PORTLAND, Maine – The first collegiate victory for both first-year North Dakota head coach Brad Berry and his goaltender, sophomore Cam Johnson, did not come without a heavy dose of early adversity.

After Johnson and UND yielded a pair of Lake Superior State goals a minute apart early in the first period (another LSSU goal 11 seconds into the game was overturned by video review), Berry was forced to utilize his timeout before six minutes had elapsed in his head-coaching debut.

Berry's message during that timeout was received loud and clear, as UND stormed back with five unanswered goals to defeat the Lakers 5-2 to open the Ice Breaker Tournament and the regular season.

Rookie Shane Gersich, junior Keaton Thompson (PPG) and sophomore Ausitn Poganski all scored in the first eight minutes of the second period to give UND a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Bryn Chyzyk put the final bow on the season-opener with a pair of third-period goals.

“I was nervous a little bit at the start, as you could tell, and it showed,” said Johnson, with a smile. “After that timeout I just regrouped my thoughts and I calmed down. Coach Berry said, 'Relax, you're fine.' The boys were all on my side so that really helped build my confidence and I was seeing the puck well after that.”

Berry singled out poor execution on a series of faceoff plays that resulted in several LSSU scoring chances, putting UND on its heels. He called the timeout, he explained, to let his young team catch its breath.

“I think our guys got innerved just a little bit. Not a whole lot, but a little bit. We just wanted to reset and get back to our game,” said Berry. “Cam came back to the bench too – he's part of our team – and we said, 'Hey, you've got to play better.'”

Gersich got UND on the board just 1:23 into the second period, then Thompson tallied a power-play goal six minutes to pull even.

Forty-seven seconds later, Poganski found himself alone in front of the Lakers' net with the puck on his stick and swept it through the legs of LSSU goalie Gordon Deifeil.

Less than a minute after that, with UND finally on top, Johnson stuffed LSSU's Matt Johnson on a breakaway chance to preserve the hard-fought lead.

“That one helped me out a bunch,” admitted Johnson. “After that I was like, 'I'm not letting any more in.' The guys battled really hard back there for me.”

Indeed, Johnson was perfect the rest of the way, stopping all 21 shots he faced over the final 40 minutes and 13 of 13 in the third period. The Troy, Mich., had to be particularly sharp for the final five minutes of the second period, when senior forward Drake Caggiula was assessed a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct. UND out-shot the Lakers 3-2 during the 5-minute major and killed it off with the lead intact.

Johnson and the penalty killers were front and center once again early in the third period, during a near-full 5-on-3 LSSU power –play. UND junior defenseman Troy Stecher, the first penalized player, stepped out of the penalty box and led a 2-on-1 rush with Chyzyk streaking to the net. Stecher saucered a perfect pass to Chyzyk, who slid it past Defiel to make it a 4-2 game.

Chyzyk, one of only two seniors in UND's lineup after Caggiula left the game, sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute.

“Special teams was a big momentum builder,” said Chyzyk after the second 2-goal game of his career. “The five-minute kill, going into the locker room, was huge for us. And the 5-on-3, that's just all mentality. Who's gonna want it more, who's going to block that shot. I thought our guys did a great job.”

UND, surviving the early onslaught, outshot the Lakers 45-26 and delivered that first 'W' for Berry and Johnson.

“That's a good team over there,” Berry said of the Lakers. “They played extremely hard, they pressured the puck wherever it was at. They came at you in waves. What we had to do was push the puck up ice and use our speed to try to get some outnumbered rushes. That's a tribute to the players in our locker room for adhering to a game plan and using the skills they have, one of which is speed.”

An opening-night loss avoided, fourth-ranked UND now shifts its focus to Saturday's tournament finale against the host Maine Black Bears.

“The guys stuck with it,” said Berry. “They did a good job of coming back and staying with the game plan. They dug in and I'm very proud of them.”

Notes: Saturday's game against Maine begins at 7 p.m. Central … Chyzyk, Thompson and Johnson were named the game's three stars … Chyzyk led the team with eight shots on goal, followed by Gersich's seven … Junior captain Gage Ausmus led all players with a plus-4 rating, while his defense partner Troy Stecher was a plus-3 … Sophomore forward Johnny Simonson left the game in the third period with an upper body injury and is day-to-day.