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SCSU ADVANCES IN NCAA REGIONAL PLAY WITH 5-1 WIN OVER #1 SEED NOTRE DAME

Toledo, Ohio - The St. Cloud State men's hockey team (24-15-1) earned a spot in the championship game of the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional thanks to a big 5-1 victory over number one seed Notre Dame (25-13-3) on Saturday, March 30 at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.

The number four seed Huskies will now face

the winner of tonight's other first round game

at the Midwest Regional between number

three seed Minnesota State and number two

seed Miami.

The Huskies constructed one of their top efforts

of 2012-13 to gain the victory over Notre Dame.

In the first period, SCSU gained a 1-0

lead with an even strength marker by Ben

Hanowski at 11:32. He was assisted on the

goal by Andrew Prochno and Kalle Kossila.

This was Hanowski's 17th goal of the season

and Kossila's 18th assist of the year.

In the second period, SCSU's Joey Benik etched the game winner at 9:28 of the second period. His power play marker was assisted by Nick Jensen and Hanowski. This was Jensen's 27th assist of the season and it was Hanowski's 14th assist of the year. He now has 31 points on the season and it marks his 113th career point at SCSU. Hanowski has scored goals in SCSU's last three games of the season.

SCSU expanded its lead to 3-0 with a goal by Cory Thorson at 13:35 of the second period. Brooks Bertsch and Benik each had helpers on the play, which was Thorson's 11th goal of the season for the Huskies.

The Huskies continued to pour it on at 14:53 of the second period with an even strength goal by Jonny Brodzinski. His 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Jimmy Murray, which was his 12th assist of the year.

The shutout was broken at 7:44 when Notre Dame scored its lone point with a SHG by Mike Voran. The lone assist on ND's lone goal was marked by Bryan Rust. The Huskies doused the fire at 11:07 with a power play goal by Benik. Ethan Prow and Prochno each had assists on the play for the Huskies. This was Benik's fifth goal of the season and Prochno's 23rd assist of 2012-13. Prow has 12 assists this year for the Huskies.

In a solid defensive performance for the Huskies, SCSU outshot the Irish 23-18 and goalie Ryan Faragher made 17 saves for the Huskies in the contest. Steven Summerhays had 14 saves in the loss, while Mike Johnson played the final period for ND with four saves and one goal allowed. On the power play, SCSU was 2-7 and ND was 0-1.

BOX SCORE SCTIMES STORY PHOTO GALLERY

HUSKIES ADVANCE TO THE FROZEN FOUR IN PITTSBURGH

SCSU DEFEATS MIAMI UNIVERSITY TO ADVANCE TO COLLEGE HOCKEY'S BIG SHOW

The St. Cloud State University men's hockey team (25-15-1) earned its first trip to the NCAA Division I men's hockey Frozen Four with a historical 4-1 victory over Miami University (25-12-5) on Sunday, March 31 in the championship game of the2013 NCAA Midwest Regional at the Huntington Center in downtown Toledo, Ohio.

Rookie forward Joey Benik took center stage as the Regional MVP

with four goals in the tournament. He opened the Huskies' offense

on Mar. 31 with a goal at 5:28 of the first period. Cory Thorson added

the solo assist on the play.

Benik scored the eventual game winner at 5:36 of the second period

with of the night on a rebound tap in past Miami goalie Ryan McKay.

Brooks Bertsch set the play up with the drive to the net, while the

second assist was credited to Kevin Gravel.Miami's Blake Coleman

broke the shutout in the second period with a power player marker at

7:50 that was assisted by Steve Spinelli and Alex Wideman. The Huskies

pushed its lead to 3-1 with an even strength goal by Thorson at 10:12 of

the second period. Bertsch earned the loan assist on the play for SCSU.

In the closing seconds of play, Thorson iced the game with an ENG at 19:59 of the third period to make it 4-1.

In the game, SCSU outshot the Redhawks 22-21. On the power play, SCSU was 0-4 and Miami was 1-4. Ryan Faragher turned in another outstanding effort between the pipes with 20 saves in the game for SCSU while McKay had 18 saves for Miami.

