KALAMAZOO, Mich — As the full-time buzzer sounded at the Lawson Ice Arena, an ecstatic North Dakota team took to the ice in celebration. After one of their most complete games in weeks, the Fighting Hawks had won their seventh Penrose Cup in program history.
Task: Dispatched
UND did not trail once against the Broncos. Despite being a strong road team this season (11-3-0), recent performances had left many worried that the Hawks’ chance to lift the cup would evade them again. Instead, North Dakota put together one of its best 60 minutes all season.
“I was just really happy with how we played a full game,” reflected first-year head coach Dane Jackson. “[We] couldn’t take any of those lulls that we’ve had a little bit of issues with…[I’m] just proud of the boys about how they stepped up in a really tough environment and played a real strong, solid game.”
UND looked in control for much of the game, preventing zone entries and turning the puck north. On its two penalty kills, North Dakota turned away the Broncos. At even strength, the Brown and Gold stayed determined to level the score, bringing it even twice in the first two periods.
When the Hawks finally got some breathing room in the third, Pat Ferschweiler pulled Hampton Slukynsky (So.), setting up an extra attacker goal to bring the home side within one. Despite the momentum, a resolute North Dakota shrugged off the Broncos in the final minutes.
“We really challenged our guys about how hard it was gonna be,” Jackson said. “We’ve had a little bit of inconsistency lately, and I just thought it was a challenge [we] accepted, and the guys said: ‘Alright, let’s go, we’re getting into our playoff mode here,’ and they were prepared and ready.”
With the win, North Dakota also clinched the first seed in the NCHC tournament, securing home ice for the entire competition. Additionally, the Hawks moved up to second in the NPI, an important metric for seeding the NCAA postseason field.
It’s a Young Man’s Game
Every goal that the Hawks scored last night came off the stick of underclassmen; four of the five goals they scored came from the mercurial freshman class.
Sam Laurila (Fr.) opened the scoring with his first collegiate goal. The young blueliner has suited up as the extra defenseman over the past few weekends, providing much-needed depth on the ice. With eight assists this season, a goal did not feel far away.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for that one,” Laurila quipped. “I should have had, like, three goals on that shift…[but] it’s the NCHC, it’s tough to score in, and I just knew it was coming. [I] just stayed, trusted the process, and Strinds made a great play to me there, luckily it fell back in the back of the net.”
Freshman center Ollie Josephson (Fr.) found the next goal for the Hawks after a smart pass from Jake Livanavage (Jr.). The former Red Deer man also had the best faceoff percentage (.416) of UND’s centers in the game.
In the second period, Josh Zakreski (Fr.) slipped in another goal to maintain the lead, his third of the season and second since his return from an injury sustained in October.
Less than five minutes into the third period, freshman winger Will Zellers put in the winning goal for the Hawks. Mac Swanson (So.) hit the back of an empty net with 20 seconds left in the game to seal the deal.
Freshman goaltender Jan Špunar made 22 saves (.880) in the win, coming up big against the Broncos’ offensive efforts. The first-year goaltender has been solid between the pipes for North Dakota, maintaining a .917 save percentage across 21 appearances.
Quick Words from the Winners:
- Bennett Zmolek (Gr.) on the final minutes: “That was probably the slowest 15 minutes of — it felt like — my life. I was very relieved that Swanny put that one in.”
- Sam Laurila on the Penrose win: “One of our goals at the start of the year was to win the Penrose, to win our league. It’s such a tough league to win in, and it was just a mature game from us tonight. I thought we were playing winning hockey.”
- Ben Strinden (Sr.) on how having 15 new teammates, as well as a new coaching staff, got North Dakota to the Cup: “I think we just love each other. We love coming to the rink each day. I think when you have a team like that, it shows on the ice too, and it definitely is this year. Our coaching staff’s done an unbelievable job, and just top to bottom, we’re close, and we’re a family.”
Tonight…
The Fighting Hawks will play their last regular-season game at the Lawson Ice Arena tonight at 5:00 p.m. CT. The finale will be available to stream on NCHC.tv. Radio listeners can find the game on the Fighting Hawks Radio Network via iHeart Radio, the Fighting Hawks website, or on 96.1 FM for local listeners.
Anthony Dillett is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and on X @adillettgf.