(UND Athletics)
DENVER (UND Athletics)– No. 17 North Dakota dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 6 Denver on Friday night from Magness Arena in Denver, Colo.
With the loss, UND (14-12-2, 9-7-1 NCHC) slips into fifth place in the NCHC standings and falls two points behind Denver (21-7-1, 10-6-1 NCHC) for the fourth-and-final hosting position for the league quarterfinals. The Fighting Hawks also fell four spots in the Pairwise Rankings to No. 27, which is used to select the at-large teams for the national tournament.
For the third straight game against DU, the Fighting Hawks were not at full strength, as forward Jayden Perron was ruled out prior to the weekend with an injury while fellow forward Jackson Kunz was a late scratch before the game due to illness. NoDak also lost skater Dane Montgomery during the game to a hit in the second period, as the junior did not return.
Denver netminder Matt Davis finished with 15 saves but was lifted midway through the third period due to injury, with goaltender Freddie Halyk playing the final 14:17 and stopping six shots for the combined shutout. Forward Jack Devine potted a pair of goals while defenseman Boston Buckberger notched a goal and two assists for a three-point night.
Goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter finished with 28 saves on 31 shots against, including a whopping 16 saves in the opening 20 minutes to keep the game scoreless, but dropped to 11-8-2 on the season as UND was shut out for the second time this year (Oct. 19 at Minnesota State).
After a scoreless opening 34 minutes, Denver finally broke the scoreless deadlock on a goal from Kieran Cebrian before Buckberger snuck a shot through traffic and into the back of the net just under three minutes later to give the hosts a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes.
UND pushed hard in the final 20, but Devine scored at even strength before sealing the game with an empty netter to secure the 4-0 win.
North Dakota will go for the series split tomorrow night at 7 p.m. (CT) from Magness Arena. The contest will air on NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- North Dakota has now lost three straight games to Denver
- The Hawks were shut out for only the second time this season (Oct. 19 at Minnesota State)
- Shots were 32-21 in favor of Denver
- UND falls to 6-7-1 on Friday nights and 0-4-1 since the start of 2025
- The Hawks dropped only their second road NCHC game of the season, falling to 6-2-1
- Jayden Perron (injury) and Jackson Kunz (illness) were unavailable for tonight’s game
- Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play with three shots
- DU goaltender Matt Davis was removed due to injury in the third period
- Carter Wilkie led UND with three shots on goal
- Faceoffs were 43-39 Denver, with Cameron Berg pacing UND at 11-9
How It Happened
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
14:21 | DU – Kieran Cebrian (4) from Eric Pohlkamp (19) and Boston Buckberger (13)
17:04 | DU – Buckberger (6) from Sam Harris (10) and Samu Salminen (12)
Third Period
08:24 | DU – Jack Devine (7) from Aidan Thompson (20) and Buckberger (14)
16:57 | DU – Devine (8, EN) from Carter King (16)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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