ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the better part of two-and-a-half periods, Colorado College held North Dakota's vaunted 'Pony Express' in check.
But with time winding down in a wildly entertaining contest, and a berth in the Red Baron WCHA Final Five title game at stake, UND's senior trio of Matt Frattin, Brad Malone and Evan Trupp took center stage at the Xcel Energy Center.
Frattin scored his NCAA-leading 34th goal of the season with 5:40 remaining in the third period, breaking a 3-3 tie and lifting the top-ranked Fighting Sioux to a 4-3 win over the 13th-ranked Tigers. UND, now 29-8-3 on the year, advances to Saturday's championship game with a chance to win its second straight Broadmoor Trophy.
The victory also pushed UND's nation's-best unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1) and its winning streak to eight.
"It was a great hockey game," said Sioux coach Dave Hakstol. "The pace of this game was excellent. I thought there were times in the game where we got away from the things that have given us success throughout the year, but we were able to pull ourselves back to some of the little things that give us an opportunity (to win).
"In key situations, (we) stepped up and made plays and, at the end of the night, we came out with a one-goal win after a great hockey game - one of the better hockey games we've been involved with."
Frattin's game-winner capped a dominant final 10 minutes for UND's top line. It was Trupp who first re-energized the crowd of 15,008 midway through the frame with an astonishing display of modified stickhandling. The Anchorage, Alaska, native picked up the puck on the blade of his stick at his own blueline, and continued up the length of the ice carrying the puck lacrosse-style with one hand.
Although Trupp was eventually stopped by CC goalie Joe Howe, his improvised rush up the ice brought the largely pro-Sioux crowd to life.
Minutes later, while killing a 5-minute major to freshman Brock Nelson, Frattin helped set up a shorthanded goal by Malone to give the Sioux a 3-2 lead with 11:30 remaining.
CC was able to tie the game on a Rylan Schwartz power-play goal less than three minutes later, but it only served to set the stage for more Pony Express heroics.
Stationed below the CC end line with his back to the play, Trupp instinctively backhanded a centering pass to Frattin streaking to the net, and the Hobey Baker Award finalist one-time the winner past Howe.
"Trupp has been finding me back-door all year, and we read off each other pretty good," said Frattin. "I went down with my stick on the ice, and he made a pass to me back door and I one-timed it and caught the goalie glove-side."
The breathtaking third period punctuated one of the most action-packed games of the season, one that featured four lead changes and only seven penalties.
Sophomore Danny Kristo, making his return to the lineup after missing 10 games with severe frostbite, opened the scoring on his first shift of the game. The right winger entered the CC zone along the wall, reached the right faceoff dot and snapped a shot to the short side over Howe's glove hand, giving the Sioux a 1-0 lead just 2:44 into the game.
UND was dominant in all phases during the opening period, firing 15 shots in Howe's direction. However, the Tigers were able to salvage a 1-1 tie heading into the intermission on a Stephen Schultz power-play goal with 2:36 left in the frame.
The Tigers took their only lead of the game at 5:14 of the second period, as Rylan Schwartz walked the puck in front from the side of the net and tucked it around Sioux goalie Aaron Dell.
CC's lead held for the next 10 minutes until Sioux senior Brent Davidson converted an Andrew MacWilliam centering pass for his fourth goal of the season.
UND outshot the Tigers 38-21, including a 15-6 edge in the third period. CC went 2-for-4 on the power-play, while the Sioux were held scoreless on their only two chances with the man advantage.
Dell finished with 18 saves for the Sioux to improve to 27-6-2. Howe made 34 saves in the loss.
Saturday's championship game begins at 7:07 p.m. Denver earned its berth in the title game with a 6-2 win over Bemidji State during Friday's afternoon semifinal.
"I expect it to be a great hockey game," said Hakstol. "We have an equal or greater challenge tomorrow night, and I'm glad we can wake up and prepare for that."
Game notes: UND is bidding to become the first repeat winners of the Broadmoor Trophy since Minnesota in 2003 and 2004 ... CC head coach Scott Owens said regarding the crowd: "The North Dakota fan base should be complimented for the traveling, the energy and the spirit. It made this an unbelievable experience for our guys" ... Frattin took over the WCHA scoring lead with 56 points. He also extended his career-long point streak to 12 games ... Dell's 27 wins tie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux for second-most in UND single-season history. Only Ed Belfour, who won 29 in 1986-87, has won more ... Frattin on UND's fast start: "We definitely got the crowd into it and they were really loud for us. It was just like we were playing at the 'Ralph' today, and hopefully it'll be like that tomorrow because it really got us going."
- Go Sioux -
