With 1:36 remaining in the third period, junior forward Dylan Johnson directed the puck toward the goal and it somehow hopped over the shoulder of Colorado goaltender Colin Champine to send the No. 1-seeded Minot State hockey club to the ACHA Division I National Tournament semifinals.

The Beavers (38-2-1) avoided overtime and kept their season alive with a 2-1 victory Sunday evening over the No. 9-seeded University of Colorado (23-9-2) at the Ice Haus rink in Columbus, Ohio.

“It was one heck of a game,” MSU head coach Wade Regier said. “It had its different swings in momentum. I thought they outplayed us there in the second period, but then in the third period I thought we did a lot of things right. When it’s two good teams, it’s going to have to be a bounce one way or another. Boy, surely an exciting game. That’s for sure.”

How the game-winning goal went in, even Johnson didn’t quite know.

Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State forward Dylan Johnson (16) celebrates with Adam Wowryk (14) after scoring the game-winning goal Sunday evening in Columbus, Ohio.

“I just did my job in going to the net,” Johnson said. “It bounced over the defenseman’s stick and onto mine. I just spun and shot. It wasn’t a pretty goal, I think it went off the goalie’s stick and over his shoulder. But, it doesn’t matter how nice they are at this point in the year, as long as they go in.”

Unable to get a power play the entire game, it was only fitting the Beavers put the game away with their only man advantage of the contest.

“I thought we could have some opportunities on the power play (earlier in the game), but our penalty killers did a heck of a job,” Regier said. “At the end of the game, our guys dug in and kept them to the perimeter. It was a gutsy, playoff, national tournament game. We will definitely take it.”

After not finishing a short-handed opportunity in the opening minutes, MSU senior assistant captain Craig Fournier made the most of his second chance to make an immediate impact and get the Beavers on the board first. Taking in a pass from senior Derrick Brooks, who kept possession of the puck along the boards, Fournier slipped the puck back to a trailing Bryce Lipinski for an unstoppable one-timer.

The 1-0 lead, however, lasted nine minutes before a defensive zone turnover left MSU vulnerable and Colorado’s Christopher Doyle capitalized all alone in front of goaltender Joshua Bykowski.

There was also a premature whistle that denied the Beavers a second goal in the first period.

An up-and-down scoreless second period saw Brooks clip the crossbar and Fournier fan on a backdoor open net.

“It was one of those things where either team wasn’t getting overly good chances,” Regier said. “It wasn’t like the goaltenders had to make spectacular saves. As soon as the start of the third period, when both teams were playing very well defensively, I was like, ‘This is going to come down to the next goal.’ It almost felt like it was going to be overtime halfway through the third.”

But, Johnson came to the rescue on the power play to prevent the extra frame. Kyle Lipinski and senior captain Eric Bollefer provided the helpers.

“Our power play has been rolling right now,” Johnson said. “So, it was only going to take one power play to make the other team pay.”

MSU outshot Colorado 35-32 with Bykowski making 31 saves in net for the victory.

The semifinals are reseeded, so top-seeded Minot State will face the lowest seeded team left in the tournament, the No. 5-seeded University of Illinois. The Fighting Illini (25-9-2) got an overtime 4-on-3 power play goal from Luke Forfar to knock off No. 4 Ohio University, 4-3, in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Minot State hasn’t played Illinois this season. And it should also be noted that Illinois is actively considering the possibility of adding an NCAA Division I hockey team in the future.

Given the choice to play in either first semifinal game at 4 p.m. (central time) or the second at 7 p.m. (central time) this evening, the Beavers stuck with what has been working so far in this tournament and took the nightcap contest at 7 p.m.

The other semifinal game will feature No. 2-seeded Adrian College against No. 3 Lindenwood.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.