This past weekend was quite the faceoff between No. 3 University of North Dakota and No. 8 Quinnipiac University. The events were unimaginable with Friday night ending in a tie and Saturday night ending in a loss for UND in the series finale of their top-10 battle in the Ralph Engelstad Arena.   

Friday night had the crowd pumped up for yet another weekend in Grand Forks, and the game was electric. During the first period, Joey Cipollone of Quinnipiac scored the first goal, and shortly after, Christophe Tellier of Quinnipiac scored on UND again for his second goal of the season. The first period had UND fans nervous when Jacob Quillan of Quinnipiac picked the corner of the net ending the period 3-0 with UND 3 down.  

UND starts the second period off right when Freshman Forward Dylan James spun off Quinnipiac defender, passed to Sophomore Forward Nick Portz who then rebounds back to James putting away his first-career goal. T.J. Friedmann of Quinnipiac faces off with UND forward resulting in a goal for Friedmann putting the score at 4-1, back to UND being 3 down. To end the second period, Freshman Forward Owen McLaughlin makes a remarkable pass to Junior Forward Reis Gaber who is parked out front putting away his second goal of the year.  

With Quinnipiac up 4-2, UND had a lot of catch up to do during the third period. Freshman Forward Jackson Blake scored on Quinnipiac defender with a spin move. Not long after, Graduate Defender Chris Jandric tied up the score off a rebound from Blake during a five-on-three power play. UND took the lead during the final period of the game when Fifth year Forward Gavin Hain scored just as the power play expired. C.J. McGee of Quinnipiac tied the score again, making it 5-5 when the buzzer sounded. The Friday night game went into overtime with a shootout where UND won, but unfortunately, will not count in the Pairwise Rankings, therefore, the game is put down as a tie.  

Saturday night was not what UND fans had hoped for to round off the weekend. Starting off the first period, Skyler Brind’Amour of Quinnipiac scores on UND. Coming back right away, Blake secures the puck after Sophomore Defender Brent Johnson shoots the puck down the ice. Blake scored his second goal and third point of the weekend. Blake assisted Gaber in his second goal and third point of the weekend as well near the end of the first period. At first intermission, UND was up one on Quinnipiac, but that excitement did not last long for the Fighting Hawks fans.  

Quite the time had passed in the second period before a goal was scored, but that time came when Friedmann, assisted by Jayden Lee of Quinnipiac, scored the first goal of the period. Within 19 seconds, Desi Burgart of Quinnipiac scored in a quick transition play. To follow, Ethan de Jong receives a pass from Tellier putting away yet another goal for Quinnipiac.  

With UND fans anxious and on the edge of their seats hoping for a turnaround like the previous night’s game, the third period did not fulfill their wishes. Quinnipiac’s de Jong puts another one away resulting in a three-point lead for the University. Towards the final minutes of the weekend, UND pulls their goalie for an extra player on the ice, but Iivari Rasanen of Quinnipiac scored an empty netter from the defensive zone.  

Saturday night’s final score was 6-2, and it was a devasting loss for UND. The weekend was captivating and intense, making both nights a great game to watch.  

Kelsie Hildebrand is the Dakota Student Editor-in-Chief. She can be reached at [email protected].