By Noah Grant / Sports Reporter / St. Cloud, Minn.

-The St. Cloud Crush boys hockey team battled back against the Alexandria Cardinals on Tuesday, erasing a two goal deficit in the third period on the way to a 4-3 overtime win. It took resilience, multiple penalty kills, and a two goal night for junior forward Jackson Stuber, but the Crush were able to skate out of the MAC with the victory. 

The Cardinals would put pressure on in the first period, controlling the pace of play and getting several good looks on the net of Crush senior goaltender Nolan Lund. Alexandria junior Grady Olson thought he had opened the scoring under two minutes in during a frenzied scramble at the side of the net, but the officials would disallow the play and the game stayed scoreless.

Alexandria would officially get on the board at the 8:08 mark of the first period, as senior Nik Schultz was able to find a rebound just past the top of the crease and bury it for his second goal of the season. Just 18 seconds later, senior Brody Berg made it 2-0 Cardinals in similar fashion, batting home a loose puck after a shot from the point. It was Berg’s team-leading 11th goal of the year. 

Shots on goal finished 9-5 in favor of the Cardinals in the first period, but St. Cloud would push back in the second. Sophomore Landon O’Donnell cut the lead in half at the 7:02 mark, as his quick wrister beat Alexandria senior goaltender Brady Schluter. Senior Aiden Yurczyk and sophomore Peter Matanich earned assists on the goal. 

The game would head to the third period, and just under five minutes in the Cardinals picked up some insurance as junior Ehren Anderson walked into the offensive zone and fired home his third of the season. 

St. Cloud wouldn’t go quietly, however. With 10:20 to go, the Crush had a 3-on-1 entering the zone. Sophomore Logan Ylinen controlled the puck, and slipped it over to junior Jackson Stuber who finished off the chance for his sixth of the season. With the lead down to one, the Crush would keep pushing and their hard work paid off. A strong forecheck created a turnover right in front of the Alexandria net, and senior Carson Siers made the most of the opportunity, pushing it past Schluter to tie the game. The goal was Siers’ first of the season, and came with 6:23 remaining in regulation. 

Neither side could score across the final minutes of the third period, so the game headed to overtime. St. Cloud started the overtime period shorthanded, as they had taken a tripping penalty with 30 seconds left in the third. It was Alexandria’s sixth power play of the evening. 

Just under 28 seconds into the extra session, the puck popped out into the neutral zone and Crush sophomore Corbin Matanich made a beautiful spinning backhand pass to Stuber on a breakaway. Stuber buried it home for the shorthanded, overtime winner, completing the comeback for St. Cloud. 

Next up for the Crush is a road trip to Moorhead, as they face the Spuds on Thursday at 6pm at the Moorhead Sports Center. 

Photo credit: St. Cloud Tech Activities dept.