GRAND FORKS — Clay Matvick will never forget his first assignment for ESPN.
The play-by-play announcer was sent to Grand Forks and Ralph Engelstad Arena to call the 2006 West Regional.
The first game: top-seeded Minnesota vs. fourth-seeded Holy Cross.
“Holy Cross had no business beating Minnesota,” Matvick said. “But they had a veteran team with a lot of seniors. Minnesota, like they tend to, had a lot of younger, really skilled players. They had young freshman stars-in-the-making, but that’s a moment where veteran leadership comes in handy. Holy Cross had that in spades.
“The thing I really remember was all the North Dakota fans rooting against Minnesota.”
Holy Cross pulled off one of college hockey’s most stunning upsets, beating Minnesota 4-3 in overtime. Tyler MacGregor scored the winner in the first minute of overtime.
“The earth shook there in Grand Forks for about two minutes,” Matvick said.
UND beat Michigan 5-1 in the nightcap on goals from Ryan Duncan, T.J. Oshie, Drew Stafford, Jonathan Toews and Travis Zajac.
The next day, UND beat Holy Cross 5-2 to go to the NCAA Frozen Four. The goals were scored by Toews, Duncan, Zajac, Matt Watkins and Matt Smaby, who is now UND’s associate head coach.
“I’ve been at ESPN for 20 years now,” Matvick said. “It’s been quite a ride. That was the first.”
Matvick will make his return to Grand Forks this weekend to call UND’s two-game series against Arizona State at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday.
Alex Heinert, UND’s regular play-by-play announcer, is calling World Cup soccer qualifying games for Fox Sports this weekend. Heinert will call Belgium vs. Kazakhstan on Saturday and Hungary vs. Ireland on Sunday.
Midco reached out to Matvick to see if he’d be available to call the UND-Arizona State series. He was.
Matvick called a MAC football game between Western Michigan and Ohio on Tuesday in Kalamazoo, Mich. His next ESPN assignment is South Carolina at Texas A&M next Saturday.
This weekend’s games will be on Midco Sports and streamed on NCHChockey.com. Friday’s series opener also will be on TSN5 in Canada.
Matvick has been a fixture calling NCAA Regional hockey games for ESPN during the last two decades. He’s been on the call for several other upsets, including three where his alma mater, St. Cloud State, was on the wrong side — Ferris State over St. Cloud State in 2016, Air Force over St. Cloud State in 2018 and American International over St. Cloud State in 2019.
“Now, there’s a lot of parity in college hockey,” Matvick said. “I wouldn’t call (Minnesota-Holy Cross) a major upset if it happened now. It’s still an upset. But it wouldn’t be like it felt back then.”
Holy Cross was the first No. 4 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s the game people still ask me about,” Matvick said. “I get people asking me about that one all the time. ‘What’s the most memorable game you’ve called?’ That one I bring up. There are football and baseball games that come up, too. But people remember that one around here.”
Matvick, who went to high school in Princeton, Minn., with UND men’s basketball coach Paul Sather, calls several sports for ESPN. His schedule this season is loaded with football, basketball and baseball games.
“This weekend will probably be some of the very little hockey I do this season,” he said.
Arizona State at No. 6 UND
When: 7:07 p.m. Friday, 6:07 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Ralph Engelstad Arena.
TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD).
Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM).
Stream: NCHChockey.com/tv.
Of note: Friday’s game will be on TSN5 in Canada.
By
Brad Elliott Schlossman
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.
