After being swept by Wisconsin, UND took no time to dwell and came back strong to sweep Bemidji this weekend during the home-and-home series.

Starting off on home ice, game one saw an uncharacteristic Bemidji team. The Beavers have historically been tough competitors for UND, but the Hawks were able to out-skate and out-play their opponents.

UND’s scoring was lead again by the freshman class as Hallie Theodosopoulos snagged her first collegiate goal as she tipped in a shot from captain Halli Krzyzaniak in just over two minutes of play.

The Hawks beat BSU goaltender Brittni Mowat again in the first period when Emma Nuutinen wrapped around and snuck one in on the side of the net for her fourth goal of the season.

“They’re good kids, they’re hard working kids,” Head coach Brian Idalski said. “They’re very coachable and that’s just scratching the surface, they’re taking new steps every day and they’re getting better and better and that’s encouraging.”

Representing the senior class, Amy Menke jumped on the board in the second to put UND up 3-0. Even with the underclassmen scoring more this season, the seniors are making the passes and getting the assists to help their freshmen teammates succeed.

“It’s still our older kids that are leading the way,” Idalski said. “Even if they’re not on the stat sheet they’re doing all the small things right and being a good example.”

BSU couldn’t get past UND goaltender Lexie Shaw until the halfway point of the game when an unfortunate bounce found the back of the net for a career first for BSU’s Abby Halluska.

Sophomore Abbey Stanley pushed UND back into a three goal lead before the end of the second, which BSU’s Jacqueline Kaasa responded to. UND would head into the third with a 4-2 lead.

The third period saw improvement from Mowat as she stopped all 11 shots on net, but as the coaches decided to pull her for a last-minute extra attacker, Menke put in an empty net goal while trying to clear the zone on UND’s penalty kill.

Both teams played a strong game throughout all three periods, but Shaw was a brick wall for UND that played a big role in the win.

“She held the fort and kept them at bay until we had our feet underneath us,” Idalski said.  “I thought she played really well.”

Heading to Bemidji for game two, the Beavers team from the previous day was gone and a stronger more threatening team had shown up. 

It was another strong game for Shaw as she played a perfect game for her third shutout of the season and worked as a strong aspect during UND’s penalty kill.

Taking her fifth goal of the season and putting UND up 1-0, Nuutinen’s performance again was nothing short of amazing. The Finnish freshmen currently lead the team in goal scoring.

Both teams couldn’t get any further as Mowat and Shaw played their top games, saving 24 and 21 shots, respectively.

Solidifying the UND win, BSU attempted their extra attacker approach again and a battle along the boards for the puck  won by UND’s Sarah Lecavalier who pushed the puck into the empty net as her first collegiate goal and for  a 2-0 win.

UND will be on a bye week and head back into play against Minnesota Duluth the following weekend, Nov. 12-13 at home. Saturday’s puck drop is scheduled for 2:07 p.m.

Allyson Bento is the sports editor for the Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected]