UND Forward Luke Johnson celebrating one of his two goals on Friday night against Colorado College. Photo by Nick Nelson/ The Dakota Student

When UND coach Brad Berry entered the media room Friday night, it became apparent that he was physically disgruntled from the way his team played against Colorado College.

“It’s not good enough,” Berry said. “It’s not good enough at all as far as where we want to get to.”

This weekend’s series against Colorado College did not appear to be that daunting of a task for the Hawks.

CC had only won five games all year, which put the Tigers at last in NCHC.

At the start of Friday, the game played out like everyone expected.

UND exploded in the first period by scoring four unanswered goals, two of which came off the stick of Luke Johnson. Colorado College did score at the end of the 1st, but with the score being 4-1, everything seemed right with the world.

But then the game shifted, and the Tigers caught fire. CC rallied off another two goals to make the score 4-3. After the third goal on 11 shots, Berry decided enough was enough and pulled Cam Johnson for early-season starter Matt Hrynkiw.

“The turning point was the shorthanded goal,’’ Berry said. “That gave them the one goal to get back in it. From there, they made a mindset of chipping pucks, getting them deep and getting after us. And we didn’t play the right way after that four-goal lead.’’

The Tigers were not done yet. CC would rally off another two goals to put the Tigers ahead for the first time in the game.

Fans could have heard a pin drop in the Ralph.

The clock continued to tick down and out of desperation Berry finally pulled Hrynkiw to get an extra skater on ice.

The gamble paid off as Rhett Gardner flipped the puck over the goaltender’s outstretched glove to tie the score with 32 seconds left in the game.

The game would result in a tie but UND went on to win the shootout and get the extra point off of an impressive sequence of dekes from Brock Boeser during the shootout.

While getting two points against a NCHC opponent is always important, no one in the locker room was satisfied with Friday’s effort.

To its credit, Colorado College did a great job during the series of blocking the Hawk’s shots and making them work for their goals, especially in the first period. That effort would not hold this time around.

The Hawks bombarded the Tiger’s defense. There were stretches during the game where it seemed UND lived in CC’s zone. This kind of offensive pressure resulted in five goals off 32 shots, which was more than enough to put the Tigers away for good.

UND used the night before as a learning tool and stomped CC 5-1.

Bryn Chyzyk was a key contributor as the senior accounted for three total points.

“I’ve been on the right end of some plays,” Chyzyk said. “I think my game has a long ways to go still. Im not happy yet with how I am playing. I think I can contribute more to my teammates but tonight was a positive step and hopefully I can keep it going.”

While there has been some ups and downs, UND wrapped up it’s homestand nicely with a 5-1-1 record and continues to sit at the top of the national rankings.

The Hawks will start its two week road trip this weekend as they face NCHC foe Western Michigan, followed by a series against Denver.

Alex Stadnik is the sports editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]