COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--North Dakota forwards Brent Davidson and Brett Hextall each scored their first collegiate goal in a span of 14 seconds in the second period to lift the Fighting Sioux to a 3-1 WCHA win over top-ranked Colorado College in front of 7,311 at World Arena.
The loss was the first of the season for the Tigers (5-1-3, 3-1-1 WCHA), who had been off to their best start in 14 years. UND improved to 3-4-0 overall and 3-2-0 in league play.
Junior forward Darcy Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) also scored for the Sioux, while freshman goalie Brad Eidsness (Chestermere, Alberta) stopped 29 shots for his third win in four WCHA starts.
Critical in the victory was the play of UND's penalty killing unit, which killed all eight CC power-plays, including four in the third period. Among those four was a 5-on-3 Tiger man advantage that lasted for 85 seconds.
On the offensive end, all three UND goals were of the blue-collar variety, as the Sioux emphasized getting the puck to the CC net and creating traffic in front of Tiger netminder Richard Bachman.
“We played well for sixty minutes,” said Sioux head coach Dave Hakstol. “Whatever the situation was, we just went and battled hard and did the job.”
The line of Zajac, Matt Watkins (Sr., Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) and Andrew Kozek (Sr., Sicamous, British Columbia) was particularly effective controlling the play in the offensive zone and their ability to forecheck led to UND's first goal.
A strong cycle by the three forwards allowed Zajac to corral the puck in space behind the net and bury a wrap-around past Bachman to the far side. The goal was Zajac's first of the season and gave the Sioux a 1-0 lead after one.
Then Davidson and Hextall notched their milestone goals midway through the second period.
Ryan Martens (Sr., Selkirk, Manitoba) tried to beat Bachman to the short side with a shot from a tough angle down low, and with the puck still loose in the goalie's padding, Davidson whacked it home for a 2-0 Sioux lead.
On the ensuing shift, UND captain Ryan Duncan (Sr., Calgary, Alberta) fired a shot on goal that was stopped by Bachman, but Hextall was right on the doorstep to backhand the rebound past the CC netminder for a 3-0 cushion.
Eidsness did the rest, stopping 13 third-period shots and coming within 87 seconds of his first collegiate shutout. A Tyler Johnson shot from the top of the faceoff circle glanced off the arm of Bill Sweatt past Eidsness with 1:27 remaining, the only dent in a sparkling performance by the freshman goalie.
CC outshot the Sioux 30-29, including 10 shots while on the power-play.
The Sioux went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
The two teams will wrap up the series Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. Central.
Notes: Zajac's goal was his first since the 2008 WCHA Final Five third-place game against Colorado College, snapping a nine-game goal-scoring drought ... Senior forward Brad Miller (Alpharetta, Ga.) played his first career game on defense and was a +2 ... Duncan drew an assist on Hextall's goal, giving him 139 career points and tying him for 33rd on UND's all-time scoring list with Ken Johansson (1950-53) and Russ Parent (1986-90).
