BOSTON UNIVERSITY — Captain Riese Gaber felt the UND series against the Boston University Terriers was a hard-fought battle. 

“Obviously, a really good battle,” Gaber said. “We knew what they were going to be about and what we had to do.” 

UND dropped the first game Friday night in Boston 3-2 with a final shot count of 34-20 in favor of UND. On night two, UND dawned their black jerseys and won in overtime 5-4 with a final shot count of 33-26 in favor of BU. 

The Boston University Terriers were a popular pick to win the National Championship following a run to the Frozen Four last season. Still, they have started the season rough, dropping to 9th in the rankings. Meanwhile, the University of North Dakota is a team with many unknowns who failed to make the National Tournament last season. They started red hot with a record of 4-1-1 heading into the series and were ranked 3rd in the national polls. 

This series was part of the rigorous opening schedule arranged by Head Coach Brad Berry and the team’s first games on the road for the season. 

On Friday, Nov. 3, UND started the first period hot. Jackson Blake scored at 4:18 into the first period. UND kept up this positive momentum, killing off a BU power play and continuing to hold the lead. 

However, BU would answer back 3 minutes after UND killed that penalty. Dylan Peterson scored a scrappy net front goal to even up the score with four minutes left to play in the first. The play resulted from Shane LaChance carrying in the puck without any push-back and Peterson moving a UND defenseman out of the shooting lane at the front of the net. The shot count at the end of the first was 8-5 in favor of BU. 

UND would have a flurry of chances at the beginning of the second period, including a dangerous chance by Hunter Johannes and a power play. They failed to capitalize on both of those opportunities. 

Jackson Kunz took a penalty for roughing against BU, giving them a two-minute power play. Then Jake Schmaltz committed a faceoff violation and put UND at a 5-on-3 disadvantage. Macklin Celebrini passed to Lane Hutson at the far circle. Hutson held the puck, waiting for a UND defenseman to overcommit by going down to block his shot. Once the defenseman was down, Hutson had no one defending him. He shot the puck far side and in to give BU the lead. 

Then, one minute later, Ben Strinden would skate into BU’s zone and put the puck on net to score a shorthanded tying goal. Despite BU getting another power play to end the period, UND’s penalty kill held firm and kept the score tied at 2-2 going into the 3rd. The final shot count of the second was 13-7 in favor of UND.  

Berry took umbrage with the lack of discipline shown in this game, especially the second, saying that it cost them the game. 

“Discipline is a big thing and making sure that if you take a penalty, whatever you got to kill it,” Berry said. “But you can’t take two or three, and I thought that kind of just sparked them a little bit. Obviously, they got really good players and capitalized… Usually, games are dictated by special teams as they were tonight.” 

In the third, both teams exchanged chances, but Griffin Ness took a slashing penalty in the early minutes of the third, granting BU their fifth power play of the night. UND’s penalty kill was not enough this time, and Luke Tuch scored the game-winning goal for BU. Tuch was left unprotected in front of the net, allowing him to score, while the UND defensemen were focused on Devin Kaplan. The final shot count in the third was 16-5 in favor of UND. 

Berry said he liked UND’s play in the second and third periods minus the lack of discipline. He emphasized being pleased with their 5-on-5 play but said there were net front opportunities that UND did not utilize to their advantage. 

Gaber also felt that special teams were where UND was lacking and where the team needed to take a step up to beat BU. He identified lack of urgency as the issue with the powerplay, something Berry agreed with, saying the powerplay was “methodical” and too “slow.” 

“We had good looks, definitely a chance to get back in the game, but we didn’t capitalize,” Gaber said. “And unfortunately, on the wrong end of it tonight… When you’re urgent, things are going to go a lot better, they go your way.” 

After Friday night’s loss, Berry said, “We have to be better tomorrow at the end of the day,” and they came out ready for a change. 

On Saturday, Nov. 4, the first period of the game started less explosively, without a goal in the first five minutes of play. However, Jake Schmaltz elbowed a BU player in the head and took a five-minute major 3:20 into the game. 

On that five-minute major, Macklin Celebrini almost opened the scoring, but the goal was ruled offside, keeping the score at 0-0. Successfully killing the five-minute major and the successful offsides challenge gave UND an increase in momentum and multiple grade-A chances. 15 minutes into the period, Gaber would open scoring, for real this time, with a classic wrist shot from the faceoff dot. 

Huston would answer for Boston University with less than two minutes left in the period. The defenseman scored off a point shot where UND’s goal tender Ludvig Persson was screened by multiple BU and UND players alike. The score was an even 1-1 after the first period, with a shot count of 15-6 in favor of BU.  

Early in the second, UND would pull ahead. Owen McLaughlin scored just 1 minute into the period. It was a nifty pass from Gaber that McLaughlin would shoot quickly into the net, making the score 2-1. Shortly after that goal, Blake took a hooking penalty, but once again, UND’s PK was able to kill it off. About four minutes later, BU’s Quinn Hutson was sent to the box for boarding. 

It was on this power play that UND would increase their lead to two points. Jayden Perron scored with a wrist shot off the rush from a pass by Schmaltz. The goal widened UND’s lead to 3-1.  

UND could not maintain the 3-1 lead. Hutson again would play the spoiler 9 minutes later. He scored a goal tight to the net off a pass by Celebrini. The UND defensemen focused on Celebrini, and Hutson was able to get to a dangerous net front position without any resistance. With less than a minute left in the second, Hutson scored again. It was Hutson’s third goal of the night, giving him a hat trick and four goals in two games. 

Despite UND building up a good lead in the second, the period ended tied at 3-3 with a final shot count of 9-7 in favor of UND. 

Three minutes into the third, Aiden Celebrini took a penalty for holding, giving UND a power play in the first five minutes of play in the third. UND could not score on that manned advantage, but they harnessed the momentum. Less than thirty seconds later, Strinden scored his second goal of the series. It was a fast shot off the faceoff to restore UND’s lead early in the third.  

Again, UND would not hold onto the lead. Kaplan redirected a shot from Cade Webber to tie the game with two minutes left of play. The final score going into overtime was 4-4, with a shot count of 11-10 in favor of BU. 

Overtime ended quickly. Blake was able to score just 20 seconds into overtime. The goal was reviewed for goaltender interference, but it was ruled a good goal, giving UND the 5-4 win. 

UND has yet to sweep a team in regulation this season, and they continue next weekend looking to sweep Minnesota-Duluth, ranked 14th in the USCHO polls. They recently lost 5-1 to the Minnesota Gophers on Friday, Nov 3, but tied them 3-3 on Saturday, Nov. 4. Duluth will be the first NCHC opponent UND will face this year.  

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