ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Freshman forward Trevor Olson was a healthy scratch for North Dakota's 3-1 loss to St. Cloud State on Friday night.

Inserted into the lineup Saturday night for injured teammate Bryn Chyzyk, Olson delivered for UND.

The Duluth, Minn., native, celebrating his 21st birthday, scored the first two goals of his collegiate career to led second-ranked UND to a 3-2 victory and NCHC series split.

Olson scored his first career goal to get UND on the board before the game was even three minutes old, knocking home a loose puck on the doorstep. He was also stationed on top of the crease for his second goal, depositing a Troy Stecher rebound at 5:52 of the second period for a 3-1 UND lead and the eventual game-winner.

“It feels really good,” said Olson. “We've got 15 (forwards) ready to play in the lineup every single night so it felt good to get back in. I just wanted to play my game, stay physical and get some pucks on net. It was pretty fun.”

Olson was put on a line with fellow freshmen Austin Poganski – a St. Cloud native – and Johnny Simonson, and UND head coach Dave Hakstol said that unit's effort was key for a team searching for more balanced scoring throughout the lineup.

“In a lot of ways they set a good pace for us,” said Hakstol. “They did their job. They played straight lines, they played pretty heavy, kept things simple and did a good job of continuing to build momentum for us. It was a good night for all of them.”

“It's a great birthday present, both of those,” Hakstol said of Olson's goals. “It was nice to see. Trevor's been squeezing (his stick) a little bit and hasn't been able to get one, but those aren't lucky goals. He went to hard areas and his linemates, along with him, made those happen.”

Senior forward Brendan O'Donnell followed up Olson's first goal less than two minutes later, snapping a wrist shot that found the top corner on SCSU goalie Charlie Lindgren's glove side. In search of a strong start, UND found itself leading the host Huskies 2-0 inside of five minutes.

SCSU freshman Patrick Russell answered 55 seconds later, beating UND goalie Zane McIntyre to the short side from the faceoff circle. But UND maintained the 2-1 lead through the first period and stretch the lead to two goals on Olson's second of the game.

Joey Benik pulled the Huskies to within one when he beat McIntyre from the bottom of the faceoff circle at 13:29 of the second period, but McIntyre and his teammates slammed the door the rest of the way and nullified SCSU's comeback bid.

“Last night we had a good start and just didn't stick to the game plan. Tonight we had a good start and stayed with it,” said UND senior forward Mark MacMillan, who moved to center tonight and won 19 of 33 faceoffs.

“Those are the kind of games you need to learn how to win to be a good team in college hockey and tonight I think the third period was probably our best 20 minutes just battling up and making sure we got the job done.”

McIntyre turned aside all 11 St. Cloud shots in the third period, many of which came from outside or long range.

“They were coming hard in the third period,” said Olson. “Like we always say, if we have a lead heading into the third, we just want to do anything we can to keep that lead. It's a greasy win but we got the job done and held the fort down.”

Last night, Hakstol said the Huskies were the better team in all areas. Tonight, he was pleased with his team's performance as UND outshot the Huskies 39-29. Thirty-one of UND's shots came in the first two periods.

“I thought we did everything better (than last night),” said Hakstol. “We played better without the puck tonight. We weren't standing around in the area, we were defending the area.

“We were engaged in every scrum, every battle, every 50-50 puck. We didn't win all of them, but we were engaged in all of those battles.”

UND, now 9-3-1 overall and 4-2-0 in the NCHC, returns home for a league series against Omaha next weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Notes: Olson and Poganski, who assisted on both Olson goals, were named the game's first two stars, respectively. Poganski's assists were the first of his collegiate career … Junior forward Drake Caggiula had his 6-game point streak and 4-game goal streak come to an end … Both teams went 0-3 on the power play … Attendance was a sold out 5,569 … UND remained unbeaten (14-0-1) all time when O'Donnell scores a goal.