(UND Athletics/Casey B. Gibson CC Athletics)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (UND Athletics)– Colorado College goaltender Kaidan Mbereko made 43 saves while the Tigers struck for a trio of goals in the third period to complete the weekend sweep over No. 2 North Dakota, 6-2, on Saturday night from Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Mbereko was the star of the show between the pipes for the Tigers (18-9-1, 12-6-0 NCHC) with a career-high 43 saves while Gleb Veremyev scored two goals in a minute span in the third period to give CC its first four-game winning streak over North Dakota (20-8-2, 11-6-1 NCHC) since 1974-75.
UND dominated the opening 40 minutes of the game, holding a 36-17 shot advantage after two periods, but Mbereko kept the game deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the final 20. There, the Tigers struck for three goals in the opening 10+ minutes of the frame to build the advantage.
Abram Wiebe (1) and Cameron Berg (16) each struck for North Dakota in the loss, as the Fighting Hawks earned no points in the NCHC standings for the first time all season and will head into the final six games of the season with a one-point lead over St. Cloud State for first place in the league standings.
North Dakota put together an all-out offensive attack in the opening 20 minutes, nearly matching last night’s game total of 24 shots with 21 to build a 2-1 lead after one.
Wiebe opened the scoring just under six minutes into the contest, wiring home his first-career goal off a slick feed from Jayden Perron on a 3-on-2 rush to give the Fighting Hawks the 1-0 lead; however, that advantage lasted only 14 seconds as Jack Millar knotted the game at 1-1 with a shot through traffic from the point.
Special teams took over in the closing minutes of the first period, as CC’s Noah Laba was assessed a major penalty for boarding and the Hawks took advantage when Berg snapped his 16th goal of the season past the goaltender with just nine seconds remaining in the opening period to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.
UND continued to dominate the puck in the middle stanza, but could not beat Mbereko on any of the 15 shots fired his way. The Tigers eventually tied the game at 2-2 late in the period as Evan Werner had a puck deflect off his skate and into the net to even the score after 40 minutes.
With the game even at 2-2, it was Colorado College who took control in the final 20 minutes with a trio of goals in the opening 11 minutes of the period to turn the contest around and take a 5-2 lead.
Noah Laba added the final dagger into the empty net to close out the 6-2 victory and series sweep.
North Dakota will return home for the first time in a month to battle Minnesota Duluth for a weekend series beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Postgame Notes
- Abram Wiebe scored his first goal of his career in the first period
- Cameron Berg continues to set career highs in goals (16) and power play tallies (7)
- Colorado College sweeps the season series over North Dakota
- CC’s Kaidan Mbereko finished with a career-high 43 saves
- UND finished 1-for-5 on the power play while CC was 0-for-4
- NoDak fired a season-high 45 shots on goal
- The Hawks have lost back-to-back games for only the third time all season
- UND is just 2-6-0 this season when the game is tied after two periods
- NoDak drops to 173-88-12 all-time against CC and 59-61-5 in Colorado Springs
- Jackson Blake notched an assist to give him 14 points in his last eight games
- CC held a 36-24 faceoff advantage, with Cameron Berg leading UND at 10-6
How It Happened
First Period
05:49 | UND – Abram Wiebe scores his first goal of his career on a 3-on-2 rush to give UND a 1-0 lead
06:03 | CC – Jack Millar answers back just 14 seconds later to knot the game at 1-1
19:51 | UND – Cameron Berg snaps home his 16th goal of the season on the power play to give UND a 2-1 lead
Second Period
17:00 | CC – Evan Werner has a puck deflect off his skate and into the net to tie the game at 2-2
Third Period
04:19 | CC – Logan Will gives CC the lead right after a power play expires
09:12 | CC – Gleb Veremyev increases the advantage to 4-2 on a scramble in the crease
10:12 | CC – Veremyev strikes for his second just a minute later to make it 5-2
13:27 | CC – Noah Laba hits the empty net to make it 6-2 CC
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