‘What a journey we’ve been on this year,’ Nolan Walker says after late goal pushes SCSU into title game

In a physical, back-and-forth game that was tied three times and that both teams held leads, it ended up being a skilled play that decided it.

Center Nolan Walker tipped in a shot by defenseman Seamus Donohue with 53.2 seconds left to give the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team a 5-4 win over Minnesota State University-Mankato on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena. The win advances the Huskies to their first national championship game.

St. Cloud State (20-10-0) will play Massachusetts (19-5-4) for the championship at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN). The Minutemen beat Minnesota Duluth 3-2 in overtime Thursday to advance.

“It felt like we had to play a little rope-a-dope tonight,” Huskies head coach Brett Larson said, referring to the boxing style Muhammad Ali used to defeat George Foreman in 1974. “Mankato played really well, really heavy. We had trouble breaking pucks out. We had trouble maintaining offensive zone time for extended periods.

“Fortunately, we were opportunistic tonight. When we got a chance, we were able to bury it. I thought, for a lot of the game, (the Mavericks) really controlled the puck possession and controlled the momentum of the game.”

Yes, but the Huskies were able to counterpunch when they needed to.

Walker with the game-winner

With the game tied at 4-4, the Huskies had some sustained pressure during a shift in the defensive zone of the Mavericks (22-5-1).

“We got the puck in deep and (Kyler) Kupka and Micah (Miller) went to work and I kind of found a soft spot on the high tracks as we call it,” said Walker, who was standing next to a hash mark, about 20 feet out from the front of the MSU-Mankato net. “And Seamus, he made a great shot right on my stick. I was lucky enough that it went in.”

The puck went over the glove of goalie Dryden McKay and into the upper corner of the net.

“We wrapped a puck (around the boards) really not under a lot of duress,” Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said. “And they find a way to get a puck back up to the point and make a really good play on a tip.

“We had some opportunities, I think, over that last four-and-a-half minutes ourselves. They found a way to capitalize.”

The St Cloud State bench erupts as time runs out during the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal game at PPG Paints Arena Thursday, April 8, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. St Cloud State defeated Minnesota State 5-4 to advance to the National Championship game on Saturday. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

The goal continues a strong stretch in the NCAA tournament for Walker. He had the third goal in a 4-1 win over Boston College in the Northeast Regional championship game. In the regional semifinals, he had a career-best three assists, including one on the game-winner, of a 6-2 win over Boston University.

“I think he’s really trusting in how he needs to play and he’s seeing the rewards for it,” Larson said of Walker. “When you see a guy really push his game to the next level through work and effort and becoming a better 200-foot player and winning more battles and things that we’ve just really needed them to do … You feel proud because he’s put in the effort and he cares about his teammates enough to do it.

“And I’m really happy for Nolan because he, it was a guy that we needed to make a step and he put in the work to do it.”

Walker also made a great play to get the assist on a goal by Kupka to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead, 10 seconds after the Mavericks had tied the game. Walker won a battle for the puck, got through three players and passed the puck to Kupka for a tap-in.

One of the things that the Huskies wanted Walker to work on during the offseason was doing a better job with his compete level. They wanted him to get to the front of the net more, win more puck battles and make stronger plays to get to the net. That all has been on display in the last three games.

When Larson talks about needing Walker to step up his game, consider this: Walker tied for 10th on the team in points (12) and was last on the team in plus/minus (minus-24) last season and the Huskies went 13-15-6. This season, Walker has 10 goals, is tied for the team lead in points (24) and is a plus-6.

“I’m speechless just from this game, it was such an incredible game,” Walker said. “What a journey we’ve been on this year with COVID. It’s been hard. Hasn’t been easy. We made a lot of sacrifices, every one of these guys.

“I just want to say I’m so happy for this guy next to me to score his first goal, first career goal,” Walker said of Joe Molenaar. “I think this team is so special. We never give up, like I said. And I don’t really know how else to put it. We’re so happy to be where we are right now.”

