March
16, 2006
WCHA Final Five
St.
Cloud State Nets Win Against UMD
| St.
Cloud State 5,
Minnesota Duluth 1 |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First
Period |
| 1-SC |
Billy
Hengen (7) |
EV |
| 0:44 |
A.
Gordon, J. Jensen |
| 1-SC |
Nate
Dey (5) |
EV |
| 3:18 |
G.
Clafton |
| 3-SC |
Brock
Hooton (4) |
PP |
| 12:55 |
J.
Jensen, B. Hengen |
| 1-MD |
Tim
Stapleton (14) |
EV |
| 13:56 |
J.
Williams |
| No
Scoring |
| Second
Period |
| No
Scoring |
| Third
Period |
| 4-SC |
Andrew
Gordon (19) |
EV |
| 0:48 |
J.
Jensen |
| 5-SC |
Billy
Hengen (8) |
EN |
| 17:34 |
A.
Gordon |
| Goaltending |
| MD:
Nate Ziegelmann, 58:51, 21 saves, 4 GA (1 ENG) |
| SC:
Bobby Goepfert, 60:00, 36 saves, 1 GA |
| Penalties:
MD 4/8; SC 3/6 |
| Power
Plays: MD 0-2; SC 1-3 |
| Attendance:
16,312 |
St.
Cloud State senior forward Billy Hengen needed some way
to extend his college hockey career by at least two more
days. Two goals and an assist did the trick.
Hengen’s
goal in the opening minute, and his empty-netter from the
far blue line, were big factors as the Huskies advanced
to the WCHA Final Five’s semifinals, beating Minnesota
Duluth 5-1 in the Thursday night play-in game.
But on a night
where the winners managed just nine shots on goal in the
first two periods, offense clearly doesn’t tell the
whole story. The least surprising story line of the night
resided in the Huskies net, where goaltender Bobby Goepfert
followed being named the league’s top netminder earlier
in the day by keeping the Bulldogs at bay in a second period
which saw his team out-shot 15-3. He finished with 36 saves
to earn his team a date with league champ Minnesota on Friday
night.
“I played
against him in juniors, and he was the same way,”
said Minnesota Duluth forward Tim Stapleton, who scored
the Bulldogs’ only goal in his final collegiate game.
“We probably could’ve gone to the net more,
but he made the first saves and hung on.”
Huskies coach
Bob Motzko, who has seen Goepfert’s heroics all season,
said Thursday night was typical.
“Bobby
is exactly what you saw tonight – a great goaltender
and a fierce competitor,” he said. “He’s
into this thing.”
 |
| St.
Cloud State goaltender Bobby Goepfert sprawls to make
one of 36 saves against Minnesota Duluth Thursday. |
Although
getting into it, from a goaltending perspective, became
much easier when the Huskies opened up a 3-0 lead in the
first period.
“I was
ready to play this game, and those three early goals really
helped,” said Goepfert. “I figured the second
period would be big and they’d be shooting from everywhere,
so I knew I had to get focused mentally.”
After getting
the win, Goepfert will have roughly 20 hours to re-focus
mentally to face the top team in the nation. He’s
already beaten Minnesota once this year, and joins his teammates
in saying, “bring it on.”
“Last week
we talked in the airport about how exciting it would be
to play the Gophers here on St. Patrick’s Day with
the crowds going,” said Hengen. “A couple of
the guys said we want to hear that ‘Gopher rejects’
chant.”
As for the Bulldogs,
who head back to Duluth with just 11 wins after a surprise
five-day extension of their season, coach Scott Sandelin
looked at the big picture for his upperclassmen and saw
good things.
“We’ve
got seniors here who are in this tournament for the third
time, plus a Frozen Four, so that’s a pretty good
career,” he said. “To end the year here, as
opposed to Denver, is a big plus for us.”