North Dakota defenseman Chay Genoway wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t supposed to be on the ice and was worn out from logging extra time as a result of an injury in the first period to fellow defenseman Derrick LaPoint. <\/p>\n
That didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop him from making an end-to-end rush to set up the play leading to freshman forward Jason Gregoire\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game-winning goal with 2:52 remaining. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big-time player making a big-time play,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d UND coach Dave Hakstol said of Genoway\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s effort. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Off tired legs, he found enough energy to turn the corner, protect the puck and get it to the net.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The come-from-behind 4-3 victory and series sweep of the visiting Mankato State Mavericks puts UND in a tie with Denver University for the WCHA lead. <\/p>\n
Upset-minded MSU had the Sioux on their heels, erasing a 2-1 UND lead 53 seconds into the third period on a goal by forward junior Geoff Irwin. A shorthanded goal by junior forward Trevor Bruess at the 10:47 mark gave MSU a 3-2 lead. <\/p>\n
UND\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eight game unbeaten streak at Ralph Engelstad Arena appeared in jeopardy, as did the opportunity to move from third place to first in conference standings.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was a battle, we knew it was going to be tough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gregoire said of the series against MSU. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a nitty gritty team. We needed all four points to put ourselves in a tie for first.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Sioux tied the game 3-3 on a power play goal by junior center Chris VandeVelde at 13:40 of the third. With about 3 minutes left on the clock, Genoway took the puck behind UND\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s net and began his dash up ice. Speeding down the left side of MSU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s zone, he gained enough separation to get off a wrist shot. <\/p>\n
MSU senior goalie Mike Zacharias made a pad save, deflecting the puck up the slot and directly on to the stick of Gregoire, who fired it into the back of the net.<\/p>\n
The loss of LaPoint half way through the first period meant that UND had to rotate five defensemen for most of the game. A mix-up on the bench caused a tired Genoway to hit the ice sooner than he expected. <\/p>\n
Sporting the hard hat the team awards to the hardest working player, Genoway explained his decision to carry the puck nearly the entire distance. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was just kind of an adrenalin play,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We work on that a lot in practice, trying to hit the goalie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pads. I was just trying to get it on net. Credit Gregoire with going to the net and banging home a rebound.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was just at the right place at the right time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gregoire said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That play goes to Chay for sure.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n
The Mavericks pulled Zacharias for the extra attacker with about 40 seconds left, but couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the puck past Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness, giving UND fans in the sellout crowd of 11,842 the best Valentine of all–a stick salute at center ice for the series sweep.<\/p>\n
MSU coach Troy Jutting felt that 29 minutes in penalties ultimately cost his team the game. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought our kids played very hard tonight,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We took some dumb penalties, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m proud of the effort. We battled hard in a rink that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tough to play in against a very good hockey team. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a problem when you spend 20 minutes killing penalties over the last two or two and half periods of the game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added.<\/p>\n
LaPoint went off the ice on a stretcher after going into the end boards awkwardly with Bruess at 10:31, appearing to seriously injure his lower right leg. Hakstol said he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect LaPoint back in the lineup \u00e2\u20ac\u0153any time soon.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
No penalty was called on the play, which inflamed emotions on the Sioux bench. But until game\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s end when Irwin had to be restrained by an official from going after UND\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Darcy Zajac, both teams played under control. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just tried to tell everybody to keep it on an even keel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Duncan, the Sioux captain. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Obviously, when you see one of your teammates go down like that and you know the injury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty serious, the human reaction is to go out there and get redemption, get some revenge. We had to do our best to keep our emotions in check.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Mavericks got on the board in the first period by taking advantage of an opportunity that eluded them in Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 4-1 loss. It took MSU just nine seconds to cash in on a two-man power play advantage. <\/p>\n
From the right side of the net, junior forward Kael Mouillierat put a centering pass into the crease that Eidsness blocked, but couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t corral. Irwin got his stick on the puck and knocked it in to give MSU its first lead of the series at 11:57.<\/p>\n
UND tied the game with just 2.4 ticks on the clock. Andrew Kozek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cross-ice pass from the left boards found senior forward Matt Watkins alone in the slot. His wrister trickled through Zacharias\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pads and just crossed the line to knot score 1-1.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If that goal doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go in with 2 seconds left in the first period, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a different game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Duncan said.<\/p>\n
Jutting said it was a bad goal to give up at that time of the game. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got two seconds to go. You just got to eat it or chip it out,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unfortunately, we turned it over. To their credit, they took advantage of it. <\/p>\n
A power play goal by UND senior forward Ryan Duncan at 1:53 of the second period put the Sioux up 2-1. Duncan skated into the right circle and fired a wrist shot that beat Zacharias short side. <\/p>\n
The Sioux had several good scoring chances in the period in which they outshot the Mavericks 15-9, but Zacharias made the saves to keep it a one-goal game, including two point-blank chances by Watkins. He also got some help from the pipes when forward Matt Frattin hit a post for a second time in the game. <\/p>\n
Each team scored two goals in the third period, but it was Gregoire\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goal set up by Genoway\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rush that won it for UND.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought our team was very determined tonight,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hakstol said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Physically, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if it was one of our best efforts. But mentally, it was as good as any we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had this year. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had a lot to deal with throughout the game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought our guys did a very good job of sorting things out and getting the job done.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n
Zacharias made 38 saves on 42 shots while Eidsness had 21 saves on 24 shots. MSU went 1-4 on the power play and UND went 2-10. <\/p>\n
The Sioux, who improve to 18-11-3 overall and 13-6-3 in the WCHA, next go on the road to Alaska Anchorage for a two-game series Feb. 20-21. MSU \u00e2\u20ac” 13-15-3 overall and 9-13-2 in league play–travels to Nebraska Omaha for a nonconference game Feb. 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
North Dakota defenseman Chay Genoway wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t supposed to be on the ice and was worn out from logging extra time as a result of an injury in the first period to fellow defenseman Derrick LaPoint. That didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop him from making an end-to-end rush to set up the play leading to freshman forward Jason Gregoire\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9473"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}