South-Shanley knocks off West Region top-seeded Century at state

FARGO – The Fargo South-Shanley boys hockey team enjoyed the comforts of a three-goal lead for nearly 20 minutes Thursday night at Scheels Arena.

Before the night ended, however, the Bruins would have to hold off multiple charges by Bismarck Century.

In the end, South-Shanley held firm and claimed a 4-3 win over the West Region top-seeded Patriots during the quarterfinals of the North Dakota state tournament.

Junior forward Riley Giauque scored two goals to lead the Bruins – the fourth seed from the East Region.

“It is absolutely huge,” Giauque said of the victory. “Every one of the boys came out and battled hard. We needed everyone to step up. Our defenseman and forwards played well. Special credit goes to our goalie Jack (Olson), who played an amazing game. When our team comes together like that it is really fun to get out and play.”

South-Shanley (13-12-0) advances to the semifinals at approximately 8:30 p.m. today. The South-Shanley co-op was formed in the 2010-11 season and has never reached the semifinals as a co-op program. The last time either South or Shanley made it to the semifinals was when South advanced in 2009.

The Bruins built a 3-0 lead when Giauque scored a shorthanded goal 19 seconds into the second period.

Once the third period rolled around was when South-Shanley’s staying power was tested.  

The Patriots scored two goals in the opening minutes of the third period. Senior forward Alex Flicek scored 24 seconds into the third and senior forward Keaton Leininger added a goal two minutes later, cutting South-Shanley’s lead to 3-2.

“I thought it was a really good team effort on our part,” said South-Shanley senior forward Tyler Bossert, who scored a goal and an assist in the game. “Century had a lot of character by coming back and making it a game. We showed just as much character to keep in that game and get a team win.”

At the 8:14 mark of the third, Leininger was called for tripping, giving South-Shanley a power-play opportunity it would cash in on.

With 40 seconds remaining in the power play, South-Shanley sophomore forward Logan Macziewski got a shot past Century goalie Max Barta, restoring the Bruins’ two-goal lead.

“That power-play goal in the third was huge,” South-Shanley head coach Wade Storey said.

Leininger scored in traffic with 3:45 left, but the Patriots never got the equalizer.

“Not scoring on the power play hurt us, but you can’t give the puck to (Bossert) and (Giauque) and expect the puck to stay out of the net,” Century head coach Troy Olson said. “That is an explosive duo.”

South-Shanley led 2-0 after the first period getting a pair of unassisted goal goals by Giauque and Bossert.

Getting ahead early was something Storey said was important considering the 3-2 game Century and South-Shanley played earlier this month that the Patriots won in the final seconds.

“It was pretty critical,” Storey said. “We thought if we could get our game going early and get a couple in it would help us because we thought this one would go down to the wire. They pushed back on us, but we responded pretty well.”

Century (21-4-0) plays in the consolation semifinals at approximately 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Arena.

FIRST PERIOD: 1, FSS, Giauque, 3:14. 2, FSS, Bossert, 13:53.

SECOND PERIOD: 3, FSS, Giauque, (Bossert), :19 (sh).

THIRD PERIOD: 4, BC, Flicek, (Leininger), :24. 5, BC, Leininger, (Flicek, Huber), 2:25. 6, FSS, Macziewski, (Stromme), 9:34 (pp). 7, BC, Leininger, (Huber, Flicek), 13:15.

SAVES: FSS, Olson 8-9-4–21. BC, Barta 9-4-6–19.