The Fighting Sioux dropped to 7-8 in games played in Ralph Engelstad Arena this season on Saturday night in a 2-1 overtime defeat dealt them by the Huskies.
Freshman wing T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) had tied at the game at 1-1 at 10:16 of the second period with his 15th goal of the season, second most on the team.
Sioux junior goalie Jordan Parise (Faribault, Minn.) started the play when he dumped the puck into center ice to send Oshie streaking down right wing.
Oshie whipped a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle over the left shoulder of St. Cloud State goalie Bobby Goepfert at 10:16 of the second period, creating a 1-1 tie.
It was a tough loss for UND to take, considering the Sioux outshot the Huskies 37-29 and had plenty of close-in chances on Goepfert.
The sweep at the hands of St. Cloud State leaves UND still alone in fourth place in the WCHA, but just one point ahead of the Huskies and Colorado College, who now share fifth place.
"This is tough,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "No use looking at the standings on Friday, because through a weekend, depending on your performance and job you get done, things change pretty drastically.''
Hakstol gave credit to Goepfert, the transfer from Providence College, for shutting down the Sioux, who entered the weekend as the highest-scoring team in the WCHA.
"He was the difference,'' Hakstol said of Goepfert.
St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko. "He was outstanding tonight, but I thought both goalies were,'' Motzko said.
"We worked hard, but we ran into a hot goalie,'' said UND junior forward Chris Porter (Thunder Bay, Ont.) "Goepfert played really well all weekend, but especially tonight. We tried to get traffic to the net, but he saw most everything and made the saves.''
St. Cloud State took a 1-0 lead just 2:23 into the game when a Sioux defenseman was caught pinching in on the point on a 4-on-4 situation, creating a 2-on-1 rush for the Huskies.
Brock Hooton carried the puck up right wing on the rush, then dished it to his left to Andrew Gordon for his goal-mouth deflection past Parise.
But from that point on, UND had the better of the scoring chances -- until Stephenson cashed in the quick overtime winner.
It was the first time St. Cloud State has swept the Sioux in Grand Forks. The Sioux had won 11 of the past 12 games played in Grand Forks from the Huskies.
"You've got to tip our hats to them,'' Porter said of St. Cloud State. "They worked hard this weekend. I thought our effort was better tonight, but we need to bring it both nights.''
The Sioux slipped to 17-12-1 overall and to 10-10 in the WCHA.
NOTES: UND is now 3-11 when its opponent scores the first goal of the game. The Sioux will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for a Friday-Saturday series against Colorado College.
