After being swept in the previous season by the Denver Pioneers, the UND Fighting Hawks went into Magness Arena to make a statement sweep over number 3 and UND’s biggest NCHC competition.  

On Friday, Dec 1, UND mounted a tremendous comeback to win 7-5 against the Pioneers and lost 3-2 in OT on Saturday, Dec 2. It was a good showing for a top three ranked UND team looking to recapture the Penrose Cup.  

Friday, Dec 1 was an explosive start to the first game against the second and third ranked teams in the country. Just two minutes into the game, Dylan James opened the scoring for UND. However, DU would answer back with Shai Buium scoring just one minute later. Then within the next five minutes Carter King and Tristan Broz made DU’s lead 3-1. Even though Broz’s goal was reviewed for high sticking but was still called a good goal.  

Denver’s Rieger Lorenz took a penalty for elbowing, but UND’s power play was short lived when Hunter Johannes took a penalty for high sticking making it 4-on-4 play. During 4-on-4, Jack Divine scored DU’s fourth goal on seven shots. UND would get another chance on the powerplay but could not capitalize. The score at the end of the first was 4-1 in favor of Denver with a shot count of 11-10 in favor of UND.  

The scoring slowed down for the first 10 minutes of the second before Owen McLaughlin scored to cut Denver’s lead in half. Kent Anderson of Denver took a tripping penalty and UND went on another power play. UND was able to convert with Cameron Berg bringing UND to within one, but the joy was short lived. Three minutes later Broz scored again for DU restoring DU’s multi-goal lead. The score 5-3 DU at the end of the second with a shot count of 11-8 in favor of DU.  

The third period was explosive for the Fighting Hawks. UND scored four unanswered goals to not only retake the lead but to win it by two. Jackson Blake brought UND within one six minutes into the third period. Louis Jamernik V scored the game-tying goal for UND. Then on a late third period power play, Riese Gaber scored to give UND the lead. Cameron Berg finished off the scoring just a few seconds after Gaber’s goal to seal the win. The final score was 7-5 with a shot count of 11-8 in favor of DU.  

Saturday, Dec 2 was a slow start to the game. Five minutes into the first period Shane Behrens took a penalty on Jackson Blake giving UND the manned advantage. While UND was able to get some chances, the best chance was a shorthanded breakaway attempt by Denver’s Jared Wright. Behrens would get another good chance for the Pioneers right out of the box, but Keaton Pehrson was able to get back in time to prevent him from scoring. UND was unable to harness the momentum of the powerplay and DU continued to get grade A chances after the end of the powerplay.  

Then Sam Harris received a five-minute misconduct for a check from behind giving UND a five-minute power play to pull ahead of the Pioneers. With only 42 seconds left in the five-minute power play, Cameron Berg scored from the faceoff circle to give Hunter Johannes took his second penalty of the series putting UND on the penalty kill to finish out the first period, but they were able to kill the penalty and close out the first period with a 1-0 lead. The shots were 14-7 in favor of UND.  

In the second period, DU started off with a few high-quality chances, but UND managed to get a few chances as well.  Five minutes into the period, Aiden Thompson was left completely undefended and was able to pot the game tying goal for DU. UND pushed back and had some good chances but could not regain the lead. In the final few minutes, UND took a penalty but one minute into DU’s powerplay, Thompson took a penalty resulting in a minute of 4-on-4 play and a UND power play. Neither team was able to convert on those opportunities. The period finished 1-1 with a shot count of 9-5 in favor of UND.  

Johannes restored UND’s lead four minutes into the third. UND harnessed that positive momentum to get a few more chances but DU was not done. At 11:05 into the third, Zeev Buium tied the game for DU. Despite both teams exchanging chances, the score remained locked at 2-2. The game went into overtime. The final shot count in the third was 8-8.  

Carter King scored the game winner for DU two minutes into overtime with UND not registering a single shot in overtime.  

UND returns home to Grand Forks to face off against Colorado College, another NCHC opponent to improve their in-conference standings.  

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