KALAMAZOO, Mich. – North Dakota junior forward Drake Caggiula was feeling a little frustrated as tonight's game at Western Michigan headed into overtime.

The Whitby, Ontario, native had already hit the post twice, the second one ringing off the cross-bar in the final minutes of the third period with UND protecting a slim lead.

Those shots off the iron loomed especially large after the host Broncos rallied from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of extra-attacker goals to tie the game in the final four minutes of regulation.

But with 89 seconds left in overtime, Caggiula finally found redemption.

Senior defenseman Nick Mattson located Caggiula at the side of the WMU goal mouth and Caggiula banked a back-hand shot off the glove of goalie Lukas Hafner for the game-winner and series sweep.

It was Caggiula's 15th goal of the season and his second game-winner of the series, lifting UND to a 3-2 victory.

It also kept UND in sole possession of first place in the NCHC heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

“I had two posts earlier in the game and I was fighting the puck a little bit today,” said Caggiula, who has scored a goal in four straight games. “I just got a lucky one in front of the net and off his shoulder and luckily for us it went in. I had a lot of time to make a move. I probably had more time and I rushed it a bit.”

Mattson's play to set up the goal resulted in his second assist of the night.

“I was having a really hard time getting shots through all weekend. They were doing a good job getting in the lane,” said Mattson. “So I just tried to freeze (the WMU forward) a bit and our forwards in front did a really good job sliding off to the side.”

The Broncos sent the game to overtime on a Justin Kovacs goal during a wild scramble in front of UND goalie Zane McIntyre with 30 seconds left in regulation. That goal came three minutes after Will Kessel had made it a one-goal came, also with an extra-attacker goal.

“We've got to do a better job (in those situations). That's on me. We've got to do a better job being strong and that's something we'll have to work at,” said UND head coach Dave Hakstol. “The positive is this group once again showed a short memory.

“At the end of the day a couple of things stand out,” added Hakstol. “We had really good goaltending and a great battle level and we made a play to win it. That's what you have to do to win on the road in this league.”

McIntyre provided 34 saves for North Dakota after stopping 33 of 34 shots in Friday's 3-1 win.

Goals by Michael Parks in the second period and Paul LaDue in the third period had staked UND to the 2-goal lead.

“We had a little bit of a mental lapse. We don't want to give up goals 6-on-5. We've got to learn how to close out those games,” said Mattson. “Unfortunately, we let them tie it up but we had a short memory and kept our heads high and came back and won in overtime. It's a learning lesson for us but we're happy to get this win."

UND now heads home for its final home series next weekend against St. Cloud State with a 3-point lead on Miami and a six-point lead on Omaha. UND will close out the regular season in two weeks at Miami.

“That's all you can ask for is to put yourself in a position of strength where you control your own destiny,” said Mattson. “We're just excited to get back to Grand Forks in front of our fans and hopefully we can close things out pretty soon.

“It was disappointing to give up that lead but good teams find ways to win those games,” added Mattson with a laugh. “I don't know how, but we got it done.”

Notes: The Broncos outshot UND 36-30 … UND was 0-5 on the power play and the Broncos were 1-4. Kessel's goal that got WMU on the board was a 6-on-4 power-play goal with the extra attacker … Caggiula, McIntyre and WMU's Taylor Fleming were named the game's three stars … MacMillan assisted on Parks' goal for his 99th career point … UND blocked 19 shots and the Broncos blocked 12.