(Omaha Athletics/Bonnie Ryan)
OMAHA, Neb. (UND Athletics)– No. 8 North Dakota secured the series sweep over Omaha with a 4-1 win on Saturday night from Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.
The win extends UND’s (7-3-0, 3-1-0 NCHC) winning streak to three straight and notches the full six points in the NCHC standings to remain alone in first place after two weekends with 10 points.
Graduate student netminder Gibson Homer put together his best performance in a North Dakota uniform in the win, turning aside a season-high 34 shots to improve to 4-3-0 on the season. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native was stout in the first and third periods especially, making 14 saves in the opening 20 minutes before stopping all 11 shots fired his way in the third.
Freshman forward Cole Reschny led the way offensively for the Fighting Hawks, striking for a goal and two assists to notch his first three-point game of his collegiate career. The rookie tallied what ended up being the game-winning goal in the second period before added assists on UND’s first and fourth goals.
A pair of Hawks also recorded their first goals in the green and white, with Anthony Menghini opening the scoring with his first at UND before Jack Kernan struck for his first-collegiate goal in the final five minutes of the third period to add a clutch insurance tally.
For the second straight night, it was North Dakota who got an early goal to grab the early advantage. Menghini fired a shot that deflected off a Omaha skate and into the back of the net for his first goal in a UND sweater and a 1-0 lead for the visitors just under four minutes into the game.
UND had to weather a push from the Mavs over the remainder of the opening stanza, as the hosts fired 14 shots towards the netminder Homer, but the graduate student stood tall to keep the Hawks in front, 1-0, heading into the first intermission.
The Hawks got stronger in the middle stanza, eventually extending the lead to 2-0 when Reschny saw his centering pass hit multiple bodies and trickle into the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Omaha answered back late in the frame with a power play goal to trim the advantage to 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Omaha once again came out strong to begin the third period, but the Fighting Hawks and Homer once again stood tall and thwarted the attack. NoDak eventually grabbed the insurance goal it needed, as Cody Croal fired a shot towards the net that rebounded perfectly to Kernan who deposited his first-career goal to extend the advantage to 3-1 late in the period.
Dylan James made it back-to-back nights with the game’s final goal, this time firing into the empty net to seal the series sweep with the 4-1 victory.
North Dakota returns home to battle Arizona State for the first time at Ralph Engelstad Arena next weekend for a series beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 41-23-2 all-time against Omaha and 22-11-1 in Omaha
- NoDak wore its black jerseys for the second time this season and improved to 2-0-0
- Anthony Menghini registered his first goal and point of the season
- Cole Reschny extended his point streak to three games
- Reschny also tallied multiple points for the second straight contest and tallied three points for the first time
- Jack Kernan scored his first-career goal in the third period
- Dylan James notched his sixth goal of the season to take over the team lead
- Mac Swanson stretched his point streak to four – a new career-high
- EJ Emery recorded his first assist since Oct. 12, 2024 vs. Providence
- Jake Livanavage finished his weekend with five assists
- Gibson Homer finished with 34 saves on 35 shots against
- UND went 0-for-2 on the power play while Omaha was 1-for-3
- The Hawks have won four straight over Omaha and four straight at Baxter Arena
- NoDak has now won six of its seven game this season by at least three goals
- Will Zellers extended his point streak to four games with an assist
- UND improves to 6-0-0 this season when scoring at least four goals
- Faceoffs were 32-28 UND, with Reschny leading the squad at 11-6
How It Happened
First Period:
03:42 | UND – Anthony Menghini (1) from EJ Emery (1) and Cole Reschny (7)
Second Period:
07:21 | UND – Reschny (2) from Mac Swanson (6) and Jake Livanavage (7)
18:50 | OMA – Marc Lajoie (3, PP) from Griffin Ludtke (8) and Sean Tschigerl (4)
Third Period:
15:17 | UND – Jack Kernan (1) from Cody Croal (3) and Abram Wiebe (5)
16:47 | UND – Dylan James (6, EN) from Reschny (8) and Will Zellers (4)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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