The University of North Dakota ends the weekend tied for first place in the NCHC with St. Cloud State University after their two-game series split against the Huskies.  

UND defeated the Huskies 5-3 on Friday, Jan. 19, at Herbs Brooks Arena and then tied 3-3 with St. Cloud but lost 2-1 in the shootout on Saturday, Jan. 20. It was a good showing against the current biggest competition. UND has not swept an NCHC opponent since their series against the University of Miami, Ohio.  

Some of the highlights of this weekend were the powerplay, which had two goals in Friday night’s game, and Ludvig Persson’s star performance in the net, with a combined .917 SV% in both games.  

On Friday night, UND got off to a dominant start, getting on the attack immediately. However, five minutes into the first period, Owen Mclaughlin took a penalty for interference. UND’s penalty kill kept St. Cloud from capitalizing, and shortly after killing the penalty, Jackson Blake opened the scoring for UND. The Fighting Hawks would get a chance on the power play in the first, but they were not able to convert. Then, with only seconds left in the first, Garrett Pyke scored off the faceoff to give UND a 2-0 lead going into the second period with a shot count of 9-5 UND.  

Only 24 seconds into the second period, Mason Salquist cut UND’s lead in half. UND would get another chance on the power play, and this time, and the power play would convert, with Jackson Blake scoring his second goal of the game and UND’s third goal of the night. UND held onto that lead for the rest of the period, despite a strong push by St. Cloud. The shots in the second were 15-7 in favor of the Huskies.  

St. Cloud would score again in the first five minutes of the third period, but Cameron Berg would answer back for UND with a power play goal to keep a two-goal lead over the Huskies, but that was not the last of the power play goals. St. Cloud made it 4-3 on the power play with four minutes left in the third period. However, Louis Jamernik V would end it for UND, potting an empty net goal to secure the victory. The shot count in the third was 17-7 Huskies.  

After the first period, the Huskies led the shot count, but Persson, a strong first-period performance, and special teams were the biggest difference-makers for UND in Friday night’s game. The win over the Huskies moved UND to number one in the NCHC, but that would change after Saturday’s game.  

On Saturday, St. Cloud State was looking for the series split and, more importantly, the ability to regain first place in the competitive NCHC. In Friday’s game, UND came out hot and took an early lead; on Saturday, St. Cloud came out strong.  

Kyler Kupka opened scoring for St. Cloud about eight minutes into the first, but Blake answered back only 10 seconds later. St. Cloud dominated the first, out shooting UND 17-4 in the first. However, Persson and the UND defense held strong, keeping it tied at one going into the second.  

The second period was a heated back and forth, with both teams seeking to get the edge and break the tie, but St. Cloud would edge out UND, scoring their second goal of the game with only three minutes left in the third. The shots in the second were 10-9 in favor of UND.  

Two minutes into the third period, Jake Livanavage scored to tie the game again, but once again, St. Cloud would regain the lead, Veeti Miettinen scoring their third goal and his second of the series, only two minutes later. Berg tied it again for UND, scoring his second goal of the weekend with seven minutes left to play in the third. Despite the best attempts from both coaches and teams, the game went to overtime; shots in the third period were 8-7 Huskies.  

It was a very strong overtime performance for UND, which has lost the last five OT games they played. UND maintained sole possession of the puck for four out of five minutes of three-on-three overtime. They tried out the St. Cloud players, not allowing them to get a line change in. However, they were not able to use that possession to score.  

The game went to the shootout. Miettinen was the first shooter, and he scored on Persson to give St. Cloud the lead. Blake had a chance next but was poke-checked by Huskie goalie Dominic Basse and did not score, but neither did St. Cloud’s next skater. Jackson Kunz shot next for UND and made it. However, Adam Ingram would answer back. Jayden Perron was UND’s last shooter, but he hit the post and did not score, giving St. Cloud the win.  

UND will not face the Huskies in the regular season again. The Fighting Hawks return to the Ralph Engelstad Arena to face NCHC opponent the University of Denver, with whom they split in Magnuss in Arena earlier this season.  

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