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St. Cloud State University
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Huskies turn into 'their own worst enemy'
Huskies squander chance to sweep No. 1 Colorado College
By Bobby Hart
Published:
Monday, February 17, 2003
Media Credit: Adam Masloski
Jake Moreland extends for a save against Colorado College�s Noah Clarke. Moreland tied a team record with 49 saves Saturday night in the Huskies� 5-3 loss to the Tigers.
Media Credit: Adam Masloski
Two referees break up SCSU�s Ryan LaMere and Colorado College�s Aaron Slattengren Saturday night at the NHC. Fights broke out throughout the second period in the 5-3 setback for the Huskies.
Valentine's Day weekend brought a tale of love and loss for the SCSU men's hockey team when they faced off in a home series against No. 1 Colorado College.
Friday night the Huskies showed no love for the nation's leading scorer Peter Sejna's 31-game point streak, as they shut down the Hobey Baker favorite and hitched their wagon to senior goaltender Jake Moreland. Moreland stopped a career-high 42 shots in the 4-2 win. The loss handed CC their first back-to-back losses this season, after losing to Minnesota last weekend.
"I almost forgot how it feels," Sejna said. "It sure doesn't feel good. We couldn't get it together for 60 minutes. We have to give (the Huskies) all the credit though, they played very well."
Saturday night however, CC displayed their No. 1 offense and power play in a third period flurry to come back from a two-goal deficit to win 5-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,522 fans.
Friday, the first period was a scoreless stalemate taken over by great defense on both ends, and was split down the middle in terms of shots as each team fired 23.
The Huskies found themselves in the fourth power play opportunity of the game at 14:36 in the second period when Ryan Malone, who returned to the lineup after sitting out four games thanks to a nagging groin injury, fired a shot on net that was tipped in by a perfectly positioned Matt Hendricks at the crease.
Less than a minute later, Colorado College tied the game when senior Joe Cullen found a loose puck near the right post that he snuck by Moreland to tie the game at one apiece.
With less than two minutes to go in the period, the Huskies capitalized on another power play opportunity when Malone was on a partial breakaway. The senior showed no rust as he laid a pretty deke on CC's goalie Curtis McElhinney. Malone faked left, cut back on a dime and snuck it by the McElhinney's glove-side giving the Huskies the lead.
With Malone back, and the first power play squad back intact, St. Cloud seemed to be clicking on all ends of the one-man advantage. Even when they didn't connect with a goal, the opportunities were there.
"We were moving that thing around like a tic-tac-toe game. We moved the puck around hard and the passes were crisp and on the tape," Cullen said. "That makes the difference by giving the guys a little more time and you see everything better. We're clicking really well right now and guys are moving their feet and getting good shots."
CC would find another answer to SCSU with a goal from former WCHA Player of the Week, Brett Sterling, 1:16 into the third period on a power play carried over from a T.J. McElroy holding penalty at the end of the second.
However, Jon Cullen would put the Huskies up for good when he wristed a shot past McElhinney to make it 3-2. Matt Gens put the icing on the cake with a final second, empty net goal from center ice.
The Huskies didn't give Sejna room to breathe the whole night, which was a big reason CC's offense didn't produce.
"That was my main goal for the night," Moreland said. "Every time I saw him with the puck I got a little worried. That kid's got some speed and some skills. Coach (Craig Dahl) told me that he shoots from the red line on power plays all the time. He took a one-timer from there tonight and I somehow got it stuck in-between my feet. That hurt pretty bad."
Although it was considered an upset, the Huskies came into the game looking only at the fact that they were tied for the last home ice spot in the league.
"The fact is that we're in an eight-game playoff and we're fighting for our lives just to try and get home ice," head coach Craig Dahl said. "You either rise up to that kind of challenge or you slide back and play with the also-rans. You either bring that warrior bonnet every night or you don't play with the big boys."
Saturday the Huskies started right where they left off when Jon Cullen found a streaking Joe Motzko. Motzko flicked a wrist shot over McElhinney's glove on a short-handed opportunity at the 9:28 mark.
SCSU struck again in the second period as Cullen and Motzko found themselves on a two-on-one break with only CC's Andrew Canzanello back to defend. Cullen, who was on the left side, tried to get the pass to Motzko on the right, but the puck deflected off Canzanello back to Cullen who poked it in at the last second to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.
About four minutes later, Joe Cullen took advantage of a five-on-three power play. Motzko joined Peter Szabo (hooking) in the penalty box for interference, leading to Cullen cutting the deficit to 2-1.
A little over a minute into the third period, Matt Hendricks was alone at the crease on a power play. He hit McElhinney with a hesitation, then trickled the puck past his glove to put SCSU up two once again.
As momentum and the series looked to be in the Huskies grasp, CC jump-started their deadly offense by taking advantage of some costly penalties.
First, Sterling struck on a power-play at the 2:10 mark. 12 seconds later Joe Cullen caught Moreland on a rare misplay, leaving a wide open net to tie the game at 3-3.
At 6:28, Sterling would strike again for the game-winner with a shot that deflected off the post and Mike Doyle past the line. Sejna picked it up and scored his first goal of the weekend to ice the game for CC.
The 22 penalty minutes proved to be far too much for SCSU to overcome. But, the Huskies took some positives from the loss. Moreland shined again with a 49-save performance, tying a team record, and CC's only full strength goals were scored off the Moreland misplay and the deflection off Doyle.
"They had only one lead all weekend and that was at the end of the third period," Dahl said. "We played the top team in the country as good as anyone has played them. We were just our own worst enemies with the penalties."
