March 16, 2003
Box Score
North Dakota will advance to the WCHA Final Five. Nick Fuher's game-winning goal at 18:56 of overtime lifted the Fighting Sioux to a dramatic 3-2 win over the Denver Pioneers in the game three of the WCHA First Round Playoffs tonight at Englestad Arena. No. 11 North Dakota wins the three-game series 2-1 and improves its overall record to 26-10-5, while Denver falls to 21-14-6 overall. Despite the loss, the Pioneers still have a slim shot at receiving an NCAA tournament bid. The NCAA will announce its field of 16 teams on March 23.
Fuher's blast from outside the left faceoff circle beat Pioneer junior goaltender Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minn.) high to the glove side. David Lundbohm earned the lone assist for North Dakota, which outshot Denver 40-27 in the game.
Senior Kevin Doell (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) led Denver with two assists and Berkhoel was outstanding in net with 37 saves. Brandt got the win for UND with 25 stops. Zach Parise had one goal and an assist to lead the North Dakota offense.
Parise gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead at 7:31 of the first period. Parise's blast from the top of the right faceoff circle beat Berkhoel stick side. Brandon Bochenski and Lee Marvin earned assists on Parise's 26th goal of the season. North Dakota outplayed Denver in the opening period by outshooting the Pioneers 12-7. Parise's goal was also his 60th point as a freshman.
Down 1-0, Denver dominated play in the second period and took a 2-1 lead. Lukas Dora (Jr., Lednice, Czech Republic) tied the game at 1-1 for Denver on a rebound goal at 5:05. Doell started the play with a nice feed to a streaking Greg Barber (Sr., Kelowna, B.C.), whose big shot created a rebound in the slot for Dora, who scored his second goal of the series.
Connor James (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) scored the go-ahead goal for Denver when his circus shot from the left goal line found the net. Greg Keith (Jr., Delta, B.C.) and Doell earned assists on the Pioneers 52nd power-play goal of the season.
North Dakota's Mike Prpich scored a late second-period goal to tie the game at 2-2. Prpich redirected a shot by teammate Andy Schneider that beat Berkhoel glove side at 19:20.
The teams played a scoreless in an action-packed penalty-free third period. Brandt made nine saves for the Sioux, while Berkhoel made six stops for Denver.
North Dakota will play Minnesota-Duluth in game one at the WCHA Final Five on Thursday, March 20.
GAME #41 - WCHA First Round Playoff Game No. 3 at #11 North Dakota
at Ralph Engelstad Arena
1-2-3-OT--F
#14 Denver Pioneers (21-13-6, 11-11-6 WCHA) 0-2-0-0--2
#11 North Dakota (25-10-5, 14-9-5 WCHA) 1-1-0-1--3
SCORING SUMMARY:
FIRST PERIOD
1. UND - Zach Parise 26 (Brandon Bochenski 26, Lee Marvin 6) 7:31.
SECOND PERIOD
2. DEN - Lukas Dora 7 (Greg Barber 17, Kevin Doell 25) 5:05;
3. DEN - Connor James 20 (Greg Keith 10, Doell 26) PPG, 13:21;
4. UND - Mike Prpich 8 (Andy Schneider 29, Parise 35) 19:20.
THIRD PERIOD
No Scoring
OVERTIME
5. UND - Nick Fuher 8 (David Lundbohm 36) 18:56.
SHOTS: Denver 7-7-9-4--27, North Dakota 12-8-6-14--40;
SAVES: Berkhoel (DEN) 11-7-6-13--37, Brandt 7-5-9-4--25;
PENALTIES: Denver 4-8, North Dakota 4-8; POWER PLAY: Denver 1-4,
North Dakota 0-4, REFEREE: Derek Shepherd.
LINESMEN: Nathan Freeman, Craig Hanson.
