Kernan’s late tally leads No. 4 UND to 4-3 win, series sweep over Beavers

GRAND FORKS, North Dakota (KNFL/KFGO/UND Athletics) – For the second straight night, No. 4 North Dakota broke a late deadlock in the third period to secure a 4-3 victory and series sweep over Bemidji State on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 11,560 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

Jack Kernan won a battle to the front of the net and chipped a puck over the BSU (1-2-0) netminder’s shoulder to give the Fighting Hawks (2-0-0) a 4-3 lead with just under four minutes to play. UND closed out the final minutes of the game and secured its first regulation sweep over the Beavers since Oct. 2016 and fourth straight win over BSU.

Will Zellers once again provided the spark offensively for UND, potting two goals and dishing out an assist for his second straight game with three points. The sophomore scored back-to-back power play goals in the first period before tallying a helper in the middle frame to close his weekend with six points (2G, 4A).

The Maple Grove, Minn., native becomes the first UND player to open the season with six points since Brock Boeser (1G, 5A) did so on Oct. 7-8, 2016 vs. Canisius and joins Zach Parise (5G, 3A) on Oct. 11-12, 2002 as the only player to have at least three points in back-to-back games to begin the season.

Mac Swanson also tallied a trio of points in the win with a goal and two helpers for his third three-point game of his collegiate career. The Anchorage, Alaska, native found the back of the net in both games and finished the series with four points (2G, 2A).

Cole Reschny and Sam Laurila both recorded an assist to give them points in back-to-back nights while Gavin Lindberg, Hudson Malinoski and Ethan MacKenzie all tallied their first points in a UND sweater with a helper each.

The Fighting Hawks grabbed control in the opening period with a pair of power-play goals from Zellers separated by just 67 seconds. The sophomore opened the scoring at 13:18 with assists from Reschny and Swanson before striking again at 14:25, this time from MacKenzie and Swanson, to make it 2-0.

Bemidji State answered just before the first intermission, as Rylan Gould scored at 19:26 to cut the deficit to 2-1 after 20 minutes. The Beavers then pulled even at 7:13 of the second when Ethan Miedema found the back of the net.

North Dakota regained the advantage late in the middle frame. Swanson buried his second goal of the season at 17:44 off assists from Lindberg and Zellers, sending the Fighting Hawks into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.

After Bemidji State tied the game for the second time at 3-3 on Jaksen Panzer’s goal with 4:51 to play, North Dakota needed only 53 seconds to provide the response.  Laurila and Malinoski collected the assists on Kernan’s first goal of the season at 16:02 to restore the lead for good.

North Dakota will remain home and host Bentley for a two-game series beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. (CT) on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.

How It Happened 

First Period:                                                     
13:18 | UND – Will Zellers (1, PP) from Cole Reschny (1) and Mac Swanson (1)
14:25 | UND – Zellers (2, PP) from Ethan MacKenzie (1) and Swanson (2)
19:26 | BSU – Rylan Gould (1) from Brayden Dube (1)

Second Period: 
07:13 | BSU – Ethan Miedema (2) from Oliver Peer (1) and Maxon Vig (2)
17:44 | UND – Swanson (2) from Gavin Lindberg (1) and Zellers (4)

Third Period:
15:09 | BSU – Jaksen Panzer (1) from Luke Roelofs (1)
16:02 | UND – Jack Kernan (1) from Sam Laurila (1) and Hudson Malinoski (1)