St. Cloud State 5 Colorado College 2: Recap and Scoring

ST. PAUL – Top-ranked St. Cloud State scored twice in a span of 24 seconds to erase an early deficit and defeat the Colorado College Tigers 5-2 in the first NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal.

Hobey Baker finalist Patrick Newell scored and had an assist for the Huskies, who finished 4-0-1 on the season against the Tigers. David Hrenak made 31 saves.

Bryan Yoon and Westin Michaud led Colorado College with a goal and an assist each, and Alex Leclerc made 22 saves.

The Tigers will end up missing the NCAA Tournament after the defeat, but still have a chance to finish strong when they meet archrival Denver in the third-place game on Saturday afternoon.

As for the Huskies, they await Minnesota Duluth in the Frozen Faceoff championship. In four Frozen Faceoff appearances for St. Cloud State, they have advanced to the championship game on all four occasions, going 1-2 in the first three.

Ryan Poehling left the game in the first period for SCSU after hitting his head on the end boards. Head coach Brett Larson said he was resting at the team hotel following the game and his status for Saturday is uncertain.

Scoring summary:

First period:

CC power-play goal at 9:47: Westin Michaud (12). Assisted by Trey Bradley (19) and Bryan Yoon (22).

SCSU power-play goal at 12:27: Patrick Newell (20). Assisted by Blake Lizotte (24) and Jimmy Schuldt (24).

SCSU goal at 12:51: Nolan Walker (8). Assisted by Jon Lizotte (8).

Second period:

SCSU goal at 9:38: Robby Jackson (18). Assisted by Spencer Meier (9) and Blake Lizotte (25).

Third period:

SCSU goal at 7:21: Jack Ahcan (6). Assisted by Newell (25) and Kevin Fitzgerald (7).

CC power-play goal at 14:47: Yoon (4). Assisted by Mason Bergh (20) and Michaud (18).

SCSU goal at 16:47: Nick Poehling (7). Assisted by Fitzgerald (8) and Brendan Bushy (6).

Power plays: CC 2-7, SCSU 1-4.

Shots on goal: CC 33, SCSU 27.