No. 18 ice hockey sinks No. 1 St. Cloud State to advance in NCAA Tournament

FARGO, North Dakota The no. 18 American International College ice hockey team took down no. 1 St. Cloud State University in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 victory on Friday, March 29.

FAST FACTS:
SCORE: No. 18 AIC 2, No. 1 St. Cloud State 1
RECORDS:The Yellow Jackets rise to 23-16-1, while the Huskies end the season 30-6-3.
LOCATION:Scheels Arena, Fargo, North Dakota

STATS:
No. 18 AIC:
Joel Kocur: One goal
Brennan Kapcheck: One goal
Kyle Stephan: One assist
Blake Christensen: One assist
Tobias Fladeby: One assist
Zackarias Skog: Win (20-13-0), 33 saves

No. 1 St. Cloud State:
Easton Brodzinski: One goal
Blake Lizotte: One assist
Jimmy Schuldt: One assist
David Hrenak: Loss (23-5-2), 11 saves in 58:25

PRESS CLIPPINGS:
MassLive Recap
WEEI Recap
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Recap
The Rink Live Recap
SB Nation Recap

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Yellow Jackets put pressure on the Huskies from the outset, and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as junior right wing Kyle Stephan moved the puck below the goal line to junior center Joel Kocur. Kocur cut to the net and stuffed home his 11th of the year at 6:01.
AIC stifled the St. Cloud offense from there in the frame, holding the Huskies to just six shots in the period. Junior defenseman Janis Jaks nearly made the game 2-0 at the very end of the period, but a shot that went in did so just after the buzzer.
In the second, AIC weathered an early PK, and then doubled the lead at 7:32 as sophomore right wing Tobias Fladeby and junior left wing Blake Christensen set up sophomore defenseman Brennan Kapcheck along the right-wing wall; Kapcheck snuck past a defender and wired a wrist shot through the five-hole of David Hrenak to make it 2-0 with his fifth of the year.
AIC killed another penalty, and continued to defend well; junior goalkeeper Zackarias Skog was sharp when needed, stopping 13 shots in the frame.
In the third, with pressure mounting, the Huskies finally broke through on their fourth power play, as Easton Brodzinski's pass in front deflected off of a Yellow Jacket and into the net at 9:27 to make it 2-1. The goal was Brodzinski's 16th of the season.
The Huskies kept pushing, but the Yellow Jackets kept the top-seeded team at bay; Skog made 14 saves, including several in the final 1:35 when St. Cloud had Hrenak on the bench for a sixth skater, to earn the 2-1 win.

DANCING INTO HISTORY:

AIC became the first team to win its NCAA Tournament debut as the 16 seed against the top seed; five other debutant teams had failed in the attempts. Overall, since the field expanded to 16 teams in 2003, AIC is the fifth team to win its debut out of 17 first-time entrants.
The win marked the third time in five years that a 16 seed had sank the top team, and all three come from Atlantic Hockey, with RIT downing Minnesota State in 2015 and Air Force defeating St. Cloud State in 2018.

RECORD BREAKING ROUNDUP:

Skog extended his team-record win total to 20 with the victory.
Christensen extended his own single-season record for points in a campaign in the Division I-era with 47 and assists with 31.
As a team, the squad has set a standard in the Division I-era with 129 goals in 40 games, well ahead of the 1998-99 team's 100 goals that had been the high-water mark.
The team has obliterated the wins record as well, reaching the 23-victory plateau for the first time in the Division I-era. The 23 victories are second-most in any season in the program's history, trailing just the 24 in 1988-89.
McBride made his 150th appearance in an AIC uniform, breaking the record set by last season's captain, Bryant Christian '18, for most games in program history.
The Yellow Jackets beat a national no. 1 for the first time ever.

NEXT UP:

The Yellow Jackets play No. 6 Denver in the West Region Championship with a berth in the Frozen Four on the line at Scheels Arena on Saturday, March 30 at 9 p.m. Eastern.

STAY CONNECTED:

For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow@AIC_Hockeyon Twitter andInstagram, and likeAmerican International College Ice HockeyonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.