(UND Athletics) GRAND FORKS – No. 12 Western Michigan struck three times in the third period, all coming in the final six minutes, to rally for a 7-6 victory over North Dakota on Saturday night from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The Fighting Hawks (9-10-4, 3-7-2 NCHC) held a 5-2 lead late in the second period, but the nation’s top scoring offense erupted for four goals on the next 19 shots to erase the deficit and escape with a weekend sweep over the hosts.
WMU’s (14-9-1, 6-5-1 NCHC) Luke Grainger led the way, scoring two goals and dishing out four assists to become the first player since Casey Hankinson of Minnesota on Nov. 9, 1996 to register six points against North Dakota.
Redshirt freshman goaltender Kaleb Johnson made his first start between the pipes for the Fighting Hawks, stopping 28-of-35 thrown his way to fall just short of collecting his first win in his hometown.
North Dakota jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just nine minutes in, when Cooper Moore and Jackson Kunz both struck for their third goals of the season to give the hosts the early advantage and energize the sellout crowd of 11,664.
After WMU answered back with a pair of its own to knot it at 2-2, Riese Gaber halted a five-game goalless drought with a power play snipe from the slot to send the Hawks to the locker room with a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.
NoDak kept it going early in the middle frame, with Chris Jandric sneaking a loose puck in the crease through the arms of goaltender Cameron Rowe to restore the two-goal cushion just 74 seconds into the second. UND notched its third goal on the power play just beyond the midway point of the stanza, as Luke Bast wired home his first of the season on a one-timer for a 5-2 advantage.
The Broncos started to claw back into the game in the dying moments of the second, striking for back-to-back goals in under two minutes to close the gap to 5-4 entering the final 20 minutes of regulation.
UND held serve until the final five minutes of the contest, when the visitors potted two goals in 17 seconds to turn the 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. This time, the Hawks answered back in short order on Ethan Frisch’s third goal of the season, following a great pass from Jackson Blake, to tie the game right back up at 6-6.
The goals kept coming, with Western Michigan taking the final lead of the game with just under three minutes to go before holding off a final charge by the hosts to secure the weekend sweep.
North Dakota remains home to battle Minnesota Duluth next weekend from Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday night at 7:07 p.m.
