GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Riese Gaber struck just 1:26 into overtime to complete a two-goal rally in the third period and give the Fighting Hawks a 4-3 win over No. 6 St. Cloud State on Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
UND (13-13-4, 7-10-2 NCHC) trailed 3-1 early in the final frame, but goals from Jake Schmaltz and a pair from Gaber capped the first win over a ranked opponent for the hosts since Dec. 10, 2022 at Western Michigan and first at home this season.
Drew DeRidder was solid between the pipes in his season-best seventh straight start, stopping 22-of-25 shots to earn his eighth victory of the season and second in the extra session.
The Fighting Hawks got off to the start they wanted, grabbing a 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Owen McLaughlin in the final four minutes of the first period on a great individual effort from the rookie to pot his first tally on home ice in his career.
St. Cloud State (18-9-2, 10-7-2 NCHC) answered back with a tally on the man advantage to send the game to the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1. The Huskies took their first lead of the game near the midway point of the middle frame, when Jami Krannila finished off his second goal of the night, once again on the power play, to put the visitors in front, 2-1.
In the final moments of the second, Gaber was whistled for a major penalty for checking from behind to put the Huskies on a power play to start the final 20 minutes. UND, who was victimized for a trio of goals on the man advantage last Saturday at Denver, saw SCSU take a 3-1 on its third power play strike of the game just 4:06 into the third period.
NoDak answered back on a power play of its own just 1:41 later, as Schmaltz pounced on a rebound that snuck behind goaltender Dominic Basse and potted his fourth of the year to cut the deficit back to one, 3-2, with plenty of time remaining.
The hosts threw a plethora of chances towards the SCSU cage, but it wasn’t until Gavin Hain saw Gaber streaking down the slot, hit him with a perfect pass and the junior fired it past the goaltender to tie the game at 3-3 with 1:27 to play and DeRidder on the bench for the extra attacker.
With all the momentum trending towards UND, Gaber made quick work in the extra session by pouncing on a rebound following a great take to the net by Jackson Blake to tally his first overtime winner of his career and complete the comeback victory.
North Dakota and St. Cloud State close out the weekend series on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena.