The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team took a big step toward reaching the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Frozen Faceoff next weekend with a 5-2 victory over St. Cloud State University in Game 1 of their NCHC first-round playoff series Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Rhett Gardner, Shane Gersich, Brock Boeser, Austin Poganski and Joel Janatuinen scored for the Fighting Hawks (19-14-3), while Jacob Benson ad Jimmy Schuldt scored for the Huskies (16-18-1). UND goalie Cam Johnson had 26 saves, and SCS’s Jeff Smith stopped 31 shots. The two teams meet again tonight in the second game in their best-of-three series. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)