ST. PAUL, Minn. - When sophomore forward Jason Gregoire sat down at the post-game press conference following tonight's Red Baron WCHA Final Five quarterfinal game against Minnesota Duluth, the name card in front of him mistakenly had a 'W' in his last name.

The 'W' might as well stand for 'winner.'

The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native scored his team-leading seventh game-winning goal of the season, shorthanded no less, breaking a scoreless tie with 7:38 remaining in regulation to lift the Fighting Sioux to a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs.

Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) did the rest, stopping all 22 shots he faced to become the first goalie in 84 games to shut out the high-powered Bulldogs.

North Dakota, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, now advances to Friday's semifinal against No. 1 seed and MacNaughton Cup champion Denver, the nation's top-ranked team.

Gregoire's goal, his team-leading 20th of the season, came while the Sioux were killing a tripping penalty on Evan Trupp (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska). UND defenseman Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire, Wis.) stepped up to keep the puck in at the Bulldog blueline and sent a pass to the front of the net to Chris VandeVelde (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.). VandeVelde's shot was stopped by UMD goalie Kenny Reiter, but Gregoire hammered the rebound from the left circle for what would prove to be the decisive goal.

"I don't know if we were gripping our sticks a little too tight, but we were missing some chances early on," said Gregoire. "Being shorthanded, I just saw the puck pop out after a play from LaPoint to VandeVelde and I just put it on net and ended up scoring."

Trupp sealed the win, UND's 10th in the last 11 games, with 1:59 to play when a Danny Kristo (Fr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) shot went wide and bounced off the end boards to the other side of the net, where Trupp was stationed for the easy tap in.

For Trupp, it was his sixth goal of the season and ended a 20-game goal-scoring drought, the worst of his career.

"It is pretty relieving and you probably saw it in the (celebration)," said Trupp. "It has been a while since I have scored so it is nice to get the monkey off of my back."

A key cog in the Sioux victory was the play of their penalty killers, who held the WCHA's top power-play scoreless in five chances.

"We take a lot of pride in our penalty kill," said Gregoire. "It has played a huge factor in a lot of our wins, especially tonight. They are a very skilled team with very skilled forwards. We try to limit their puck time and that is a huge advantage for us. Once they do get shots our defensemen are boxing out and forwards are collapsing to clear pucks.

"We take huge pride in that and it is a big reason we are winning."

Each team had potential goals disallowed in the third period, both for pucks being hit out of the air with a high stick. UMD's Cody Danberg apparent goal 1:23 into the third period was waved off by the on-ice officials, who confirmed the decision via video review. Then UND's Jake Marto (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) had an apparent Sioux goal nullified with 5:58 left in regulation.

Reiter finished with 32 saves for the Bulldogs, who were outshot 34-22.

UND, like UMD, went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Sioux now prepare for their fifth game in eight days.

The puck drops in Friday's semifinal at 7:07 p.m. Wisconsin and St. Cloud State will square off in the afternoon semifinal at 2:07 p.m.

Notes: Eidsness' shutout was his second in four playoff games this season. In his last 11 games, Eidsness is 10-1-0 with a 1.36 goals against average and a .945 save percentage ... VandeVelde had a pair of assists ... Gregoire's seven game-winning goals are tied for fifth-most in UND single-season history. T.J. Oshie scored a school-record nine in 2005-06 ... Marto and LaPoint each went +2 on the night and the defense pairing is now a combined +31 over the last 11 games.