GRAND FORKS, N.D. — In a year like no other in our lives because of COVID-19, one thing remained the same in a time when nothing else has.
That would be the University of North Dakota hockey team hoisting the Penrose Cup Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions for the second year in a row.
The Fighting Hawks clinched the Penrose Cup outright with two games remaining in the regular season, spanking Nebraska-Omaha 7-1 after winning 4-1 on Friday.
As it has been all season with this group, Saturday’s championship night was a demonstration of team depth. Twelve players had at least a goal or an assist. Five of those had two-point nights (Jordan Kawaguchi, Shane Pinto, Jasper Weatherby, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Jake Sanderson) and one had a three-point game (Collin Adams).
In addition, junior goalie Adam Scheel, who leads the NCHC in all goaltending categories, has now held opponents to a stingy three total goals in the five home starts he’s made this season.
It’s why NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton was on hand to present the Penrose Cup to UND at the conclusion of the game. It’s the fourth time in the eight-year history of the program UND has won the trophy and it is the 19th league title over for UND in the two leagues to which it has belonged.
“One year ago I was presenting this same trophy to this program,” Fenton said.
And titles never get old, to coaches, to players, to fans. “I’m old,” UND coach Brad Berry said, “but this kind of makes you young again.”
UND rode an opening goal from Denver transfer Brendan Budy just 1:36 into the game to take a 1-0 lead and run its mark this season to 15-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.
Omaha tied it on a screened shot by captain Kevin Conley at 14:25 of the first period. but freshman defenseman Tyler Kleven scored his 5th goal of the year at 17:48 to put UND ahead to stay, with goalie Scheel drawing an assist on the play.
After that, Kawaguchi, Weatherby and Adams added goals in the second period, with Pinto and Adams (his second) closing it in the third period. Weatherby continued his torrid pace, now scoring goals in his last six games, with a two-goal game in the mix.
“I’m extremely proud,” Berry said. “I’ve been here a long time as an assistant or head coach. There’s been a lot of good times here, a lot of championships, but this ranks way up there. Special group of guys. I’m so proud of them’.”
As it has been in this truncated season, it was another dominant performance by UND in Engelstad Arena, with 2,514 fans cheering on. UND has outscored Colorado College, Denver and Omaha by a combined 28-5 margin over six games while winning all six to push the NCHC record to 17-4-1 with two games remaining.
Berry noted how last year, UND was ranked No. 1 nationally before the pandemic swept the country and ended the season just as the playoffs were about to start.
That denied UND a chance to pursue its 9th NCAA title, but it perhaps set the tone for this season.
“When you drill down and pull the layers back, in a COVID year, from last year getting the season ripped out from underneath us with a good chance to do some special things, everybody making the commitment to come back, all of them. When players come to this program, they have to be team first. There’s some guys last year who had a chance to go to the next level and play pro hockey.”
They chose to return to chase the ultimate championship denied them a year ago.
Then came the disrupted start to this season, and the forming of a POD for all eight teams in Omaha to work in 10 leagues games for everyone in a 19-day span.
So yes, the sense of special achievement for Berry and his team ran high when Saturday’s game ended and the Penrose Cup was theirs — again.
“It’s really exciting,” Scheel said. “Every year coming, it’s one of our goals. It’s not our only goal. We still have a lot more to go, but we’re going to celebrate this one.”
The game ended with a massive scrum between the two teams, with five players from each team sent to the penalty box. UND’s Gabe Bast and Omaha’s Noah Prokop received majors for fighting. Officials called a total of 17 penalties on each team and a total of 100 minutes combined.
Game notes
* The three stars of the game as voted on by the media were Pinto, Kawaguchi and Adams, in that order.
* Pinto led UND in shots on goal with 4, followed by Adams and Mark Senden with 3 each.
* Scheel lowered his goals-against average this season at REA to 0.60.
* Scheel has 2 assists this season, and 5 for his career, showing he is very capable of doing more than stopping pucks from entering his net.
* Also popping up on the scoresheet with one point were Riese Gaber (assist), Budy (goal), Judd Caulfield (assist), Bernard-Docker (assist) and Kleven (goal).
* UND plays a single game at Omaha on Friday of next week, then closes the regular season with a home game against the same Mavericks on March 5. Then UND will host the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, starting on March 12.
* UND was 3-for-5 on the power play with Weatherby, Pinto and Adams scoring with a man advantage.
Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald, including 5 NCAA title teams, before his retirement. Since his retirement, he’s written about UND hockey games exclusively for FightingHawks.com. This marks his 51st season since he began covering UND hockey in 1969.
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 2/20/2021 8:37:00 PM | Virg Foss, FightingHawks.com
