No. 4 CC 5, St. Cloud State 3 (final)

What a bizarre game.

Midway through the second period, I had a short internal conversation.

K: "It's 4-1. Why aren't you writing your game story already?"
K: "Because it's hockey. And CC can barely string together more than two passes."

A few minutes later, Ryan Lasch, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's top scorer, redirected a cross from Aaron Brocklehurst over goaltender Richard Bachman's outstretched stick. Bachman was out challenging Brocklehurst, who had the puck in the right face-off circle, but couldn't get back fast enough to cover the far post.

Just 56 seconds later, the league's No. 3 scorer, Andreas Nodl, sent a puck whizzing past Bachman's left ear so fast Bachman checked his glove afterwards because he thought he had nabbed it.

Suddenly, it's a 4-3 game. Not what I had envisioned after the first period, when the Tigers were up 3-1 and beating St. Cloud State to every puck. Especially not what I thought would happen after left wing Scott McCulloch scored just 24 seconds into the second--a short-handed goal no less.

But the Tigers pulled out the win and maybe got a bit of a wake-up call without the cost of losing their undefeated home record--now 14-0. It'll be interesting to see how CC responds Saturday.

Some stats for you:
--With his hat trick Friday, McCulloch has scored six goals in the past three games.
--Testwuide entered last Friday's game with two goals. After his breakaway in the first period, he has seven. That's five goals in the past three games.
--Bachman has allowed eight goals in three games against St. Cloud State. for a 2.67 goals against average. In two of the last six periods against the Huskies, Bachman has allowed two or more goals within a 90-second span.
--CC can clinch home ice with a win Saturday.