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Ben Hanowski scored two goals for the Huskies

St. Cloud, Minn. - The St. Cloud State University men's hockey team earned home ice in the upcoming first round of the WCHA playoffs with a 3-3 overtime tie against #2 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, March 3 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.

The Huskies finish the regular season of WCHA play with a total of 28 points to earn sixth place in the league, while a loss in OT by Nebraska Omaha moves the Mavericks down to seventh place with 27 points. A victory by Colorado College over Michigan Tech tonight places MTU in eighth place with 26 points. SCSU will now host Nebraska Omaha in the first round of WCHA playoff action in a best of three series on March 9-11 at the National Hockey Center.

Tickets are available for this important series and complete playoff ticket information can be obtain by calling the SCSU Athletic Ticket Office at 1-877-SCSUTIX or 320-308-2137 on Monday, March 5 morning after 9 a.m.

To gain home ice, the Huskies relied on a strong first period to build a 2-0 lead. Junior forward Ben Hanowski (Little Falls) opened the attack for SCSU with a power play goal at 4:56 of the first period with assists from sophomore defender Nick Jensen (Rogers) and freshman defender Andrew Prochno (Minnetonka). Of note, Jensen continues to lead the club with assists at 24 and this marked his eighth consecutive game with a point for the Huskies. Prochno now has 22 assists for the Huskies in 2011-12.

Hanowski returned to the scoring column later in the first period with his 20th goal of the season at 8:48 of the first period with an even strength goal that was assisted by sophomore defender Kevin Gravel (Kingsford, Mich.) and senior forward Travis Novak (Lethbridge, Alberta).

UMD rallied at 10:48 of the first period with a goal by Caleb Herbert as assists were added by J.T. Brown and Drew Olson. The Bulldogs tied the game at 3:12 of the second period with goal by Brown as assists went to Chris Castro and Herbert. Minnesota Duluth then gained a 3-2 lead less than a minute later with a power play goal by Brady Lamb at 4:02 of the second. Jack Connolly and Travis Oleksuk had assists on the goal.

The Huskies evened the score at 3-3 late in the second period when freshman forward Jarrod Rabey (Rockton, Ill.) took a pass from junior defender Taylor Johnson (White Bear Lake) and rocked a slapshot past UMD netminder Kenny Reiter at 18:17. Novak added his second point of the evening with the second assist on the goal by Rabey.

Rabey now has six goals this season for the Huskies, while it marked the 12th assist of the year for Novak and the ninth assist of the year for Johnson.

The two clubs battled to a draw in the third period and in the OT session. SCSU was on the verge of pulling goalie Mike Lee (Roseau) in the OT in order to gain the important league points with a possible win. SCSU quickly shifted its plans midway through the OT session when the Huskies learned of the victory by Denver over UNO thus allowing SCSU to gain home ice with the tie.

In the contest, UMD outshot the Huskies 31-21 in the game. Lee earned the tie with 28 saves to his credit, while Reiter had 18 saves for UMD. On the power play, SCSU was 2-of-5 and UMD was 1-of-5. Lee was solid down the stretch with eight saves in the third period and six saves in the OT session.

Again, the Huskies will host Nebraska Omaha in the first round of WCHA playoff action on March 9-11 at the NHC. For complete ticket information, please call 1-877-SCSUTIX or 320-308-2137.