Call it a four-game point streak with an asterisk.

Shane Gersich has found the back of the net seven times in in the last four games, the most creative of the seven doesn’t exactly count and on Saturday, the North Dakota sophomore left wing drew “Hobey Baker” chants after his fourth goal of the weekend ensured a sweep at St. Cloud State.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in a breakout season for Gersich, a native of Chaska who played high school hockey at Holy Family Catholic. He has 10 goals and eight assists through 13 games, making him 11^th in the nation for points per game at 1.38.

“I think things are just clicking right now,” said Gersich, who racked up 58 goals and 64 assists in his last two seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13) at Holy Family.

“I’m playing with some great players, whether it’s Tyson Jost, Austin Poganski or Brock Boeser, whoever it is. I’m playing with confidence right now and things are working.”

Gersich wasn’t on the scoresheet until the third period of the Nov. 19 game at SCSU until early in the third period when his one-timer gave the Fighting Hawks a nice three-goal cushion. The night before, Gersich recorded his first collegiate hat trick.

The three-goal performance was Gersich’s sixth multi-point game of the season.

“We have the mentality of never being satisfied,” Gersich said. “If you get one, you want one more and you want to get better as the game goes on.”

Russell Hons Photography/UND Athletics

When UND’s winless streak reached its height at six games on Nov. 12 after a 3-2 loss to Denver, it was Gersich providing the offense with both goals for the Fighting Hawks.

The “asterisk” finds itself attached to the Nov. 11 game against Denver when the teams remained tied after the five-minute overtime period in a game on Nov. 11 in Grand Forks, but the play of the game came after the game had finished on the official box score.

Teams play an extra sudden death 3-on-3 session (for one extra point in the standings) if a game is still tied in NCHC play, and that’s when Gersich unleashed a spin-o-rama plus a backhanded lacrosse-style shot that hit the back of the net.

“I just kind of pulled that one off out of nowhere,” Gersich said. “We work on our edges and a lot of that skill stuff with Coach (Dane) Jackson and Coach (Matt) Shaw.”

It didn’t count as an official goal and the result doesn’t go down in the books as a win for the Fighting Hawks, but Gersich caught the attention of social media and was a top highlight on national TV networks.

The flashy highlight-reel goals and individual point streaks were not part Gersich’s first season at UND, as he played a small role on the team that skated to the national championship.

Gersich had nine goals with two assists in 37 games as a freshman in 2015-16.

“Last year I wasn’t in much of a position to be putting up big numbers,” Gersich said. “This year, I wanted to be more of an impact player and I have an opportunity and I’m trying to make the most of it.”

Added UND coach Brad Berry: “His ability to be a consistent player (is the area in which Gersich has grown the most). It all starts with him investing in his game. He comes to the rink every morning and works on his skills.”

Berry shuffled his team’s top lines, hoping different forward combinations could cure UND’s three-week cold streak.

Poganski, a junior from St. Cloud, joined Gersich and freshman center Jost (replacing Boeser) as the right wing on what became UND’s No. 1 line against SCSU. Poganski’s and Gersich’s bond goes back many years.

“We played together on ‘Select’ teams and kind of toured different schools together and North Dakota worked out,” Poganski said. “He’s having a fantastic year.”

The post Hawk On Fire appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesotans combine for eight points as UND wins Frozen Four

TAMPA, Fla. — Brock Boeser was not the MVP of the Frozen Four, but his numbers in the two games should grab any hockey fan’s attention.

Boeser, a freshman from Burnsville, had a goal and three assists and was a plus-4 to help the University of North Dakota men defeat Quinnipiac 5-1 on Saturday before a crowd of 19,358 at Amalie Arena.

“He’s been a special player for us all season long and big players come through in big games,” North Dakota senior left wing Drake Caggiula said of Boeser. “He definitely stepped up today.

“He’s a hell of a player, hell of a kid. It was an honor to play on his line all season long. He makes things happen out there and he definitely took charge today.”

Boeser had a point on each of the first four goals for North Dakota and ended up scoring the game-winning goal in the first period on a bit of an odd play.

Boeser and Austin Poganski, a St. Cloud Cathedral graduate, combined on what turned out to be the game-winning goal. The two forwards were on the ice killing a penalty and their aggressive play was rewarded.

“I was just finishing my check in the neutral zone and he tried to shoot it into a pad,” Poganski said of Boeser on the initial play. “But then Brock used his great speed.”

Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig came out of the net to play a loose puck, but shot it into Boeser, who ended up scoring his team-leading 27^th goal into an empty net at 14:16 of the first period to give North Dakota a 2-1 lead.

“I saw the goalie come out and I kind of read what he was doing and he kind of gave it away,” said Boeser, who scored the first short-handed goal in a championship game since 1999. “It went off my shin pad and then I had a wide open net.”

The Fighting Hawks (34-6-4) led 2-1 going into the third period before Boeser had assists on two goals by Caggiula — at 1:21 and 3:41 — to help North Dakota to a 4-1 lead.

He also had an assist on the game’s first goal, which was scored by Shane Gersich. Gersich, a freshman from Chaska, gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead at 11:56 of the first period.

“That was just a great play by (Boeser) to get the puck out of the (defensive) zone and he was able to get it to (defenseman Gage Ausmus) and he was able to get a nice shot on net and the rebound just happened to be right there,” said Gersich, a Washington Capitals draft pick.

Poganski, a 20-year-old right wing and St. Louis Blues draft pick, finished off the scoring with a goal at 10:41 of the third period to make it 5-1.

“You dream for that, for just helping the team succeed and for winning the national championship,” Poganski said of scoring his 10^th goal of the season. “I think everyone on this team had a little part in that today with blocked shots (14), big hits and big saves by (goalie) Cam (Johnson). Cam played awesome and it was a huge team effort.”

MINNESOTA CONTRIBUTIONS

Gersich had three shots on goal, a blocked shot and was a plus-1 in the game. He finished the season with nine goals, two assists and was a plus-15 in 36 games for the Fighting Hawks.

Trevor Olson, a sophomore right wing from Duluth, was the other forward from Minnesota in the lineup for the Fighting Hawks. Olson had four assists, 18 penalty minutes and was a plus-11 on the season.

Two of North Dakota’s defensemen in the lineup Saturday are from Minnesota.

Tucker Poolman, a sophomore from East Grand Forks and a Winnipeg Jets draft pick, had three shots, two blocked shots and was a plus-2 for the Fighting Hawks. For the season, he had five goals, 19 assists, four penalty minutes and was a plus-20.

Gage Ausmus, a junior from East Grand Forks, had two assists, four blocked shots, a shot on goal and was a plus-2 for North Dakota in the title game. Ausmus, a San Jose Sharks draft pick, had 11 assists, 31 penalty minutes and was a plus-14 on the season.

North Dakota’s Brad Berry, who played for the Minnesota North Stars from 1991-93, became the first rookie head coach to a national title. Berry, who set a school record for wins by a rookie coach, took over after Dave Hakstol left the university to coach the Philadelphia Flyers. Berry, who led North Dakota to the NCHC regular season title, spent nine seasons as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach of the Fighting Hawks.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Boeser, Caggiula, North Dakota defenseman Troy Stecher, North Dakota goalie Cam Johnson, Quinnipiac center Travis St. Denis and Quinnipiac defenseman Connor Clifton were named to the all-tournament team. Caggiula, who had four goals, an assist and was a plus-5 in the two games, was named Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.

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