GRAND FORKS, N.D.--The first multi-goal game of his career for freshman forward Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) couldn't have come at a better time for the UND Fighting Sioux men's hockey team.

Hextall scored the second and fourth goals for the Sioux this afternoon as UND skated to a 4-4 overtime tie with Colorado College in front a sellout crowd of 11,885 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The tie moves the Sioux (15-6-4 WCHA, 20-11-4 overall) within a point of league-leading Denver University, pending the results of the Pioneers' game later tonight against St. Cloud State in Denver.

Hextall's second goal of the game and 11th of the season staked the Sioux to a 4-3 lead at 1:49 of the third period. His blast from the right wing chimed off the near goal post and deflected back into the net off of CC's David Civitarese.

His first came on a goal-mouth deflection of a shot by Sioux captain Ryan Duncan (Calgary, Alberta) at 14:58 of the first period to give UND a 2-1 lead after one period.

Hextall's second goal stood up until CC's Chad Rau scored his second of the game at 7:59 of the third period from the slot with teams skating 4 on 4.

Sioux freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chester mere, Alberta) preserved the tie with a spectacular save with two minutes left in regulation play. CC's Scott McCullough seemed to have an open net looking at him, but Eidsness (25 saves) snaked out his left leg and catching glove to stone McCullough.

In overtime, UND outshot the Tigers 5-0 and missed the chance to win when senior forward Matt Watkins (Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) hit the post on the short side two minutes into the extra session. He had beaten CC goalie Richard Bachman (31 saves) to the identical location for the game's first goal midway through the first period from the left wing on a 3-on-2 rush.

"I thought we played pretty well,'' said Tiger coach Scott Owens. "We played better this game than we did in the two games (a CC sweep) against Minnesota. It isn't often you give up a goal with five seconds left in a period, put in a goal yourself and have a chance at a semi-empty net and not lose the game. It was a good old WC HA game, I thought.''

The game delighted the fans with its furious pace. "We expected it to be a fast hockey game, and I think it was,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "It was also a physical game, and a pretty well-played game both ways.''

The Sioux trailed just once. Rau's power-play goal at 3:06 of the second period and Billy Sweatt's goal at 14:35, just two seconds after a CC power play had expired, gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

UND junior Darcy Zajac's third goal of the season on a goal-mouth rebound with 5.5 seconds left in the second period tied it at 3-3 before Hextall and Rau traded goals in the third period.

"Even though there were eight goals scored in the game, I thought both goaltenders made some great saves,'' Hakstol said, "but you probably expect that out of these guys as well.''

The Sioux were 0-7 on the power play, the Tigers 1-5. UND managed just one shot on goal on its seven man-advantages.

"They're one of the most aggressive penalty kills that you'll face,'' Hakstol said. "But when you're on and very sharp and moving the puck, you can use that to your advantage.''

Hakstol labeled UND's performance in the first half of the game as very sporadic. "I thought we did a much better job the last 30, 35 minutes. I thought the third period and overtime, we were able to put shift after shift together,'' Hakstol said.

Hakstol took note of Eidsness' robbery of McCulloch on the open-net chance. "No save bigger than that in the hockey game,'' Hakstol said. "He took one away there, for sure.''

Hextall noted that it was a playoff atmosphere with a sellout crowd for the rare matinee game and the fast pace set by both teams. "We talked about the intensity, the back-and-forth play, and just that kind of tenseness throughout the entire game,'' Hextall said.

Hextall agreed with his coach about UND's play through 30 minutes. "I didn't think our play in the first half was very good,'' he said. "We didn't come out with the jump like we usually come out here. If we can do that tomorrow, we'll be in good shape.''

Watkins thought he had the winner on his stick in overtime. "There was enough room to put it in there,'' he said, "but it kind of dipped, and hit the post.''

Watkins gave credit to the Tigers. "That's a pretty good hockey team with a lot of speed,'' he said. "They brought a pretty good game tonight. They took it to us in the second period and we had to respond in the third. We did do that, and that was one good thing about today.''

UND had a 35-28 edge in shots on goal for the game, including a 19-8 edge over the third period and overtime.

The tie means that the Sioux still have just one loss in their last 15 WCHA games. UND is 11-1-3 over that stretch, while CC moved to 4-1-4 over its last nine games.

SIOUX NOTES: Of the 12 power plays in the game, the teams combined for just four shots on net (three by CC) . . . Duncan and Watkins led the Sioux in shots on goal with five each, followed by Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) with four , , , Rau had four shots on goal to pace CC . . . UND had a 43-30 edge in faceoff wins, led by Duncan (15 won, 4 lost) and Chris VandeVelde (Jr., Moorhead, Minn.), who won 15 of 23 ... Eidsness made his 32nd straight appearance to tie the UND freshman record set by Peter Waselovich in 1973-74.