By Virg Foss
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- On the road to the NCAA Frozen Four the last three seasons, the UND Fighting Sioux hit some speed bumps early in the season.
The Sioux ran into one of those tonight when Colorado College freshman goalie Richard Bachman stopped 32 of 33 UND shots as the Tigers salvaged a split of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with a 4-1 victory at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The Sioux, who beat the Tigers 6-2 Friday night, scored only on a breakaway by junior forward Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) that tied the game at 1-1 five minutes into the second period.
It was the first goal of the season for Watkins, who took a long lead pass from junior defenseman Joe Finley (Edina, Minn.), faked Bachman with a forehand move, then went to his backhand to tuck the puck around him.
But the Tigers roared back with a power-play goal by Scott McCulloch at 9:54 to take the lead for good. His goal came just eight seconds after Sioux defenseman Robbie Bina (Sr., Grand Forks, N.D.) was flagged for interference.
It was just the second power-play goal given up by the Sioux (2-2 WCHA, 4-2-1 overall) this season in 34 opponent opportunities.
McCulloch's goal was followed 59 seconds later by Eric Walsky's blast to the glove side of Sioux senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) for a 3-1 Tiger lead.
An empty-net goal by CC's Billy Sweatt with 10 seconds remaining cemented the victory and snapped a three-game losing streak for the Tigers.
The Sioux outshot the Tigers 33-22, with 18 of UND's shots coming in the first period, all rejected by Bachman.
"This is a night where we'll just have to look within,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "We'll do better.''
The first shorthanded goal allowed by the Sioux this season set the stage for CC's victory. Tiger captain Scott Thauwald, battling flu all day, capped a 3-on-1 break on a Sioux power play. He beat Lamoureux through the pads at 17:14 of the opening period to break a scoreless tie.
The Sioux seemed to regain some spark when Watkins tied the game, but McCulloch's power-play goal took that away.
"In looking at our performance, we weren't able to generate enough (offense),'' Hakstol said. "After Watkins scored the first goal, that kind of injected a little bit of life into our bench and certainly into the building. But we just weren't able to carry that through and build that momentum.''
The Tigers won the battle of specialty team play, scoring both a shorthanded goal and converting 1-of-5 power plays while blanking the Sioux on their four power plays.
"We had some good chances in the first (period), no doubt,'' Watkins said. "The shots were probably a little deceiving, too, at the same time. We didn't have enough great scoring opportunities out of the 18 shots we did have. We just weren't getting the loose pucks, weren't battling hard enough as a team.''
Bachman had something to do with that. He came into the game with a 1.65 goals-against average and won the goaltending battle from UND's Lamoureux, who entered the game with a 0.71 average, highlighted by four shutouts in six starts.
"We got outshot 18-4 in the first period, but it didn't feel like 18-4 on the bench,'' CC coach Scott Owens said. "Bachman stood tall obviously to give us a chance. Then we just kind of settled in, and were able to get the crowd out of it. We started getting some confidence, a shorthanded goal, a power-play goal, and all of a sudden we played pretty smart down the stretch.'''
When the Tigers ran into trouble, Bachman bailed them out.
Owens talked of how Bachman's 18 saves in the first 20 minutes lifted the entire team.
"Not only does it keep them off the scoreboard,'' Owens said, "but it gives the team confidence. You get the feeling that hey, we got a shot here tonight, as good of a team (UND) as this is. He made some really good saves in the first period. He didn't have to make a ton in the second or a ton in the third. Guys rallied around it, and it was a good team win.''
Said Watkins: "Credit to CC, they made some good plays defensively. That's kind of how it worked out. They played well tonight, there's no doubt about it. They kind of pushed us back a bit.''
Hakstol, too, said UND's 18 first-period shots were deceiving.
"We put a lot of pucks on net, but I don't know we penetrated all that well and got to the quality scoring areas,'' Hakstol said. "Certainly we didn't get to the top of the crease and get to any rebounds. We need to be a little bit hungrier in the first period, and it might have been a different outcome.''
The loss snapped a modest two-game win streak for the Sioux, who entered the game ranked 2/3 in two national polls.
CC's shorthanded goal and power-play goal made a difference. "They came out on top in that, and that's going to dictate a lot of games,'' Hakstol said. "Our power play wasn't as sharp tonight. We just weren't crisp.''
While Hakstol cited the lack of crispness in UND's game, he credited Colorado College for finishing its chances and upping the tempo of their play from Friday's performance.
"I think they've got very good skill,'' Hakstol said. "They have 3-4 guys with excellent speed and they made some plays. Sometimes you've got to remember that other teams have good hockey players and they're trying to win as much as anyone else is.''
Tonight, CC's good players simply made more plays than did the Sioux.
The Sioux continue WCHA play next weekend with a series at Wisconsin. After that series, the Sioux have a bye weekend before returning home to face Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 23-24.
Foss, who covered Sioux hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald, reports on UND home games for fightingsioux.com. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com
