CC cools North Dakota with strong tie

GRAND FORKS, N.D. • Ties aren’t supposed to be satisfying.

Colorado College’s 4-4 overtime tie at ultra-hot North Dakota was satisfying.

“We played better than we did against Minnesota,” CC coach Scott Owens said a few minutes after the game. “It’s satisfying because we played well.”

The Tigers, 16-9-9 overall, 12-8-6 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, tied despite allowing a goal by UND’s Darcy Zajac six seconds before the horn in the second period.

They tied despite giving up freshman wing David Civitarese’s own goal less than two minutes into the third period.

But that’s the bad news. The Tigers salvaged the tie because of an impressive wraparound goal by Chad Rau.

With 12 minutes left, Rau found himself virtually alone with the puck behind the North Dakota net. This surprised him. He expected a crowd of violent defenders.

“There was one there,” Rau said. “That doesn’t happen too often.”

Rau looked at UND goaltender Brad Eidsness, saw him standing in the middle of the goal and quickly attacked. He curled around the post and slapped a shot past Eidsness’ right glove.

The crowd fell into silence, which makes sense. North Dakota (20-11-4, 15-6-4) had roared into the game with one defeat in its past 14 games. UND had outscored opponents 18-8 in its past four games.

CC came achingly close to marching out of the Ralph Engelstad Arena with a victory. The Tigers swept the University of Minnesota last weekend at World Arena, and they almost made it three straight wins.

With 2:35 left in regulation, CC’s Scott McCulloch was looking at what Owens called “somewhat of an empty net.” Eidsness was completely out of position, and the game-winning goal beckoned.

But McCulloch’s shot skipped low, giving Eidsness the chance to make a spectacular, sprawling, desperation glove save.
The Tigers seized control of the game in the second period, taking a 3-2 lead on goals by Rau and Billy Sweatt.

UND tied the game on Zajac’s last-gasp goal at the end of the second and grabbed the lead on a bizarre goal that was credited to Brett Hextall.

Hextall beat CC’s Richard Bachman with a blazing shot that clanged hard off the crossbar. Civitarese was scrambling to help, and the flying puck hit him in the midsection.

He couldn’t catch up with the puck, which rolled past Bachman. UND led, 4-3.

“It wasn’t a lazy play,” Owens said of Civitarese’s misfortune. “It was a hard-working play. He was doing what we tell him to do.”

NOTES

Technical difficulties mar broadcast

Colorado College fans hoping to watch the CC-North Dakota game were disappointed during the first two periods. Technical troubles delayed the broadcast.

CC athletic director Ken Ralph said the problem was caused by a "bad cable on the Colorado Springs end."

Sweatt nearly scores twice

Billy Sweatt scored to give CC a 3-2 lead in the second period, and he nearly followed with another goal a little more than a minute later.

With 4:15 left in the period, Sweatt had a one-on-one with North Dakota goaltender Brad Eidness.

"I hit the very tip of his pads," Sweatt said, shaking his head. "I was sure I was going to score, but he made a good save. I thought I had it."

CC remains undefeated in February

The Tigers will escape February without a loss. CC was 3-0-3 during February, a mini-revival after finishing 4-5-3 in December and January.

Tough to sweep the Tigers

Saturday's tie will allows CC to remain the only WCHA team that has not been swept in a weekend series this season.

UND's Duncan close to record

North Dakota's Ryan Duncan played in his 167th straight game on Saturday. He's drawing close to the NCAA consecutive games record currently held by Chris Porter, his former UND teammate. Porter played in 175 straight games.

Duncan has three regular-season games left. He might catch Porter if UND makes a playoff run.