GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– No. 7 North Dakota opened its season with a 7-2 victory over Army West Point on Friday night in the 2023 Ice Breaker Tournament from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
Less than a week removed from hanging 10 on Manitoba in the exhibition opener, the Fighting Hawks (1-0-0) exploded for seven goals against the Black Knights (0-2-0) to tally the most goals in a season opener since an 8-0 win over Canisius on Oct. 11, 2003.
Sophomore Jackson Blake picked up right where he left off last season, notching two goals and an assist to pace the squad with three points. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native broke a 1-1 deadlock early the second period with his first goal off a deflection of a Bennett Zmolek shot to spark a four-goal outburst in the middle frame and put the game away.
Hunter Johannes impressed in his first action in the green and white, connecting on a pair of strikes to tally his first-career game with multiple goals. The Lindenwood transfer opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal on a breakaway to give UND an early 1-0 lead just under four minutes into the contest before extending the lead to 4-1 midway through the second.
Riese Gaber picked up a goal and an assist while Jake Schmaltz dished out a pair of helpers for his first multi-point game since Oct. 21, 2022 at Minnesota to see NoDak finish with four players with multiple points, while Bennett Zmolek (1A), Garrett Pyke (1A), Cameron Berg (1G), Jayden Perron (1G), Ben Strinden (1A) and Jackson Kunz (1A) each recorded a point.
Ludvig Persson was solid in his official North Dakota debut by finishing with 10 saves on 12 shots, including a trio of Army breakaways.
North Dakota will play for an Ice Breaker Tournament title tomorrow night against Wisconsin at 6:07 p.m. at the Ralph. Fans can catch all the action on Midco Sports or listen on the Home of Economy Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- Jayden Perron, Michael Emerson, Jake Livanavage and Abram Wiebe all made their collegiate debuts
- Cameron Berg, Hunter Johannes, Keaton Pehrson, Garrett Pyke, Logan Britt, Bennett Zmolek and Ludvig Persson also made their UND debuts
- Johannes scored two goals for the first time in his career
- Blake’s two tallies are the third time in his career with multiple goals
- Zmolek notched a point for the first time since Jan. 22, 2022 vs. St. Thomas
- Perron scored the first goal as a collegiate player in the second period
- Jake Schmaltz recorded two points for the first time since Oct. 21, 2022 at Minnesota
- Pyke extended his point streak to six games dating back to last season at Alaska
- UND finished with a 32-12 shot advantage, with Army blocking 17 shots
- NoDak finished 29-22 in the dot, with Cameron Berg going 8-2
- The Hawks have now won five straight season openers
How It Happened
First Period
03:58 | UND – Hunter Johannes scores a shorthanded breakaway for the first goal of the 2023-24 season
06:44 | Army – Joey Baez blasts home a power play goal from the top of the circles to tie the game at 1-1
Second Period
04:07 | UND – Jackson Blake deflects home a shot from Bennett Zmolek to restore the lead for UND
09:36 | UND – Jayden Perron wires home his first goal of his career on a pass from Riese Gaber to make it 3-1
10:25 | UND – Johannes gets his second on a wraparound to extend the advantage to 4-1 just 49 seconds later
11:28 | UND – Blake makes it 5-1 with his second goal of the game on a snipe from the slot
Third Period
06:07 | Army – Ricky Lyle connects on the power play to cut the lead to 5-2 early in the third
13:49 | UND – Cameron Berg rockets a one-timer home for his first in a UND jersey
17:37 | UND – Riese Gaber gets his first goal of the season by pouncing on a loose puck in the crease
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 10/13/2023 11:00:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com