Mavericks No. 10 after sweeping UND
by Dusty Sedars, Staff Writer
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Promoted as the biggest home series in the history of MSU Division I hockey, the games lived up to the hype.
The Mavericks defeated the No. 7 North Dakota Fighting Sioux 2-1 and 5-4 last weekend in front of 10,294 fans, the largest series attendance ever at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center. Saturday's game attendance of 5,182 also set the single-game attendance record.
The atmosphere was intense from the moment the teams came onto the ice Friday night until the Mavericks pounded their sticks at mid-ice after their win Saturday night.
"It was a great experience tonight," sophomore Jon Hart said Friday. "I looked at a guy and I said, 'Is this our arena?' The fans were just great tonight. Hopefully they can keep supporting us like this. It really helps a lot."
Saturday night was perhaps even more exciting, as MSU picked up its first home sweep over UND in school history.
"Awesome, awesome," Jutting said. "We've won two one-goal games with the crowd on our side, and I've told you all along that I think the crowd is worth a goal. I really do, and I think they were tonight."
The team also broke the school record of 15 games without a loss as they extended their unbeaten streak to 17 Saturday night. The Mavericks have won their past six games and have improved to No. 10 on USCHO.com's national poll.
In the first game, two of the best offensive teams in the country showed a different side of their game as goaltenders stole the show in MSU's 2-1 win.
Sophomore Jon Volp stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced. He also got some help from unexpected sources in the game: three shots hit the post, and Volp was bailed out by an Aaron Forsythe play.
After a scoreless first period, UND enjoyed a power-play opportunity early in the second. Defenseman Andy Schneider fired a shot from the point. The puck hit the crossbar, bounced out, then rolled back towards the net as a Sioux skater fanned on the shot. Volp was out of position to stop the puck, but Forsythe, a defenseman, saved the day by backhanding the puck away before it could role across the line.
Earlier in the game, UND's Kevin Spiewak hit the post on a two-on-one rush early in the first, and Nick Fuher's shot found metal late in the first stanza.
"It's just one of those nights where it's going good for the goalie," Volp said.
After UND's Brian Canady was given a five-minute major for spearing and thrown out of the game, MSU was able to capitalize on that advantage to score the game's first goal.
Sophomore Grant Stevenson started the rush into the Sioux zone and fired a shot from the left side. UND goaltender Marc Ranfranz made the save, and he stopped ensuing shots by Shane Joseph and Dana Sorenson while on his back. But after the scramble in front, Stevenson finally found the puck and put it over the sprawled goalkeeper.
North Dakota tallied 3:16 into the third to tie the game at 1-1, but Hart became the unexpected hero for MSU as he scored the game-winning goal at 9:06 of the third.
With the score tied 1-1 halfway through the third, freshman Ryan McKelvie carried the puck from the left corner on net. McKelvie made a nice move to get around the defense and attempted to fire the puck on goal. But he fanned on his shot, and the puck slid over to Hart on the right side.
"I felt like I was having an out of body experience," Hart said. "It just didn't seem real."
The sophomore from Brooklyn Park, Minn., fired the puck past Ranfranz at 9:06 of the third to give his team the eventual game-winning goal.
"That kid works as hard as anybody we got," said MSU coach Troy Jutting. "I couldn't be happier for a kid like Jon Hart. He's kind of the epitome of what the game is all about."
Saturday night was Senior Night for the Mavericks, and senior B.J. Abel did not disappoint. In his last WCHA home regular season game of his career the team's captain, scored two goals, and MSU held off a late rally to sweep UND with a 5-4 win.
"Well, it couldn't go any better," Abel said. "It's things you dream about, going out like this and scoring two goals in a sell-out crowd in your home place. It's amazing. I can't explain it."
Stevenson added to his offensive production on the weekend, as the sophomore also scored two goals. Junior goalie Jason Jensen stopped 48 saves in the win.
The Sioux scored a power-play tally 11:46 into the first before defenseman Nate Metcalf registered his first goal of the season 1:48 later to tie the game at 1-1.
Only 2:03 later, Stevenson gave MSU their first lead of the night on a partial breakaway goal.
Defenseman Steven Johns got the puck off a turnover and quickly fed Stevenson at mid-ice. Stevenson flew down the zone and beat Ranfranz high for his 23rd goal of the season.
MSU built its lead to two as Abel notched his first goal of the game. Joseph carried the puck down the center of the zone and dished it over to Cole Bassett on the right side. Bassett one-timed the pass, and Ranfranz made the initial save. But Abel put the rebound in at 3:54 of the second.
After the Sioux scored during a five-minute power play, Abel scored his second goal of the game as his shot from the top of the blue line slipped past a screened Ranfranz to give the Mavericks a 4-2 lead with 2:01 left in the second.
The lead climbed to 5-2 after Stevenson scored his second goal of the game. Bassett found Stevenson undetected in the slot during a four-on-three power play, and the forward beat Ranfranz for his team-leading 24th goal 40 seconds into the third.
Nation-leading goal scorer Brandon Bochenski scored 29 seconds later to bring the Sioux within two, and UND scored again at the 6:50 mark. But Jensen took over after an MSU timeout.
"It's 5-2, we score two goals to make it 5-4, and it was a smart move to call the timeout and try to get the momentum away from us," said UND assistant coach Brad Berry. "We just couldn't quite get that last one. [Jensen's] a big goaltender; he covers a lot of the net. We had a lot of shots on him. We didn't get the tie, and he played very well for them."
The Mavericks now trail Colorado College by only two points in the WCHA. MSU heads to CC this weekend for the team's last conference series of the regular season. MSU's last loss came in a split earlier this season, with CC winning 6-3 Friday and the Mavericks winning 4-2 Saturday.