MANKATO, Minn. ? Junior forward Chris VandeVelde scored the game-winning goal while shorthanded with nine seconds left in regulation to lift No. 13 North Dakota to a 4-3 WCHA victory over No. 15 Minnesota State tonight in front of 4,956 at the Alltel Center.
UND improves to 1-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the WCHA while the Mavericks suffer their first loss and fall to 2-1-0 overall and 1-1-0 in conference play.
With Sioux captain Ryan Duncan (Sr., Calgary, Alberta) penalized for hooking with 1:26 remaining in the third period of a 3-3 game, VandeVelde picked up the puck inside his own blueline and carried it up the right boards into the Maverick zone. The Moorhead, Minn., native was able to beat MSU defenseman Kurt Davis wide and make a move to his forehand before tucking the puck inside the far post with 8.6 seconds showing on the arena clock, getting UND into the win column for the first time this season.
VandeVelde's goal, his second of the season, capped a four-goal third-period for the Sioux, who had trailed 2-0 midway through the final frame.
“He had a good night,” UND head coach Dave Hakstol said of VandeVelde. “That was a big-time play.”
UND was able to climb back into the game thanks in large part to a power-play that came alive with three goals in the final 11 minutes after an 0-for-16 skid to start the series. First, senior forward Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) got the Sioux on the board with 10:49 left to play, banging home a Jason Gregoire (Fr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) rebound.
Duncan then knotted the game just 69 seconds later when his attempt to make a goal-mouth pass ricocheted off a skate and past MSU goalie Mike Zacharias, who was making his 33rd consecutive start for the Mavericks. It was the first goal of the season for Duncan, who had 15 shots on goal in the two-game series.
The Sioux made it three straight with the man advantage with 5:18 remaining, when Ryan Martens (Sr., Selkirk, Manitoba), stationed below the left faceoff dot, took a cross-ice pass from Duncan and beat a sliding Zacharias high to the short side to give UND a 3-2 lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as MSU's Trevor Bruess answered with his third goal of the season just 36 seconds after Duncan's go-ahead tally.
But the resilient Sioux would escape with the win on VandeVelde's clutch goal, which enabled UND to avoid just its second 0-4 start in school history.
“I thought we played a full 60 minutes,” said Hakstol. “We were business-like all day. We played probably as well as we could this early in the season.
“I think it's an understatement to say we needed this win.”
UND finished 3-for-11 on the power play and killed eight of nine MSU opportunities with the man advantage. The Sioux killed a pair of 5-on-3 MSU power plays in the first period.
Sioux freshman Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta), making his WCHA debut, stopped 25 shots for his first collegiate victory.
Zacharias stopped 37 shots for the Mavericks.
UND is now idle next weekend and will return to action Oct. 31-Nov. 1 when the Sioux host Wisconsin at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Notes: Sixteen minutes in penalties, including 10 by MSU, were issued after a scrum broke out at the buzzer ... UND avoided joining the 1994-95 Sioux team as the only squads in school history to start the season 0-4-0 ... Gregoire's third-period assist was his first collegiate point ... Duncan had a goal and an assist and how has 136 career points, tying him with Mickey Krampotich (1983-87) and current Sioux volunteer assistant coach Scott Koberinski (1985-89) for 35th place on UND's all-time scoring list ... Prior to tonight's comeback, UND was 2-28-1 in its last 31 games when trailing after two periods ... VandeVelde's goal was UND's first game-winning tally in the final minute of regulation since Jan. 29, 1999, when Adam Calder scored with two seconds remaining to give the Sioux a 4-3 win at Minnesota Duluth.
