
1 James Gray
Not in lineup: F Ryan Rosborough, F Ethan AuCoin, F Grant Ahcan, D Dylan Anhorn (inj), D Brady Ziemer
Pregame notes
UND is going with the same lineup as Sunday night in Omaha. . . St. Cloud State is starting Castor in net. Castor had better numbers against UND than Basse during the regular season. . . St. Cloud State D Josh Luedtke, who missed Sunday's Game 3 against Minnesota Duluth, is back in.