In what was being dubbed a "must win" for UND, the Sioux defeated the St. Cloud State Huskies by a score of 5 to 3 in Grand Forks. UND looked much better tonight and played a much faster and physical game then last night. Virtually all aspects of the game were better, especially the transition game. Once again, the defense seemed to have another sub-par performance. UND is getting in a bad habit of doing minor mistakes in front of their net and the end result more often then not is a goal for the opposition or a great save by Kvalevog. SCSU once again grabbed the lead by scoring mid-way through the first. The period would end with SCSU ahead 1 to 0. In the second, UND scored twice, and SCSU scored once. The final goal of the period was scored during a five minute major penalty which SCSU received for checking from behind. The power play started out looking sharp, but after the first minute completely fell apart. UND finally put together a nice play to get a goal with a few seconds left in both the powerplay and the period. This was probably the turning point in the game. The third period was virtually all UND as the Sioux scored three more goals to SCSU's one. The one dark spot on UND's performance for the third period came during SCSU's goal. A Husky player had the puck behind the net, passed it to the front, where THREE SCSU players were standing waiting for it. Quick thoughts: UND outshot SCSU by a total of 41 to 21. Even though this margin is very similar to last night's game, the style of the two games was completely different. Last night SCSU was getting all of the loose pucks, tonight UND was. By the third period, the physical shape of the two teams was becomming evident. SCSU could not keep up with UND. UND's poor handeling of the puck in their defensive zone is going to cost them several games unless it ends.. IMHO, this area needs the most work. The Sioux were 2 for 5 on the power play. This stat is somewhat misleading, as one gaol came with 10 seconds left in a five minute major. Kvalevog appears to be taking a more active role in the game. Tonight he made a couple of errant passes to the blue line which were intercepted by SCSU players. UND now travels to the unfriendly confines of UAA to take on the Sea Wolves. I don't remember the last time the Sioux won up there, but it seems like it has been an eternity! charles - http://www.aero.und.edu/~cbell/hockey.htm The unofficial homepage of me - HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.