UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA — The tournament winning game against the University of Wisconsin was more than a win for Riese Gaber.  

“It’s the most fun I’ve had playing hockey in a long time,” he said. “That feeling, to win in the Ralph, sweep in the Ralph, the crowds into it, that’s probably my favorite thing in the world.”  

Gaber had one of UND’s two goals in their 2-0 victory over Wisconsin in the championship game of the Ice Breaker Tournament.  

The first period started slowly, taking more than five minutes for the first shot on net. Then Logan Britt took a hooking penalty and Hunter Johannes once again opened the scoring for UND with a shorthanded goal.  

There was tension to end the period. Gaber took a cross checking penalty on Wisconsin’s Jack Horbach and Keaton Pehrson and Wisconsin’s Simon Tassy both were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct to end the period. The shot count after the first was 14-9 in favor of Wisconsin.  

The second was equally scrappy with multiple skirmishes and more exchanged chances. Gaber would score a backhand goal at 6:37 into the period giving UND more positive momentum. The shots to end the second were 10-9 in favor of UND and the score was 2-0.  

Coach Berry says the backhand goal, although not typical for Gaber, was unsurprising.  

“That’s the high skill level that he has and strong hands,” he said of Gaber. “I was glad to see him get that goal and you could tell he was fired up after he scored that.” 

But Gaber could not remember the last time he scored from the backhand.  

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know, not while I’m here. Thinking back but yeah, just a great play by Bergy (Cameron Berg).”  

The third was uneventful on the scoring side. UND got three power plays but failed to convert. The power play was less successful for the Fighting Hawks these past two games with a success rate of 12.5%. Berg scored UND’s lone powerplay goal of the weekend in the game against Army.  

Although they allowed two goals against Army, the penalty kill has produced two shorthanded goals in two games and killed 4 penalties in the Wisconsin game.  

Even in a 6-4 situation in the 3rd period, Ludvig Persson and the UND penalty kill were able to shut it down and keep Wisconsin off the scoreboard.  

For Gaber, the way they closed out the game was according to plan. “Great teams winning third periods,” he said. “And I think we did an outstanding job of that tonight.”  

Beyond Gaber and Johannes’s goals the main star of the night was Ludvig Persson, who registered a shutout in his second non-exhibition game at the Ralph.  He said facing more shots from Wisconsin made him sharper. 

“It’s easier to kind of get warm right away and stay warm,” Persson said. “You end the game and things were going on the whole time so I mean, it’s probably easier when it’s like it was tonight,”  

But he also gave credit to the team’s effort in front of him and to lady luck and the goal posts.  

“You got to be lucky sometimes,” said Persson, “It was one of those nights tonight. I say thank you to the post tonight.”  

Berry also had high praise for Persson.  

“I’m watching from the bench and am amazed at how calm he is,” Berry said. “He looks under control… he’s dialed in… and I’m glad he’s in our net.”  

Beyond the shutout, Berry seemed pleased with the team’s performance overall saying that they played a good “team game” and executed the strategies they had, making Wisconsin work for their opportunities.  

“I was proud of our guys in the way they played a team game,” said Berry.  “One of the things we talked about was not giving up the greedy opportunities and protecting our house… we had five guys in the house, and I thought we did a really good job.”  

The whole team is readying themselves to face off against another Big Ten team, and rival, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers; Gaber is ready.  

“Let’s go,” he said. “We’re excited…  It’s going to be memorable, but our focus is Friday night puck drop and we’re going to have a good week of practice here and we’ll be ready.”  

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