FARGO — A Fargo Regional record crowd of 5,326 witnessed Minnesota defeat St. Cloud State 4-1 on Saturday, March 25, sending the Gophers to the Frozen Four.
It was the most since North Dakota, the host school for the Fargo Regional, played St. Cloud State in the 2015 regional when 5,307 fans packed the south Fargo arena, which opened in 2008.
The arena is the home of the Fargo Force of the USHL.
The St. Cloud State Minnesota-Canisius matchup on Thursday had 5,061 fans, the third-largest Day 1 attendance in five regionals held at Scheels Arena and the largest since 2017.
The largest first-day record is 5,283 fans in 2015, the first year Fargo hosted.
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LARGEST ATTENDANCE IN FARGO REGIONALS
- 5,326 - 2023 Regional Final (Minnesota vs. St. Cloud State)
- 5,307 - 2015 Regional Final (North Dakota vs. St. Cloud State)
- 5,283 - 2015 Regional Semifinals (North Dakota vs. Quinnipiac, St. Cloud State vs. Michigan Tech)
- 5,277 - 2017 Regional Final (Minnesota Duluth vs. Boston University)
- 5,219 - 2017 Regional Semifinals (North Dakota vs. Boston University, Minnesota Duluth vs. Ohio State)
Logan Cooley, Jackson LaCombe and Jaxon Nelson each had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 Gophers win in Fargo.
Following his slashing penalty, the freshman forward took a stretch pass and housed it for the eventual game-winner.
There have always been Gopher factions and Husky factions in the Brodzinski family. As youngest son Bryce lit up Fargo, the red and black stayed tucked away.
The Huskies went into 2022-23 with no idea who was going to play goal, looking to replace 44% of their goal scoring and 5 of their top 8 point producers. They won 25 games, reached regional final.
Cory Portner is the director of the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at St. Cloud State University. This week, he's lending his talents to Scheels Arena and the NCAA tournament.
Thursday's sellout crowd of 5,061 was the third-largest Day 1 attendance in five regionals held at Scheels Arena and the largest since 2017.
Top-seeded Minnesota scored eight unanswered goals to punctuate a first-round win over the Golden Griffins.
Springtime in the northland can be a grind, especially if you want to win college hockey games. The Minnesota Gophers needed about 25 minutes to be reminded of that, and then things got simple.
Huskies get goals from Miettinen, Peart, Okabe, Cruikshank, kill three power plays to advance.
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