Feb. 21—GRAND FORKS — A year after losing to May-Port in the East Region tournament play-in game, the Benson family of West Fargo Sheyenne will remember this year's region tournament a lot more fondly.
Mustangs head coach David Benson saw both of his sons score goals including junior Bennet Benson in overtime as Sheyenne came from behind Saturday to beat Fargo Davies 3-2 in a state qualifier at the East Region tournament at Purpur Arena.
"When we lost to Mayville, that was the lowest of lows," Bennet Benson said. "We said all summer that we're making it back to state. We worked our butts off, and now we're going to state, so it's awesome."
Benson scored his 28th goal of the season at 4 minutes, 51 seconds of overtime. He credited linemate Taylor Zander with the idea for his game-winning move, which came after he pump-faked from the right point and slid the puck to the slot area for the shot.
"I saw I was alone and Taylor told me the next time I had a shot like that to fake it and push it and shoot it," Bennet Benson said. "Taylor gave me a great idea, and it worked."
Davies outshot Sheyenne 37-31.
"I was just shocked, speechless at the moment," Bennet Benson said. "It doesn't feel real that it went in, like we're still in period break."
Bennet's freshman brother Brody Benson started the scoring with his second goal of the year at 9:58 of the second period. Bennet assisted on the goal, Brody's first since Jan. 20.
The Eagles took momentum from there. Kasen Currence and Connor Peterson scored 33 seconds apart at 12:05 of the second and 12:38 of the second as the Eagles took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Mustangs evened the score at 10:01 of the third period on the penalty kill. With four seconds left on a Bennet Benson holding penalty, Aven Bredvik beat a Davies defender along the boards and skated in alone on Eagles goalie Breckun Metcalf. Bredvik skated across the top of the crease and tucked in the goal to eventually force overtime.
Moments earlier, Metcalf had left the game for a short sequence to be checked by medical personnel for an injury.
Metcalf finished with 28 saves, while Sheyenne goalie Cruz Fitzpatrick stopped 35 shots.
"There were times throughout the game where we were giving a push and times where we were kind of reeling," David Benson said. "I thought we fought through a lot of adversity. Our guys kept pushing and pushing."