Minnesota State Mankato men’s hockey team falls to Western Michigan in 2OT, exits NCAA tournament

FARGO – The goalies in Thursday’s first semifinal of the NCAA Fargo Regional men’s hockey tournament — Minnesota State Mankato’s Alex Tracy and Western Michigan’s Hampton Slukynsky — entered the game with goals-against averages of 1.43 and 2.05, respectively. That suggested a tight, low-scoring game was coming, possibly one that required overtime.

That’s exactly what happened at Scheels Arena.

Grant Slukynsky, older brother of the goalie, scored 7:14 into the second overtime, giving top-seeded Western Michigan a 2-1 victory over No. 4 seed Minnesota State. Hampton Slukynsky made 29 saves as the Broncos (31-7-1) advanced to Saturday’s regional final against the winner of the Gophers vs. Massachusetts late semifinal.

“I felt good all game,” Hampton Slukynsky said. “I was pretty dialed in all game.”

Tracy was outstanding for the Mavericks (27-9-3), making 42 saves. He was at his best early in the second overtime, making three massive saves on the doorstep, denying Tim Washe twice and Iiro Hakkarainen once at 3:53.

Minnesota State got a tying goal in the third period from Kaden Bohlsen.

On the winning goal, Grant Slukynsky knocked a rebound past Tracy. Zach Nehring and Liam Valente got the assists.

“I had a great chance in the first overtime,” Grant Slukynsky said. “Give credit to Alex Tracy.”

The game took a while to get going, with both teams playing structured and feeling each other out. And it had a physical element, too.

“They certainly did give us all we can handle and made every inch on the ice very hard to earn,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “I thought there were some tackle football moments out there as well, but we fought through.”

Western Michigan’s best shot to score in the first period came with 16 seconds left, when Tracy denied Alex Bump on a two-on-one. However, Adam Eisele was called for slashing on the play, giving the Broncos 1:44 of carryover power play to start the second period.

The Broncos quickly made it 1-0 on the power play to start the second. After the Mavericks failed to clear the puck from the zone, Valente fired a shot past Tracy 49 seconds into the period.

The Mavericks tied the score 1-1 at 1:51 of the third when Bohlsen banged home rebound of a Zach Krajnik shot, bringing a jolt of energy into the arena.

Tracy kept the Mavericks in the game, but Western Michigan had the final answer.

“He’s 1,000 times a better human being than he is a player,” Krajnik said of Tracy. “… It was a pleasure to play with him for the past couple of years."