Nobody else in the country has twenty goals. Actually, nobody else has more than sixteen.
And nobody makes it look as easy as does Matt Frattin, who scored an unassisted goal mere moments after an Evan Trupp goal was waved off. The goal broke the most unlikeliest of scoreless ties and helped the Fighting Sioux (16-5-2) sweep away the Robert Morris Colonials with a 2-1 victory.
Frattin, Trupp, and Brad Malone—the “Pony Express” line—didn’t have the best of nights, but the seniors stepped up when it mattered most.
“You know what I like? I like the fact that it wasn’t their best night, but when the game was on the line, we had a goal disallowed, those guys stepped up.”
Though there were plenty of opportunities, UND was unable to duplicate their Friday night success and couldn’t put anything past Colonial netminder Eric Levine. But it looked like North Dakota was going to come out on top thanks to Trupp, who tapped in the puck behind Levine.
The referee covering that end waved off the goal immediately, though no reason was given. A review was inconclusive and couldn’t overturn the play, even though the puck clearly crossed the goal line.
Without panicking, Trupp’s line stayed out to continue their shift and capitalized immediately.
“They had a great shift and just stayed with it and got it back. Those guys have really pushed the envelope and carried us along for the last six-to-eight weeks.”
An empty net goal by sophomore Danny Kristo made it 2-0 but a late goal by Robert Morris’ Nathan Longpre would keep it interesting down the stretch with a tip down low. Dell said after the game that he didn’t see the puck until the last second.
The goal also ended Sioux goalie Aaron Dell’s historic 224:31 scoreless streak. UND scored 18 consecutive goals during that time frame. Nonetheless, it was the play of the eventual second star Dell that kept UND in it.
Dell stopped 30 of 31 shots. Levine made a few impressive saves to keep the game scoreless; he had 33 saves.
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