North Dakota moves to 4-2-0; Connor Ford with two points
HAMDEN, Conn.(UND Athletics) – No. 6 North Dakota put together a gritty, road effort to take down No. 7 Quinnipiac, 3-1, on Saturday night from the People’s United Center in Hamden, Conn.
Donning the black jerseys for the first time this season, UND (4-2-0) put together a workman-like performance to hand the Bobcats (3-1-1) their first loss of the season.
Connor Ford factored into all three goals. Forcing a turnover to lead to a Mark Senden in the first before setting up Judd Caulfield’s game-winning power play strike in the second and polishing off the win with his first snipe of the year in the third.
Zach Driscoll put together a strong performance in net, stopping 35 of 36 shots to notch his fourth victory of the win. He got some help from his players in front of him, with UND blocking 18 total shots.
North Dakota came out with a more physical presence in the opening 20 minutes, forcing Quinnipiac to make quicker plays with the puck and keep it to the outside. It was the Bobcats who found the back of the net first, however, with Wyatt Bongiovanni pouncing on a loose puck in the crease after a Driscoll save to make it 1-0 in favor of the hosts just six minutes in.
It didn’t take long for UND to answer. Ford forced Dylan St. Cyr to move the puck quickly from behind the net, where he put it right on the tape of a waiting Senden. The captain made no mistake to put the puck into the open net to tie the game at 1-1, 1:26 after the first tally.
The Hawks carried some momentum into the second period and earned themselves an early power play. There, Ford threw a puck towards the net to cause a scramble in front of St. Cyr. Caulfield needed all 6-foot, three-inches of his reach to poke a puck through a mass of bodies and into the net to put UND back in front, 2-1, at the 7:04 mark of the stanza.
UND got into penalty trouble as the frame wore on, having to face a 5-on-3 kill for the second straight game. This one was more advantageous for the Hawks, with Senden and Chris Jandric coming up with a few key blocks and Driscoll making some stops to kill off both minors and keep the 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Ford, who had seen his fair share of chances in the first five games, picked a big time to score his first in a UND sweater. In 4-on-4 action, Jake Sanderson held the puck and the blue line and slid a puck right into Ford’s wheelhouse. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native put it upstairs over St. Cyr to extend the advantage to 3-1 with 15 minutes to play.
UND closed out its fourth win of the season with a strong final 10 minutes of play to hand Quinnipiac its first loss of the season.
North Dakota returns to action next Saturday night against Penn State in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Nashville.
NOTES: UND moves to 5-1-0 all-time against Quinnipiac … Connor Ford scored his first as a UND player and his 54th NCAA goal … Mark Senden potted his first of the season … Jake Sanderson finished with two points … Judd Caulfield finished with five shots on goal to pace UND … The Hawks finished 1-for-3 on the power play … UND held QU to an 0-for-5 night on the man advantage … North Dakota won 33 of the 58 draws … Ford won 17 faceoffs and lost only nine.
Men’s Hockey 10/23/2021 8:48:00 PM Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com