North Dakota wasn’t just hungry in the first period of its game with St. Cloud State — it was ravenous. <\/p>\n
The Sioux, who had scored just four first-period goals all season, got three past the Huskies in the first 6:25 of the game before cruising to a 4-1 WCHA victory.<\/p>\n
That UND came out strong after going 1-5-1 since Oct. 23 wasn’t surprising to SCSU coach Craig Dahl.<\/p>\n
“You get a little extra hunger in your step when you haven’t won a few games in a while,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We got what we needed tonight and that was a fast start,” said Sioux coach Dave Hakstol. “We needed to some good intensity right out of the dressing room. We did that and good things happened.”<\/p>\n
With only one assist entering the game, UND junior forward Mike Prpich netted two goals on the night. His goal at 1:28 of the opening period helped jump-start a Sioux offense that had only six goals during a four-game stretch in which UND went 1-3. <\/p>\n
“That’s what we needed,” Prpich said. “Guys like me need to pot a couple every once in a while to get the team going.”<\/p>\n
Sioux defenseman Matt Greene fired a shot through traffic from the point that SCSU goalie Tim Boron stopped, but couldn’t control. Prpich found the loose puck in the crease and punched it in to give UND a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
At the 3:30 mark, Sioux senior forward Colby Genoway scored the game-winner when he skated from the left circle into the slot and rifled the puck past Boron. <\/p>\n
Twenty-three seconds after Genoway’s goal, center Rory McMahon appeared to capitalize on a 2-on-1 break. But the goal was disallowed when officials ruled that McMahon kicked the puck in.<\/p>\n
UND rookie Travis Zajac’s eighth goal of the season at 6:25 did count and put the Sioux up 3-0. The Huskies gave forward Drew Stafford too much time and space in the left circle, enabling Zajac to tip in his centering pass.<\/p>\n
The Huskies got some life at 13:10 of the first when sophomore defenseman Justin Fletcher scored to make it 3-1. Sioux freshman goalie Philippe Lamoureux came out of the crease to challenge Fletcher, who broke free down the right side on an odd-man rush. Fletcher got the goalie down and then stuffed the puck in on the short side.<\/p>\n
The Sioux had 16 shots on goal in the first period to 9 for SCSU. Boron made two phenomenal saves during a UND power play with about 6:30 left in the period and then stoned Sioux forward Chris Porter on a two-on-one rush in the period’s final seconds. <\/p>\n
Unfortunately for St. Cloud, Boron’s last save of the period proved costly and he was replaced by junior goalie Jason Montgomery with just over one second left. <\/p>\n
“He got five or six stitches in his thumb,” Dahl said. “The puck hit it when he went to make that one save. It him right underneath the pad.”<\/p>\n
In the second period, Prpich’s second goal at 6:01 gave UND a commanding 4-1 lead that the Huskies couldn’t dent. The third-line forward blasted a drop pass from the left circle that trickled through Montgomery’s pads. <\/p>\n
The Huskies appeared to cut UND’s lead with just over five minutes to play in the second period, but their power-play goal was disallowed because of a man in the crease.<\/p>\n
Hakstol was pleased with how the Sioux played with their three-goal lead.<\/p>\n
“We played intelligent hockey,” he said. “In the last 10 minutes, I thought we did a great job of limiting any outnumbered situations. We showed a lot of poise bringing the puck out of our zone.”<\/p>\n
UND and SCSU limited each other to 11 shots on goal in the final two periods. The Huskies were 0-4 on the power play and the Sioux were 0-2.<\/p>\n
UND is 6-5-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the WCHA. SCSU is 6-4-1 overall and 2-3-0 in league play. The second game of the series will be played Saturday at Ralph Engelstad Arena beginning at 7:05 p.m. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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