In sports, teams usually play better at home. However, the opposite has been true for UND Hockey this season.
The Fighting Hawks have a home record of 7-6-1 this season while being 7-5-1 on the road.
Last season, UND was 19-4-1 at Ralph Engelstad Arena. It averaged 4.16 goals per game while only allowing 1.95 goals against at home last season.
This season UND is averaging 3.28 goals while allowing 2.85 goals against per game at home.
The players emphasized the home struggles after a tough 6-4 home loss to Colorado College last Friday.
“With the fans and community we have here, we should play harder here,” UND forward Ben Strinden said. “I mean it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity playing at a place like this and we got to channel that.”
Junior forward Dylan James, who had a four-point night agreed with Strinden.
“It’s frustrating,” James said. “We have a great community. 11,000 people come to support us, and we’re struggling to give them what they want. It’s hard.”
Ralph Engelstad Arena holds the second-largest capacity in college hockey (11,640) trailing only the University of Wisconsin’s Kohl Center (15,359).
While Wisconsin is having a down year, other big programs with high-capacity rinks defend home ice.
The University of Minnesota’s Marrucci Arena has the third-highest capacity, and the Gophers have a 12-2-2 home record this season.
Boston College’s home rink, the Conte Forum, has the sixth-highest capacity and the Eagles hold a 12-1 record on home ice this season.
Ohio State and Omaha are other teams in the top seven in rink capacity and have solid records at home. The Buckeyes are 10-2-1, and the Mavericks are 9-5 at home this season.
UND looks to bring its road NCHC success back home. It is 6-1-1 on the road while being 3-5 at home in conference play.
“Our fans are awesome,” UND Head Coach Brad Berry said. “We feel bad that we haven’t rewarded them in the last couple of weekends here at home, but it has to be that road mentality.
“I think when you go on the road, you simplify your game a little bit, where you are more predictable, and you have to make sure that you do the right things time and time again. Sometimes at home, maybe some guys feel they have to handle a puck for an extra second or two or make an extra play when maybe they should put a puck in. I think just simplifying the game and being a little bit harder in a lot of different areas with everybody.”
The Fighting Hawks bounced back at home the following night, defeating Colorado College 3-1. They are 14-11-2 (9-6-1 NCHC) and ranked No. 23 in the Pairwise.
UND has lost three of its last four home games to Colorado College.
The Fighting Hawks will travel to Denver this weekend. They will battle for the fourth spot in the NCHC standings.
Denver is 10-2-1 at home this season.
“We have to treat every game like it’s a must-win,” Strinden said. “We’ve got the guys to do it. I know that. We all know that in the locker room. We’ve shown that as well. We just have to go do it. We’ve said it enough. We just have to go execute.”
Elijah Andrews is the Dakota Student Sports Reporter. He can be reached at elijah.andrews@und.edu.