All-Tournament Team For SCSU: Joey Benik - MVP, Cory Thorson, Ryan Faragher, Andrew Prochno

BOX SCORE SC TIMES STORY NCAA GAME HIGHLIGHTS PHOTO GALLERY

END OF THE ROAD: HUSKIES FALL TO QUINNIPAC 4-1 IN PITTSBURGH

St. Cloud State University's (25-16-1) historical run at the NCAA Frozen Four came to an end on Thursday, April 11 with a 4-1 loss against Quinnipiac (30-7-5) at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Quinnipiac will now advance to the championship game of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, April 13 against Yale. The loss for the Huskies was the final chapter on an inspiring tournament run that started with wins over Notre Dame and Miami at the NCAA Midwest Regional on March 30-31.

In the game, Quinnipiac jumped to a quick

1-0 lead in the contest with a power play goal

at 1:49 of the first period by Jordan Samuels-

Thomas. He was assisted on the goal by

Russell Goodman. The Bobcats pushed their

lead to 2-0 with an even-strength goal at 5:07

of the second period by Ben Arnt. Samuels-

Thomas added the lone assist on the play for

Quinnipiac. To close the scoring in the first

period, Jeremy Langlois made it 3-0 with a

goal at 11:19 with a Quinnipiac assist going

to Zach Davies. The Huskies did manage to

outshoot QU by a 13-9 margin in the first

period.

The Huskies broke the shutout at 6:25 of the second period with a goal by Joey Benik on assists from Kevin Gravel and Cory Thorson. This marked Benik's fifth goal in the NCAA tournament, which included four goals at the Midwest Regional. The goal was Benik's eighth of the season and it was Gravel's 11th assist of the year and Thorson's ninth assist of the season. Benik leads all rookie scorers in the NCAA tournament with six points – the next closest active freshman is Stu Wilson of Yale with three asssits. He also leads all players in the NCAA tournament with five goals. To cap the second period's score sheet, Quinnipiac's Kellen Jones made it 4-1 with a goal at 14:31. Assists on the play were notched by Zach Tolkinen and Davies. Once again, SCSU held the upper hand in shot production during the period with a 12-11 margin against the Bobcats.

Both squads went scoreless in the final period as the Huskies pulled starting goalie Ryan Faragher in the closing minutes of play for the extra skater. In the game, SCSU outshot the Bobcats 34-28. On the power play, SCSU was 0-of-5 and Quinnipiac was 1-of-4 on the power play. According to the NCAA stats, Quinnipiac had a total of 14 grade A scoring chances in the game and SCSU had 12. Faragher finished the game with 24 saves while QU goalie made 33 saves and gained the number one two star of the game.

The game marked SCSU's first appearance in NCAA Frozen Four competition and it pushed the Huskies' NCAA tournament record to 3-10. SCSU has earned nine NCAA tournament bids since 1989 and eight since 2000.

BOX SCORE SC TIMES STORY POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE NCAA VIDEO PHOTOS

JUST CALL HIM HOBEY

SCSU SENIOR FORWARD WAS AWARDED THE HOBEY BAKER

Pittsburgh, PA - St. Cloud State University forward Drew LeBlanc was honored with college hockey's most prestigious award on Friday, April 12 in Pittsburgh as he was named the 2013 winner of the Hobey Baker Award. The senior led his Huskies to a 2013 Frozen Four appearance and earlier last month was also awarded the WCHA's Player of the Year and Outstanding Student Athlete. In addition, on April 12 he was named to the American Hockey Coaches Association 2012-13 West First Team along with teammate Nick Jensen. LeBlanc also came to a contract agreement with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. More information on the Hobey Baker Award is HERE PHOTO GALLERY VIDEO

SCSU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT STRATEGY INCLUDING CHANGES TO CIC IN MOTION

The SCSU Athletic Department has begun releasing details of their new strategy for the future including changes to the current organization of booster clubs. Discussions have taken place between the Center Ice Club and SCSU Athletics to reach common ground on a transition to the "Husky Club" - a consolidation of all current booster organizations currently in existence. More details will follow but plans are to place the Center Ice Club in an "inactive" status effective 6/30/13 which is the end of the CIC's current fiscal year. In the meantime, here is a link to the 6/2/13 St. Cloud Times article. STORY HERE