ST. PAUL, Minn. - Last night after scoring his first goal in 21 games, North Dakota junior forward Evan Trupp said it was "nice to get the monkey off my back."
Not only is the monkey off of his back, it is officially on the endangered species list.
Trupp scored two goals and set up Brad Malone's game-winner with a brilliant shorthanded effort, carrying the fourth-seeded Sioux to a 4-3 win over top-seeded and top-ranked Denver tonight in the Red Baron WCHA Final Five semifinals.
The fifth-ranked Sioux will now square off with sixth-ranked St. Cloud State on Saturday night with the Broadmoor Trophy on the line.
Trupp's play on Malone's shorthanded goal was undoubtedly the play of the game. With the Sioux leading 3-2 late in the third period and killing a too many men on the ice minor, Trupp out-raced DU all-conference defenseman Patrick Wiercioch to a loose puck high in the Pioneers slot. As Trupp fought off Wiercioch, he deftly dropped a soft touch pass for the trailing Malone, and the junior from Miramichi, New Brunswick, ripped a wrist shot past DU goalie Marc Cheverie, the WCHA Player of the Year, to make it 4-2 with 6:01 remaining.
Denver's Chris Knowlton would score a shorthanded goal of his own to make it 4-3 with 37 seconds left, making Trupp's highlight reel play all the more critical.
"I've been playing with this guy (Trupp) all year," said Malone, "and he makes some of the most ridiculous plays in hockey. I usually just put my stick on the ice and yell as loud as I can. Sometimes he is a little deaf but he heard me that time."
Trupp also scored twice in the second period, first putting the Sioux up 2-0 at 4:41, then restoring the two-goal UND lead to make it 3-1 at 19:13. The first converted a tic-tac-toe passing play with linemates Malone and Matt Frattin (Jr., Edmonton, Alberta). The second was a one-timer on the power-play on a cross-ice feed from Jake Marto (Jr., Grand Forks) and came just 48 seconds after DU's Matt Donovan had made it a 2-1 game.
"He's an extremely intelligent player," Hakstol said of Trupp. "He sees plays before they happen. We've seen him, like in that instance, strip people of pucks, and I think that was the play of the game. His play all the way through 60 minutes was tremendous for us. He was our best player tonight."
Senior Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.) also scored for the Sioux, collecting his fourth goal in five games against the Pioneers this season. John Lee scored a power-play goal at 4:15 of the third period for Denver, the only goal the Sioux have given up in 11 shorthanded situations this weekend.
Saturday's championship game will be UND's sixth game in nine days. Hakstol, however, does not expect his team to be lacking energy.
"This group of guys has had some ups and downs and they always show up," said Hakstol. "They work their butts off and they find a way to have fun together. That's a pretty good combination.
"As a coach, even last Sunday when we went to the third game of our first round playoff series, I woke up Sunday morning after being disappointed leaving the rink Saturday and I woke up Sunday morning excited to get to the rink because of the way these guys approach every day."
UND is seeking its first WCHA Final Five title since 2006. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m.
Notes: Frattin returned from a one-game suspension to record a pair of assists ... Kristo assisted on Trupp's second goal to push his scoring streak to 12 games. He has six goals and nine assists during that time ... UND has five shorthanded goals in its last 12 games ... UND's four goals tonight matched its four-game regular season total against Cheverie and the Pioneers.
~GO SIOUX~
