ALLENTOWN, Pa. — It was a back-and-forth battle between third-seeded St. Cloud State and second-seeded Quinnipiac in the second semifinal of the 2022 NCAA Allentown Regional at the PPL Center, but in the end the higher seed broke through as the Bobcats pulled out a 5-4 triumph.
They took leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 5-3 but were forced to hold off the Huskies each time to advance as St. Cloud outshot Quinnipiac 34-16 on the night
“We need to play better,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “We did not do that tonight, and it was very uncharacteristic. There was a little bit of panic, but St. Cloud was also excellent tonight, and we need to clean things up.”
Shortly after an early St. Cloud power play expired, Quinnipiac blueliner Brendan Less got off a shot from the left point that went in to put the Bobcats on the board just 4:37 into the game.
Quinnipiac then increased its advantage with just 2:34 left in the opening period. TJ Friedmann made it 2-0 for the Bobcats after he skated left to right between the circles, then wristed a shot back the other way that beat Huskies goaltender Jaxon Castor on the stick side.
“He just elevates in big games,” Quinnipiac forward Michael Lombardi said of Friedmann. “He’s a do-it-all guy and a great teammate.”
St. Cloud jumped right back into the game following the first intermission. Nolan Walker, who had missed on a backhand attempt in close in the opening period, worked a give-and-go with Sam Hentges in the Quinnipiac zone before Walker slammed home a return pass at the left post at 1:08 for his 30th career goal.
Just over six minutes later, Walker fired a shot on net that Quinnipiac goaltender Yaniv Perets stopped. Hentges, standing in front of Perets, turned and collected the rebound, than waited out the freshman netminder before sliding the puck past Perets’ outstretched left pad to tie the game.
“They (Walker, Hentges) have a lot of speed, and they use it to their advantage,” said St. Cloud forward Easton Brodzinski. “They’re very talented hockey players, and we lean on them heavily.”
Lombardi’s seeing-eye shot from the right circle then put Quinnipiac back on top at 10:12 of the second stanza.
“It’s a play we’ve run all year,” said Lombardi. “I tried to take it to the net, and I was lucky it went off a shin and got a good bounce.”
The Huskies, however, responded once again on Kyler Kupka’s deflection just over two minutes later that made it 3-3. St. Cloud’s Micah Miller then had a couple of chances in close with one minute left, but couldn’t convert.
“We never got off our game,” said St. Cloud head coach Brett Larson. “We played disciplined, played hard throughout and got contributions from each line, whether they scored or not. I think it was one of our best 60-minute games of the year.”
The Huskies outshot the Bobcats 17-4 in the middle session but it was Quinnipiac that scored on the first shot of the third period. A wrister from the left point by Denver transfer Griffin Mendel found the back of the net just 27 seconds in to make it a 4-3 game for the Bobcats. Jayden Lee then made it 5-3 when his shot from the right circle through a partial screen beat Castor high on the glove side at 8:37.
David Hrenak, who had played most of the season in net for the Huskies after leading them to last year’s NCAA title game, was recovering from pneumonia and had been cleared by team doctors only for emergency usage.
St. Cloud’s Kevin Fitzgerald hit the crossbar with a backhand in tight with six minutes remaining in regulation, as the referee situated on the goal line signaled no goal, The Huskies pulled Castor for a sixth skater with under three minutes left and got an extra attacker goal from Walker with 1:16 remaining when he picked off a puck and fired it home from the right circle.
SCSU continued to press afterwards, but couldn’t get the equalizer as time ran out.
Perets finished with 30 saves for the Bobcats in a game that featured only one penalty. Quinnipiac, which allowed more than three goals for the first time this season, improved to 32-6-3 overall. St. Cloud ended its season at 18-15-4.
“I’m really proud of these guys,” said Larson. “Just really proud.”
The Bobcats will meet top-seeded Michigan on Sunday in the regional final, with the winner of that contest to advance to the Frozen Four in Boston next month.
“I loved the way we responded, and we’re excited to be moving on,” said Pecknold.
