(UND Athletics/Russell Hons)
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– No. 8 North Dakota struck for three goals in the third period to defeat No. 13/14 Minnesota, 5-2, in front a sellout crowd of 11,634 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND improves to 3-0-0 for the first time since 2021-22 and now has eight wins in its last 11 games against Minnesota (1-3-1) dating back to Oct. 2017.
Sophomore defenseman EJ Emery broke a 2-2 deadlock with his second goal of the game just over two minutes into the third period while senior forward Dylan James struck for his second tally of the contest with a shorthanded goal to add some insurance at the 14:04 mark of the final frame. Sophomore forward Mac Swanson polished off the victory with an empty net, power play strike in the final 10 seconds to secure the 5-2 victory.
Emery, who hadn’t scored a goal in 938 days, stuck for a pair of goals for his first multi-point and multi-goal game of his career while James potted two goals for the fifth time in his career. Senior forward Ellis Rickwood also notched multiple points for the second straight game, dishing out a pair of helpers in the win.
Graduate student netminder Gibson Homer finished with 13 saves on 15 shots against to notch his third straight start with two-or-fewer goals allowed and improve to 3-0-0 on the campaign.
Minnesota jumped out to a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the game, but North Dakota answered back just over four minutes later when James pounced on a loose puck in the crease to even the game at 1-1.
NoDak was pushing to take the lead on a power play opportunity, but it was Minnesota who took advantage on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush to restore the Golden Gopher lead. The Hawks rallied again, with Emery firing home his first goal of his collegiate career to bring the contest even at 2-2 after 20 minutes.
After a scoreless second period, Emery finished off a perfect pass from Cole Reschny just 2:25 into the final frame for his second goal of the game and gave UND a 3-2 lead before James and Rickwood combined for a shorthanded tally late in the third to send the REA into a frenzy and extend the advantage to 4-2.
UND secured the victory with an empty netter and will go for a series sweep tomorrow night at 6:07 p.m. on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 138-143-16 all-time against Minnesota
- The Hawks are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games against the Gophers
- NoDak is also 20-3-4 against Minnesota teams since 2023-24
- Dylan James recorded his fifth multi-goal game of his career
- EJ Emery scored his first two goals of his career
- Ellis Rickwood also dished out two assists for back-to-back multi-point games
- Jack Kernan recorded his first point with an assist
- Ollie Josephson also dished out an assist for his first-career point
- UND held Minnesota to just two shots in the third period
- NoDak improves to 3-0-0 this season against ranked teams
- Mac Swanson notched his second goal of the season
- James has five shorthanded goals in his career
- UND finished with a 32-15 shot advantage
- The Hawks went 1-for-7 on the power play while Minnesota was 0-for-3
- UND is 3-0-0 to begin the season for the first time since 2021-22
- Faceoffs were 29-28 UND, with Ellis Rickwood leading all skaters at 13-8
How It Happened
First Period
02:19 | UM – Mason Moe (1) from August Falloon (1) and Luke Mittelstadt (5)
06:36 | UND – Dylan James (2) from Ellis Rickwood (3) and Will Zellers (2)
08:27 | UM – Tanner Ludtke (1, SH) from Brodie Ziemer (2)
11:09 | UND – EJ Emery (1) from Ollie Josephson (1)
Second Period
No scoring
Third Period
02:25 | UND – Emery (2) from Cole Reschny (2) and Jack Kernan (1)
14:04 | UND – James (3, SH) from Rickwood (4)
19:51 | UND – Mac Swanson (2, PP, EN) from Ben Strinden (3) and Abram Wiebe (2)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
Comments