By Carl Goenner / Sports Director / @carl_goennerpxp / St. Cloud, Minn

-On Saturday, Dec 6 the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team was beaten by the University of North Dakota by a score of 2-3.  North Dakota’s Cade Littler and Jake Livinavage each had two goals in the game and Cole Reschney had two assists.  Finn Loftus and Ryan Rosborough each scored for the Huskies in defeat.

Period 1

The game started slow and the Huskies had a hard time getting traction.  North Dakota pressured the Huskies with a lot of shots early on, but St Cloud’s defense prevented an early goal.  

At the 10:52 mark in the first period, North Dakota defenseman E.J. Emery received a two-minute cross checking penalty.  The Fighting Hawks then proceeded to kill off the St. Cloud State powerplay.  

Just second after the powerplay ended,an interference penalty on St. Cloud’s Noah Urness gave North Dakota a powerplay of their own.  Cade Littler cashed in on the man advantage to give the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead.  

A penalty on UND’s Andrew Strathman near the end of the first period gave St. Cloud a man advantage.  The Huskies could not score on the first half of the powerplay and went into the first intermission trailing 0-1. 

Period 2

St. Cloud State started the second period on the powerplay, but the Fighting Hawks used their speed to keep the puck away from them.  The Huskies put more shots on goal in the second, but it wasn’t long until North Dakota scored.

8 minutes and 15 seconds into the period, Cade Littler scored his second goal of the game,  extending the Fighting Hawks lead.  UND’s Sam Laurila was then called for hooking and North Dakota followed up by successfully defending a Husky Powerplay.

With 2 minutes and 37 seconds to go in the second period, North Dakota forward Keaton Verhoeff jabbed Gavyn Thoreson with the butt end of his stick.  After a St. Cloud State challenge, Verhoeff was given a five minute major for butt-ending and a 10 minute game misconduct penalty.

Just 42 seconds into the five minute powerplay, SCSU’s Finn Loftus rifled a puck into the back of the net, getting St. Cloud on the board.   The Huskies couldn’t score again and the second period ended with the Fighting Hawks leading 2-1.

Period 3

St. Cloud entered the third period with a man advantage once again, but North Dakota’s penalty kill shut them down.  St. Cloud State however, had more energy in the third period and continued to pressure the fighting hawks.  

At the 11:10 mark of the period, Husky forward Ryan Rosborough netted his first goal of the year, evening up the score.  Just over two minutes later, St. Cloud State headed to the powerplay again due to a slashing penalty on UND’s Jack Kernan. 

Instead of sitting back and defending on the powerplay, the Fighting Hawks went on the attack.    During the Husky Powerplay, North Dakota found themselves with an old man rush and Jake Livanavage scored a shorthanded goal, giving UND a 3-2 lead.

With two minutes remaining St. Cloud State pulled their goaltender to get six skaters on the ice, but the attempt was unsuccessful.   North Dakota’s Jake Livanavage scored an empty net goal and the Fighting Hawks defeated SCSU 4-2.

Coaches quote: “I thought we played very well, I didn’t think it was a mismatch as far as intensity, puck battle, puck possession, shots or any of those things.  “I thought we played very well.” “Unfortunately, two games in a row it came down to the same thing, they made one more play than us.”

The Huskies continue their homestand next weekend against the Denver Pioneers.  They will face off on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

Both games will be broadcast live on KVSC with Carl Goenner, Brian Moos, and Joey Hudson on the call. 

Photo credit: Bill Prout