GRAND FORKS, N.D.(UND Athletics) – No. 4 North Dakota struck for a pair of goals in the third period to secure a 3-1 win over Omaha on Saturday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
With the UND (15-6-1, 6-4-0 NCHC) secures a series victory with four-of-six possible points in the league standings and move within two points of first place behind next week’s opponent St. Cloud State.
Senior forward Griffin Ness returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact, scoring the game’s first goal on his first shift of the game just under seven minutes into the second period to give UND a 1-0 lead. The senior collected a loose puck in the slot and danced around goaltender Simon Latcoczy for his second goal of the season and helped the hosts skate into the second intermission with the one-goal advantage.
The 1-0 advantage held for only 49 seconds into the third period before Tanner Ludtke finished off a 2-on-1 play to knot the game at 1-1 for the Mavericks (11-7-2, 4-5-1 NCHC), but the Fighting Hawks took control of play over the final 19 minutes of regulation.
Less than three minutes later, Dylan James buried a rebound off a Jackson Blake shot for his fifth career goal against Omaha and a 2-1 lead for the hosts. Cameron Berg salted away the win against his former team with an empty netter in the final minute to notch his 10th goal of the season and polish off the 3-1 victory.
Freshman goaltender Hobie Hedquist shined between the pipes in the win, finishing with 22 saves on 23 shots to improve to 3-0-0 this season. The Heron Lake, Minn., native also received some help from his skaters, as NoDak finished with 14 blocked shots led by Garrett Pyke’s three.
North Dakota returns to action next weekend with a road series at St. Cloud State beginning on Friday night at 7:37 p.m. from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 36-19-2 all-time against Omaha and has never been swept by the Mavericks
- Griffin Ness scored his second goal of the season and first since Nov. 18 vs. Miami
- Ness also has goals in back-to-back games against Omaha dating back to last season
- Bennett Zmolek missed his second straight game with an illness
- Cameron Berg scored his 10th goal of the season, matching his career high
- Hobie Hedquist improves to 3-0-0 this season with 22 saves on 23 shots
- Both teams were whistled for only one penalty, each going 0-for-1 on the power play
- UND is now 12-0-0 this season when leading after two and 95-6-3 since 2018-19
- The Hawks improve to 13-4-1 when scoring first
- NoDak is also 12-1-0 in games decided by two-or-more goals this season
- Dylan James has points in five of his last eight games
- UND has now gone 15 straight games without losing in regulation
- Ness, Hedquist and James were named the game’s three stars, in that order
- Omaha finished with a 26-25 faceoff advantage, with Louis Jamernik V finishing 8-3
How It Happened
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
06:46 | UND – Griffin Ness makes a slick move around the goaltender and tucks it home for a 1-0 UND lead
Third Period
00:49 | Omaha – Tanner Ludtke ties the game at 1-1 on a 2-on-1 rush
03:35 | UND – Dylan James pounces on a rebound to restore the UND lead
19:35 | UND – Cameron Berg scores against his old team with an empty netter for a 3-1 UND advantage
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 1/13/2024 10:22:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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