The Saturday night series finale against Omaha started with Cody Croal (So.) leveling Jacob Guévin (Sr.) into the end wall. The Ralph Engelstad Arena broke into raptures. As the sides skated back to center ice, North Dakota retrieved the puck, looking to spend some quality time in the Omaha zone. It seemed like the two sides wanted to pick back up where they left off the night before, when UND triumphantly beat the Mavericks 4-1.
Do I Know You?
Despite meeting just one night before, the conference opponents looked different. Both teams had made changes to their lineups following the brawl that took place the night before, with North Dakota’s Andrew Strathmann (So.) and Omaha’s Sean Tschigerl (So.) in the stands, serving suspensions for fighting.
Mike Gabinet had changes to make as Simon Latkoczy (Sr.) sat out due to injury, and Aidan de La Gorgendiere (Jr.) only participated in the warmup due to an illness. The Omaha head coach called on Cameron Briere (Fr.) to fill in for Tschigerl, and Dawson Cowan (Fr.) to sit between the posts. Joe Gramer (So.), a Moorhead native, joined the defensive group for the series finale.
For the home side, Ian Engel (Fr.) joined the lineup to replace Strathmann, while Gibson Homer (Gr.) joined in place of the red-hot Czech, Jan Špunar (Fr.). The transfer student played his last game on Nov. 15, in a loss to his former school, Arizona State University. Homer made 29 saves to get the win (5-4-0), recovering from a power play goal less than two minutes into the second period, and went above .500 in his ninth start.
“Obviously, Jan’s played unbelievable,” said UND Head Coach Dane Jackson after the game. “As a staff, we talked about our depth. We wanted it in all situations…it would have been easy to put Jan back in, but we just felt strongly that Gibby would do the job and we wanted to keep him sharp before the break.”
Lucky Number Two
After a scoreless but exciting first 20, North Dakota was exposed early, taking a penalty and conceding a goal all within the first 2 minutes of the second period. E.J. Emery went to the box for a weak slashing call 40 seconds in, setting up a man advantage for the Mavericks. Omaha substitute Cameron Briere got his second goal of the season, assisted by Jérémy Loranger (Fr.) and Luke Woodworth (Fr.), to open the scoring in Grand Forks.
Never content to chase a game, Dane Jackson’s Fighting Hawks came straight back. Less than a minute after play resumed, Anthony Menghini (Jr.) stormed the net, lashing a shot past Dawson Cowan to get his second of the season. The Baxter, MN native recorded his second point of the weekend, scoring on back-to-back nights for the first time in a UND sweater. Jake Livanavage (Jr.) tallied an assist on the goal, also bringing his point total to two (2a) over the weekend.
Play picked up after the tying goal, with both sides seeing their fair share of chances. Omaha had two power plays due to the aggressive pace of play, as Bennett Zmolek (Sr.) and Jayden Jubenvill (So.) took penalties for elbowing and interference, respectively. Jubenvill took a game misconduct penalty with his interference infraction, forcing his exclusion from play for ten minutes.
Neither team could find a way to get ahead until the closing seconds of the second period. North Dakota pressed into the Omaha zone, pushing the visitors into defense. Off a clearance, Ellis Rickwood (Sr.) repossessed the puck in the slot, charging toward the net. With 2.4 seconds remaining, the UND forward deftly moved the puck over the line for his second of the season.
“It was unreal,” the North Dakota captain said of Rickwood’s return to the lineup. “He’s a really special player; we definitely missed him. I loved how our group stepped up when he was out and [we’re] definitely happy to have him back.”
Saw ‘Em Off
The final period of play had fans in attendance nervously looking on. A week before, North Dakota went into the third period leading by 1, later giving up the game-tying goal in what had been an otherwise UND-dominated period.
Dane Jackson’s men were put on the back foot immediately, as the Mavericks cycled the puck to get back up the ice. Briere fired a puck toward the goal but was ultimately denied by the iron. Omaha’s Cowan came up big in the final 20, denying North Dakota key chances to widen its lead.
In the final minutes of play, the visitors unleashed a flurry of shots, which were swiftly dealt with by UND, who looked toward the empty net on the far side. With less than a minute remaining, Cody Croal regained the puck and skated toward neutral ice. The sophomore forward calmly passed into the empty net to kill any hopes the Mavericks still had.
Halfway There
With the win, North Dakota gained a key milestone it had been missing this season: its first home sweep. Additionally, UND grabbed its first home-and-away sweep of an NCHC opponent and went to the top of the conference standings.
“We’ve got a lot of room for growth,” Dane Jackson said as he reflected on the first half of the season. “We’ve got to get better if we want to try to vie for a national championship…It still comes down to guys making plays and executing under pressure… You know what you have to do, and you just try to take care of your own business.”
Anthony Dillett is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].
