GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux of Grand Forks received a thunderous ovation Friday night when they were introduced to UND Fighting Sioux hockey fans as silver medalists on the U.S. women's team at the Winter Olympics.
The twins, who'll play for the UND women's team next season, saw older brother Mario Lamoureux grab a little attention for himself tonight.
Lamoureux scored his sixth goal of the season at 7:12 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and give the Sioux a 3-2 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory over last-place Michigan Tech.
The victory ran UND's win streak to seven games and secured fourth place in the final regular season standings for the Sioux. It also vaulted them to fifth in the pairwise rankings, which mimic the process the NCAA will use to select its 16-team tournament field.
With the win, UND (20-11-5 overall, 15-10-3 WCHA) will draw arch-rival Minnesota in the first round of the league playoffs next weekend in Grand Forks. The best-of-three series will begin on Friday with the winner advancing to the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul.
But back to the Lamoureux clan for a moment.
Lamoureux, coming off the bench on a line change, knocked down a high clearing effort by the Tech defense.
His first shot was blocked by Tech defense, his second by Tech forward Eric Katterlus, who was sprawled in the crease. The third time was a charm for Lamoureux, a sophomore wing from Grand Forks who swatted in what proved to be the game-winning goal.
"They deserved the accolades they got last night,'' Lamoureux said of his little sisters. "Tonight I got the game-winner and it felt pretty good. I'm glad I could help our team. Not our greatest game, but we found a way to get the job done.''
Despite outshooting the Huskies 44-30 for the game, the Sioux fell behind 2-0 on power-play goals by Jordan Baker at 2:53 of the first period and by Malcolm Gwilliam at 5:36 of the second period.
That's when sophomore wing Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) rescued the Sioux with his fourth two-goal game of the season, all coming since Dec. 14.
Gregoire, UND's leading goal scorer, tipped in a point shot by freshman Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) to start the rally at 14:04 of the second period. His goal came one second after a Sioux power play had expired.
Gregoire then tied it with his 18th goal of the season at 4:20 of the third period, beating Robinson to the short side on a rush down right wing.
Three minutes later, Lamoureux delighted a sellout of 11,815 at Ralph Engelstad Arena with his unassisted goal.
"I came right off the bench and I don't think their guy saw me coming,'' Lamoureux said. "He tried to shoot it up the middle and I just caught it. I tried to squeeze it through and that was blocked. I kicked it to myself, and the net was open. Their guy was laying right in the middle the crease and I hit him right in the stomach. It (puck) came back out, and I put it upstairs. The third time's a charm.''
The Sioux sputtered on the power play (0-7) and gave up two power-play goals to Tech and struggled overall to score on the team that has given up the most goals of any team in college hockey.
"Kind of two stories,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "Nothing comes easy for us, but we found a way just to keep moving forward. It's always someone different that seems like that steps up and helps get the job done. I joked with Mario on the way out -- another ho-hum game-winner for him.''
Gregoire has proved to be a pressure player. "You get to that extra level of intensity and the game is on the line, it's fun for him,'' Hakstol said. "He competes at a little higher level in those situations.''
Junior defenseman Derrick LaPoint (Eau Claire, Wis.) assisted on UND's first two goals and tied Gregoire for most shots on goal with six.
He stepped up his game with junior defenseman Jake Marto (Grand Forks) out of the lineup with a minor injury. "His role changed a bit tonight with Jake out,'' Hakstol said. "Five-on-five, he's a smart player. He doesn't have a shot he's going to put through the back of the net or drive it through a goaltender. But he's very smart at jumping into holes and he finds the quiet areas to get a pass and get it on net.''
Hakstol said he feels pretty confident Marto will ready to go when the Gophers come calling in the playoffs.
Gregoire's initial goal seemed to spark the Sioux. "The whole game we never gave up,'' Gregoire said. "Kind of how our season has been going of late. We get a a goal or two, get rolling. We've got to continue that in the playoffs.''
And playing the Gophers next weekend? "It's going to be fun,'' Gregoire said. "Can't wait to see our crowd, and hopefully end their season. We know it's not going to be easy. They're a good team. We can't take them lightly, because we know they're a better team that where they finished (seventh place).
SIOUX NOTES: The win was Hakstol's 150th at UND, moving him past Rube Bjorkman (1968-78) for third all-time at UND behind only Gino Gasparini (392) and Dean Blais (262) ... Tech's first goal was scored by Baker, a native of Chestermere, Alberta, on Sioux sophomore goalie Brad Eidsness, also a Chestermere native....Eidsness finished with 28 saves to 41 for Robinson, who perhaps played his best game of the season . . . UND had a 42-22 edge in faceoff wins, led by senior Chris VandeVelde (Moorhead, Minn.), who won 14 of 20. VandeVelde was honored on Senior Night along with two other Sioux seniors, Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg) and Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) ... Genoway, the Sioux captain, has been out of the lineup with a head injury since Nov. 14 and it's still questionable whether he'll return at all this year, Hakstol said.
Virg Foss, who covered Fighting Sioux hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement, reports on UND home games exclusively for FightingSioux.com. Contact him at virgfoss@yahoo.com or (701) 772-9272.
