GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Players have some control over the outcome of a game for their team by their individual effort and play.

The bounce of the puck is the unknown that can be the great equalizer -- and sometimes the heartbreaker.

A bounce that went the way of Miami tonight in the second period snapped a 2-2 tie and gave the RedHawks a 3-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference victory over homestanding North Dakota in front of 11,525 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Sean Kuraly -- the game's No. 1 star with two goals and one assist -- corralled the bounce off the back glass at 6:50 of the second period, tapping the puck past UND goalie Zane McIntyre (27 saves) to break the tie and snap UND's eight-game unbeaten streak in the process.

"Those bounces seem to happen from time to time,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. ''That's what it was. We can look at what we can do better. That bounce is one thing that is out of our control.''

The power-play goal came just over five minutes after UND's Drake Caggiula scored shorthanded on a 2-on-0 rush with a wrister just inside the far post at 1:22 of the second period.

It was North Dakota's seventh shorthanded goal of the season, the most in the nation.

Bounces worked against UND earlier in the game as well.

Down 2-1, UND's Luke Johnson nearly tied it late in the first period when he hit the post solidly from straight out front of Miami goalie Jay Williams (21 saves).

UND dug itself into a 2-0 hole before the game was five minutes old.

Miami's Alex Gacek scored on a spinner from the top of the goal crease off a Miami faceoff win at 3:09 of the first period and Kuraly capped a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush with his first career shorty in 89 games at 4:15 to put UND into a hole.

UND battled back to tie it with the comeback starting on a wraparound by Michael Parks at 14:36 of the first period, his fourth of the season. That chopped the Miami lead in half.

Caggiula's shorthanded goal -- his second of the season -- tied it early in the second period, but Kuraly got the break off the bouncing puck for the deciding goal.

Miami outshot North Dakota 30-23 and blanked UND on its six power-play chances while converting 1-of-2 of its own chances.

"That was a hard-fought hockey game,'' Hakstol said. "I thought we were OK. We were OK for 50 minutes. We didn't start very well. We worked hard to dig ourselves out of a two-goal deficit.''

Senior Mark MacMillian, coming back after missing four games with a severe skate cut to his left wrist, played well and assisted on the goal by Parks that started UND's rally.

"We played a pretty good hockey game, but anytime you give up two goals to a hockey team like Miami it's going to be pretty hard to win a game,'' MacMillan said. "Especially as quick as they got them.''

MacMillian, who wore a soft cast and wrap on his wrist, said his wrist felt fine.

"I've got a little bit of protective brace on it, so it's a little restrictive, but it felt pretty good,'' MacMillan said.

UND, in losing for the first time since dropping the season opener on Oct. 10 to Bemidji State, continued a pattern of late of falling behind and then battling back.

"We spotted them two goals,'' Caggiula said. "That's three times now I think at home that we've come out a little slow out of the gates and it's tough to keep battling back every night like that, especially against a good team like Miami.''

The RedHawks (8-3 overall, 4-1 NCHC) came into the weekend ranked No. 7 nationally compared to a No. 2 ranking for UND (7-2-1 overall, 2-1 NCHC).

"We can't spot a team 2-0, in our own barn, especially,'' Caggiula said. "I like the way we finished, though. We've got a lot to build off of.''

UND notes: Connor Gaarder led UND in shots on goal with five, followed by Caggiula and Johnny Simonson with three each ... Riley Barber's five shots paced Miami ... Miami took 12 penalties for 35 minutes, eight for 27 ... UND's Colten St. Clair and Miami's Matthew were both give 5-minute majors for facemasking and game misconducts in the first period ... Johnson won 11 of 18 draws to led UND to a slim 34-31 edge in faceoff wins ... The two teams meet in a rematch at 7:07 tomorrow night to finish the series ... UND plays at Miami the first weekend in March to conclude the regular season.

Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald until his retirement in 2005. He's now in his 10th season of reporting on UND games exclusively for UNDsports.com.