(UND Athletics/Russell Hons)
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)
– No. 8 North Dakota responded in a big way on Saturday night, rolling to a 5-1 victory over No. 10 Minnesota Duluth from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The night was headlined by senior forward Ben Strinden, who exploded for a career-high four assists to help North Dakota (5-3-0, 1-1-0 NCHC) secure four points in the league standings and grab its 13th win in the last 15 tries against Minnesota Duluth (8-2-0, 1-1-0 NCHC).
The Fargo, N.D., native had an impact on all but one of UND’s goals on the night to move the senior into the team lead with seven assists and nine points while also closing his weekend with a goal and four helpers.
Freshman forward Ollie Josephson notched multiple points for the second straight game, striking for a goal and an assist to give him four points (2G, 2A) in the series while junior defenseman Abram Wiebe was the third Fighting Hawk with multiple points with a goal and a helper.
Rookie netminder Jan Špunar shined once again in his second start of his collegiate career, finishing with 19 saves on 20 shots against to improve to 2-0-0 on the season.
For the second straight night, it was Minnesota Duluth who struck first on a Adam Kleber shot from the point that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead just under nine minutes into the contest.
UND struck back late in the frame, as Cody Croal snapped a quick shot off the rush that snuck through the legs of goaltender Adam Gajan to even the contest at 1-1 after 20 minutes. The intermission didn’t slow down the Hawks, with Will Zellers potting his third goal of the season just 69 seconds into the second to give UND its first lead of the weekend.
Keaton Verhoeff extended the lead to 3-1 moments later, as the freshman danced his defender and rifled a shot past Gajan for his team-leading fourth of the season before Špunar came up clutch with 10 saves in the middle stanza to keep the advantage at 3-1 heading into the third.
Once again, it was UND who struck early in the period to help put the game out of reach, as Josephson received a great pass from Strinden and potted his second of the weekend to make it 4-1 just 16 seconds into the third. Wiebe joined in on the fun with his second of the season just under five minutes into the final 20 and chased Gajan from the game.
UND was in full control in that third period, finishing with a 16-7 shot advantage in the frame and adding the pair of goals to secure the 5-1 victory.
North Dakota will hit the road for the first time in NCHC play to battle Omaha beginning on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. on NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 162-92-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 89-40-3 at home
- NoDak has won 13 of the last 15 games against Minnesota Duluth
- The Hawks have also earned points in 10 straight against UMD, earning 28 of a possible 30 points
- Ben Strinden dished out a career-high four assists
- Ollie Josephson had his second multi-point game of the weekend and his career
- Abram Wiebe had multiple points for the second time this season and 10th time in his career
- Jan Špunar finished with 19 saves on 20 shots against to improve to 2-0-0 this season
- Will Zellers scored his third goal of the season in the win
- Keaton Verhoeff notched his team-leading fourth tally
- UND finished 1-for-4 on the power play while UMD was 0-for-3
- The Hawks held UMD’s top line to just one point
- UND fired 38 shots on goal to just 20 for Minnesota Duluth
- NoDak blocked eight shots while UMD blocked 19
- UND improves to 4-2-0 this season against ranked teams
- The Hawks are 21-5-4 against Minnesota teams since 2023-24
- Faceoffs were 31-26 in favor of UND, with Ellis Rickwood pacing all skaters at 11-9
How It Happened
First Period:
08:49 | UMD – Adam Kleber (1) from Callum Arnott (3) and Max Plante (10)
17:42 | UND – Cody Croal (2) from Ollie Josephson (3) and Ben Strinden (4)
Second Period:
01:09 | UND – Will Zellers (3, PP) from Abram Wiebe (4) and Mac Swanson (3)
04:09 | UND – Keaton Verhoeff (4) from Cole Reschny (4) and Strinden (5)
Third Period:
00:16 | UND – Josephson (2) from Strinden (6) and Bennett Zmolek (2)
04:40 | UND – Wiebe (2) from Strinden (7)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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