The most important goal of Peter Stoykewych’s young career was only his second in 40 games at Colorado College.
His point shot deflected off North Dakota defenseman Nick Mattson and into the goal 4:52 into overtime as CC knocked off UND in the WCHA Final Five quarterfinals Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center.
[scg_html_wcha2013]”For sure, it was the biggest goal of my college career,” said Stoykewych, a sophomore.
Colorado College (17-18-5) will face Minnesota in the semifinals at 7:07 p.m. CST Friday. North Dakota’s bid for a fourth straight Final Five title came to an abrupt end.
Rylan Schwartz added a goal and an assist to lead the Tigers offense, and Joe Howe was brilliant with 29 saves in net for CC.
Drake Caggiula scored twice for UND (21-12-7), the second with 7:15 left in regulation forcing overtime.
“It’s always nice to score a couple goals in a game especially after a drought like I had,” said Caggiula, who has eight goals this season. “It doesn’t mean much when we come up short. Obviously, I would’ve taken a win over scoring.”
CC struck first after Cody Bradley brought the puck out front, attracting the attention of UND goalie Clarke Saunders. Bradley slid a backhand pass that bounced off a sliding Joe Gleason, past Danny Kristo’s stick and into the crease, where Schwartz whacked the puck into an open net on the power play 3:06 into the game.
The Tigers held the lead until UND freshman Rocco Grimaldi hesitated just long enough in the right circle to slide a clean pass across the crease to Caggiula, who shot the puck over Howe’s glove with 5:37 left in the first period.
UND took a one-goal advantage into the second period when Kristo fought off traffic behind the CC goal as the final seconds of the first period ticked off. He circled around the net and wristed a shot past Howe.
CC coach Scott Owens was still satisfied with his team in the first period.
“We didn’t get overwhelmed early,” Owens said. “We came out and got on top and we didn’t let the [UND] crowd affect us. We hung in there and persevered.”
The Tigers took a penalty for too many men 7:42 into the second but 12 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, CC tied it up while short-handed.
Schwartz won a battle with Gleason along the half boards in the CC zone and hit Andrew Krushelnyski on an outlet pass. Krushelnyski streaked in alone on Saunders and beat him on the backhand at the 7:54 mark for the only goal of the second period to tie the game.
In addition to the short-handed goal it allowed, UND was scoreless on six power-play opportunities.
CC took a 3-2 lead when Andrew Hamburg won another board battle in front of the Tigers bench and led Hunter Fejes on an outlet pass. Fejes wristed a shot past Saunders from the high slot 3:42 into the third.
Caggiula forced overtime on a goal with 7:45 left in regulation after he brought the puck into the zone and dished it to Colten St. Clair as he got hit. St. Clair’s shot bounced off Howe’s pads right to Caggiula, who broke straight to the front of the goal and buried the rebound.
UND controlled much of the pace early on in overtime but CC got a quality chance when Fejes’ shot on a rush rebounded out to him. The putback ended up in Saunders’ chest.
Jeff Collett won a clean faceoff for CC on the ensuing play back to Stoykewych, who sent a shot in from the blue line. It deflected off Mattson and into the net.
The goal was reviewed but the call on the ice stood.
“It seems like a lot of the goals we score this year go under review,” Stoykewych said. “At that point, it’s out of your hands and you just kind of wait and see and hope it counts.”
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