By Ayden Adair · The Huskies of St. Cloud State made their way north this past weekend to take on the Hawks in the final games of the semester before winter break. St…
The Huskies of St. Cloud State made their way north this past weekend to take on the Hawks in the final games of the semester before winter break. St. Cloud State comes into the weekend 7-4-0 off the back of a sweep over the Winona State Warriors. The Hawks come into the weekend at an even 7-7-0 after sweeping the Dragons of MSU-Moorhead on home ice the weekend prior. This matchup also marks the penultimate inter-divisional matchup for the Hawks and comes with huge playoff implications moving forward.
Friday's matchup would get off to a slow start with a lot of back and forth play from the two teams. Freshman Nick Lind would break the stalemate 6 minutes into the period with a breakaway goal and get the Hawks on the board first. Goaltender Andrew Blahy would stand on his head and make all 19 saves in the first period to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard. #5 would see his name get called on again as he would burry another tally at the 11 minute mark of the second period to put the Hawks up two. Philip Buque would add a goal of his own late in the period to improve his scoring streak to 3 games and send North Dakota into the locker room up by 3 before the final period. The third period would be busted wide open with scoring. Matthew Walz would put the Hawks up 4 early in the period. Andrew Riley would record his second of the year just 7 minutes into the period increasing North Dakota's lead to 5. Finally the wall would be opened and the Huskies would score their first of the game with just 11 minutes remaining. That would be followed by another Huskies tally just 6 minutes later. Max Finkel would score late to fend off the Huskies hopes of a comeback. Friday's contest ends in a 6-3 win for the Hawks. Blahy's incredible play allows him to pickup the win making 46 saves on the night.
The Huskies would return with a vengeance for game 2 of the series. They would open the scoring just 8 minutes into Saturday's matchup. Luke Brennan would bring the Hawks level 4 minutes later scoring his second of the season. The rest of the first period would offer more back and forth play but no goals to show for it. St. Cloud would bust open the scoring early in the second with a pair coming 4 minutes apart from each other. Cody Domagalski would bring North Dakota back within 1 at the 11 minute mark of the period. The Huskies would yet again extend their lead with 8 minutes remaining. The third period would be dominated by St. Cloud as they would have an onslaught of scoring throughout the period. They manage to score 5 goals to put away the Hawks and earn a weekend split. Hunter Campbell would have the Hawks lone goal of the third period with 2 minutes remaining in the game. Saturday's matchup would end in a disappointing 9-3 loss and mark the end of UND's 4 game win streak. Blahy would end the game with 34 saves.
The Hawks round out 2023 with a weekend split before taking the next month off for winter break. St. Cloud State will advance to an 8-5-0 record before leaving Grand Forks. The Hawks will return to play in Jamestown as they take on the Jimmies and try to improve on their 8-8-0 record in the new year.