The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team suffered a blow to its quest for home ice in the first round of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs with a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Cloud State University, the No. 1 team in the country. The Huskies (22-6-5 overall, 16-4-3 NHCC), who already have clinched the Penrose Cup for the top league’s top record during the regular season, won the game on a goal by Ryan Poehling 2:48 into overtime. UND, Colorado College and the University of Nebraska-Omaha are tied in the league standings, but Omaha holds the tiebreaker over the Fighting Hawks. Also scoring for the Huskies were Jimmy Schuldt with two goals and Grand Forks Red River grad Jon Lizotte with one. Christian Wolanin, Jordan Kawaguchi and Nick Jones scored for UND (14-12-9 overall, 8-10-5 NCHC). UND goalie Cam Johnson had 21 saves, while Dave Hrenak stopped 28 shots for SCSU. The two teams play again tonight. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)