UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA — Freshman forward Jayden Perron says his first game in the Ralph Engelstad arena was an experience like no other.  

“It was crazy,” he said. “All the fans there made it pretty special, and it took a little bit to settle in.”  

Perron did settle in, scoring a hat trick to contribute to UND’s 10-0 victory over the University of Manitoba on Oct. 7 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. It looks to be his first hat trick of many.  

“We all expected it,” Sophomore Owen Mclaughlin said of Perron’s hat trick. “He’s going to be a great player.”  

Perron credits his high scoring night to working on his shot and shifting away from a pass first mentality, saying he learned a lot from watching his linemate and UND Captain, Riese Gaber.  

“We’ve been working on our shots after practice a lot,” said Perron. “So, I think kind of taking different techniques and things he’s (Gaber) doing to my game.”  

However, Perron was not the only freshman bright spot in UND’s win over Manitoba, freshmen defensemen Abram Wiebe and Jake Livanavage both played significant ice time. Wiebe took two shots and had an assist on Perron’s first goal, the third UND goal of the night. He ended the night as a plus two on the plus minus sheet. Livanavage played top pairing minutes and was the point player on the second powerplay unit. Livanavage had the assist on Jackson Blake’s second goal and fourth UND goal of the night. 

Sophomore Owen Mclaughlin says that the freshmen defensemen did a fantastic job at staying poised despite the circumstances.  

“They did really well. It’s pretty nerve-wracking playing your first game in the Ralph. They’re pretty loud and electric,” Mclaughlin said. “So, they did really good, moving pucks well, defended hard.”  

Head Coach Brad Berry says he really liked the team defense as a whole against Manitoba.  

“Our defense did a good job of moving the pucks and holding lines, but a lot had to do with our forwards too,” Berry said. “All five guys played in a tight five-man structure to not give the other team a lot of opportunities … I thought they did a good job.”  

UND held Manitoba to eight shots after three periods, fewer shots than UND had goals. It is a good sign for a team who struggled on defense last year and that has a d-core completely composed of freshmen and transfer students to start the season.  

Even so, the offense was the shiny object in the 10-goal win over Manitoba, with sharp passing plays, skilled puck handling, and beautiful goals being on full display.  

“We’ll have good enough players to create offense, whether it’s five-on-five or on the power play,” said Berry.  

One of the 10 goals was scored by Mclaughlin. Last year, Mclaughlin had multiple good chances but struggled to find the back of the net, but he was still a great playmaker. This off-season Mclaughlin said he worked on improving his shot and becoming more of a scoring threat.  

“A lot of shooting in the summer and watching film with Bubs (Berry) and the other coaches,” he said. “I’ve been trying to shoot more in practice.” 

The sophomore class looks like they will be avoiding the sophomore slump curse with four of the 10 goals coming from sophomore players, Mclaughlin, Blake, and Dylan James. Mclaughlin would also put up three assists for a four-point night.  

The only two remaining junior players from last year’s team, Jackson Kunz and Jake Schmaltz, also combined for three goals. It is a good sign from Schmaltz, who said in the pre-season that he was looking to improve the offensive side of his game.  

Despite not being tested much, Berry was also pleased with the goaltending performances of both Ludvig Persson and Hobie Hedquist.  

“In the previous couple years, we’d have 10 shots on the clock and not score a goal and the first shot on net would go in,” said Berry. “The first shot on Persson was a pretty tough shot and …. having a guy that’s focused and dialed in, that can make that save to keep it a 0-0 game until you get your first couple of goals, that’s a big deal.”  

The next two games that UND plays will be against NCAA Division I opponents, Army and University of Wisconsin. They will count for points in the pairwise and toward UND’s hopes at making the National Tournament.  

Perron says the team is ready, taking the positives from the victory over Manitoba but recognizing next weekend will be different.  

“We’re happy with the result today. But it was an exhibition against the University of Manitoba,” he said. “It’ll be a lot harder from here on out. So, we’re going to prepare for that and get ready for that.”  

Maeve Hushman is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].