Men's Hockey 11/27/2009 10:45:00 PM Jayson Hajdu, UND Athletic Media Relations

Men's hockey beats Ohio State 4-1 in Subway Holiday Classic

GRAND FORKS, N.D.--Once again finding themselves in the midst of a one-goal nail-biter, this time the Fighting Sioux would not be denied.

Evan Trupp, Danny Kristo and Brett Hextall scored third period goals to turn a 1-0 game into a 4-1 UND victory over Ohio State tonight at the Subway Holiday Classic, snapping a three-game losing skid for the fourth-ranked Sioux in which all three losses came by just one goal.

"Things haven't come easy to us the last couple of weekends," said UND head coach Dave Hakstol. "I liked our effort through the entire 60 minutes.

"It was our best effort over the past couple of weekends."

Despite putting together the beginning-to-end performance that Hakstol had been seeking for the past three weeks, victory was hardly a foregone conclusion until the latter stages of the third period.

When the Buckeyes' Zac Dalpe got OSU on the board and made it a 2-1 game 8:19 into the third period, it appeared UND was headed toward another white knuckle finish.

However, goals by Kristo and Hextall just 2:24 apart deflated the OSU comeback bid and sent home 11,251 satisfied fans.

Kristo's goal was set up beautifully by senior center Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.), who gained possession of the puck behind the OSU net and threaded a perfect pass into the slot to a streaking Kristo. The freshman from Eden Praire, Minn., one-timed the puck past Buckeye goalie Dustin Carlson to put the Sioux on top 3-1.

Hextall, mired in a 10-game goal-scoring drought, sealed the win at 13:49 while on the power-play. The Manhattan Beach, Calif., native rifled a one-timer from the left dot that Carlson got a piece with his glove, but the puck ricocheted up and over the netminder and dribbled into the net for the decisive blow.

Junior forward Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska), who assisted on Hextall's goal and Brad Malone's (Jr., Miramichi, New Brunswick) early in the third period, said UND's gameplan was simple.

"Play smart," said Trupp, "That's what everyone's mindset was. I think a lot of guys had a bit more energy. There's a little more on the line when you're in the rut that we were in."

Malone's goal, which developed because of a powerful rush up the right wing boards by the big forward, was his first career game-winner.

Sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) continued to do his part at the defensive end, turning aside 22 saves in a performance that earned him No. 1 star honors in a vote by the media.

The lone blemish on Eidsness' record was the third-period goal that re-directed off the skate of Dalpe. It was the first even strength goal given up by Eidsness in 229 minutes and 35 seconds.

UND also got a goal from its good luck charm, Darcy Zajac (Sr., Winnipeg, Manitoba), who opened the scoring at 4:30 of the second period with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle for his third goal of the season.

The Sioux improved to 15-1-2 all-time when Zajac scores a goal.

"The most important thing about Darcy is his consistency," said Hakstol of his assistant captain.

Zajac also keyed a Sioux penalty kill effort that thwarted all four OSU power-plays.

The Sioux went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

Carlson finished with 29 saves as UND staked a 33-23 edge in shots on goal, including a 14-7 margin in the third period.

The Sioux (8-4-1) will now prepare to battle top-ranked Miami (9-2-4) tomorrow night in the final game of the tournament. The RedHawks were edged 3-2 by No. 6 Bemidji State in the Friday afternoon game.

"It will be a heck of a hockey game tomorrow night," said Hakstol.

The puck drops at 7:37 p.m. Bemidji State and Ohio State will face off at 4:07 p.m.

Notes: UND is now 8-0-0 when leading after two periods ... Eidsness was named the game's first star and Malone and Trupp were named the second and third stars, respectively ... The Sioux have just one loss (15-1-3) in their last 19 home games.

Print Friendly Version