Joe Molenaar (22) of St Cloud State scores a goal against Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay (29) during the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal game at PPG Paints Arena Thursday, April 8, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

Molenaar’s first college goal

Oh yeah, Molenaar. Easton Brodzinski, the Huskies’ goal leader each of the last two seasons, suffered a broken femur in the region championship game. That opened the opportunity for Molenaar to get back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last six games and had not played in a game since Feb. 27 against Minnesota Duluth.

He picked a heck of a time to score his first college goal.

With the Huskies trailing 4-3 about halfway through the third period, SCSU got a good shift from the line of senior Will Hammer centering senior Jared Cockrell and Molenaar.

“I can’t remember if it was Hammer or Cockrell who made a play down low,” Molenaar said of his goal at 10:24 of the third period. “But they got it up high to (defenseman) Spencer Meier, and Will got a nice tip on it and I found the soft spot and the puck bounced right on my stick. Probably one of the easier goals I’ve scored.”

Molenaar, who is from Minnetonka, said that there were a lot of emotions for the team when Brodzinski got injured.

“It’s been kind of crazy. When a guy like Easton goes down — he’s a guy who has mentored me all year, my roommate on the road,” Molenaar said. “For the whole team it was tough. At first, thinking he’s such a big piece for our team, it’s heartbreaking.

“But then once this week starts and I’m practicing on the line with Will Hammer and Jared Cockrell, two seniors who have been really good to me about keeping me prepared for moments like this. I was excited to be in the lineup, give it a chance.”

St Cloud State celebrates after Kyler Kupka (10) of St Cloud State scored a first period goal during the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal game at PPG Paints Arena Thursday, April 8, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)

And Larson, of course, was happy to see Molenaar play well when he was asked to step into the lineup.

“Molenaar went into a huge game after not playing for a while and came up big for us,” Larson said.

Brodzinski’s injury changed the personnel on two lines. Kupka moved from Hammer’s line up to Walker’s and Kupka had a goal and an assist and was a plus-3.

“Fortunately I thought Kupka held his own on that line,” Larson said. “He was able to play his game. He didn’t try to change his game. And that’s what we asked out of him.

“So obviously having those two players fill the roles we needed really helped.”

And for those reasons and many more, the Huskies are going to play for their first national title in hockey. Forget Division I, which SCSU moved up to in 1987, the Huskies have never played in a national championship game in hockey at any level.

NCAA SEMIFINALS

SCSU 5, MSU-MANKATO 4

SCSU 2-1-2—5

MSU-M 1-2-1—4

First period scoring — 1. SCSU, Spencer Meier 4 (Zach Okabe 16, Kevin Fitrzgerald 9) 3:18 (pp); 2. MSUM, Nathan Smith 8 (Akito Hirose 13, Julian Napravnik 17) 16:09 (pp); 3. SCSU, Kyler Kupka 3 (Nolan Walker 13, Sam Hentges 10) 16:19. Penalties — MSUM, Brendan Furry (hooking) 2:12; SCSU, Seamus Donohue (holding) 14:56.

Second period scoring — 4. SCSU, Will Hammer 3 (unassisted) 2:40; 5. MSUM, Walker Duehr 10 (Dallas Gerads 10, Andy Carroll 6) 12:07; 6. MSUM, Smith 9 (Sam Morton 4, Akito Hirose 14) 14:23 (pp). Penalties — SCSU, Chase Brand (tripping) 12:52.

Third period scoring — 7. MSUM, Dallas Gerads 9 (Walker Duehr 7) 4:18; 8. SCSU, Joe Molenaar 1 (Hammer 6, Meier 11) 10:14; 9. SCSU, Walker 10 (Seamus Donohue 9, Kupka 5) 19:07. Penalties — None.

Goalie saves — SCSU, David Hrenak 5-13-7—25 (4 GA). MSU-M, Dryden McKay 6-6-5—17 (5 GA).

Penalties-minutes — SCSU 2-4; MSU-M 1-2.

Power plays (shots) — SCSU 1-1; MSU-M 2-2.

Faceoffs — MSU-M 35-33.

Referees — .Peter Schlittenhardt and Jeremy Tufts.

Linesmen — Nicholas Briganti and William Kingdon.