By Virg Foss
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It seems like there's no such thing as home sweet home for the University of North Dakota men's hockey team this season.
The Fighting Sioux dropped to 4-7-2 overall in Engelstad Arena tonight when they squandered a two-goal lead midway through the game and ended up in a 3-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association overtime tie with Alaska Anchorage.
UND had taken a 3-1 lead midway through the game, thanks in large part to a pair of goals from sophomore forward Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alta.) and a career-best three assists from junior defenseman Robbie Bina (Grand Forks).
Duncan, UND's leading goal scorer, netted a pair of goals 84 seconds apart late in the first period, his 15th and 16th of the season.
He lured Anchorage defenseman Luke Beaverson to the ice with a fake for his first goal. He then walked in front and went high on the glove side of Anchorage goalie Nathan Lawson at 18:22 to tie the game at 1-1 with assists to Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Man.) and Bina.
Then just 84 seconds later, Bina shook off a check in the corner to find Duncan stationed alone of the corner of the net for a quick deflection and a 2-1 Sioux lead.
When sophomore forward Brad Miller (Alpharetta, Ga.) knocked in a rebound on a Sioux power play at 11:24 of the second period for a 3-1 Sioux lead, the night looked rosy for the Sioux.
It was not meant to be. Anchorage, which swept the Sioux in mid-November in Alaska, battled back. Defenseman Matt Robinson had a rebound go in off his skate at 16:28 of the second period, chopping UND's lead to 3-2. The goal was reviewed by referee Peter Friesma, but it stood.
Then an errant clearing attempt by Sioux defenseman Brian Lee (Moorhead, Minn.) turned into a Seawolf goal at 16:53 of the third period. Sioux junior goalie Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks, 32 saves) made a series of saves from close range, but the puck was poked away from him and slid through his legs. It came to rest in the crease behind Lamoureux, with Merit Waldrop poking the loose puck in for the tying goal.
UND's T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) had a golden chance to win it for the Sioux in the last 37 seconds of regulation play, but Lawson (28 saves) got his right leg pad on Oshie's shot.
Lamoureux finished with 32 saves for the Sioux, 26 of them coming over the final two periods of regulation play when the Seawolves outshot the Sioux 26-16 over those 40 minutes.
Lamoureux was clearly frustrated.
"You look at the type of goals we gave up,'' he said, "it's mistakes on our part. It's not like they're out there making great plays.''
The Sioux, who had won three of four games on the road while missing top-end players Toews, Taylor Chorney and Lee who were competing in the World Junior Championship in Sweden, had hoped to turn their struggles around at home.
"It felt like a loss,'' Duncan said. "We definitely felt like we outplayed them in a lot of aspects of the game. We had that two-goal lead and we let them back in the game and squeak a point out on us. It's definitely deflating.''
The tie dropped the Sioux out of a tie for fifth place in the WCHA with Wisconsin, which upset No. 1-ranked Minnesota 2-1 tonight to move a point ahead of the Sioux.
"It's been a problem for us, trying to put teams away,'' Duncan said. "We thought we were over that hump. I still thought we played well enough to win. We can take positives out of this.''
The Sioux have just five WCHA games remaining at home, including a rematch with Anchorage on Saturday.
"That's one of the things we're trying to key on the second half of the season,'' Duncan said. "We definitely want to go out there and defend this barn and make this a tough place to play. Giving up a point when we felt they didn't deserve it is definitely deflating.''
Said UND coach Dave Hakstol: "The first 35 minutes of the game were the way we wanted to play. We let a good team get a little bit of renewed life, and get back in the game.''
The result? A frustrating tie and more woes at home for the Fighting Sioux.
UND slipped to 10-11-2 overall and 6-9-2 in the WCHA. Anchorage, a point behind the Sioux in the league standings, is 10-10-3 overall and 6-10-1 in the WCHA.
