Box Score With a flick of his wrist Friday night, Alex Iafallo not only terminated a lengthy overtime drought for the University of Minnesota Duluth but, most importantly, put his club into the championship game of the first-ever North Star College Cup.

Iafallo banged in a rebound with 26.5 seconds left in sudden death to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 victory over Minnesota State University-Mankato in the North Star College Cup semifinals at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. Prior to tonight, UMD had gone 0-3-7 in its 10 overtime outings since prevailing 3-2 over MSU in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs nearly two years ago.

"We got a power play late in that overtime and we're able to take advantage of that," said Iaffalo, who paces the 2013-14 Bulldogs in goals with nine. "Tony (Cameranesi) worked hard on that play and got the shot on net, so all I had to do was put it in."

Andy Welinski staked UMD (10-9-2 overall) to a 1-0 lead 7:28 into the first period when his drive from the right point caromed off a Maverick defender and past MSU goaltender Cole Huggins. The Bulldogs' eight defensemen have collectively scored three goals this season and Welinski, who hiked his career-high scoring streak to eight games, has all of them. MSU (14-11-0) struck twice -- including once on the power play -- in a span of four minutes later in that period take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Just seven seconds into UMD's only power play of the second period, sophomore left winger Austin Farley deflected in a shot from rookie center Dominic Toninato, knotting the game at 2. Then, at the midway point of the second junior right winger Adam Krause poked in a nifty centering feed from Iafallo for his fifth goal of the season to put the Bulldog back up by one. That lead lasted for just under seven minutes, however, as MSU's J.P. LaFontaine cashed in with the man advantage at the 16:58 mark.

Maverick Zach Lerke scored on a breakway, just after he was released from the penalty box, at 6:53 of the third to break the deadlock, but UMD answered somewhat quickly with a shorthanded goal of its own. That came from freshman left winger Kyle Osterberg, who grabbed a loose puck that Huggins failed to handle, and potted his first collegiate shortie with a little less than 10 minutes left in regulation.

UMD, which outshot the Mavericks 35-27, including 18-7 in the third period and overtime, will now take on the University of Minnesota Saturday night for the North Star College Cup title. The No. 1-ranked Gophers downed St. Cloud State University 4-1 Friday night.

"We played a good team today, and we'll play another good team tomorrow night," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. "There are some areas we need to improve on, for sure, but winning tonight and getting the opportunity to play for a championship tomorrow has to be a big boost for our guys. Our energy level should be very high."

NOTES: Iafallo's three-point night (he also assisted on Farley's goal) was the second of his young Bulldog career ... Dominic Toninato and Andy Welinski both had two points in helping the Bulldogs improve their record away from AMSOIL Arena this season to 7-4-0 ... UMD is now unbeaten in the last 39 games it has scored more than three goals (35-0-4) ... Senior goaltender Aaron Crandall, making his sixth consecutive start, finished with 23 saves while improving to 8-6-1 on the year ... UMD and Minnesota split a two-game non-conference series earlier this year in Minneapolis, with the Bulldogs prevailing in the rematch, 6-2, on Nov. 24 after dropping a 6-1 decision to their longtime intrastate rivals two days earlier ...The Bulldogs will be seeking their first regular season tournament crown in 12 seasons when they tangle with Minnesota Saturday night.