OXFORD, Ohio – For someone not originally slated to be a member of the 2018-19 Fighting Hawks, freshman forward Mark Senden keeps finding ways to make an impact for the nation's 11th-ranked team.

Senden's first career goal late in the third period held up as the game winner, spurring his team to a 3-1 win over Miami in North Dakota's National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) opener. It was also the fifth straight win overall for the Fighting Hawks after a 0-2-1 star.

With UND leading 1-0 in the first period on a Matt Kiersted power-play goal, Senden found himself with the puck at the top of the right faceoff circle, walked to the dot and, using a Miami defender as a screen, whistled a low shot past Miami standout goalie Ryan Larkin to make it a 2-0 lead.

 "That was a big-time goal," said UND head coach Brad Berry. "That was a hard shot, accurate, top corner. That's a good goaltender in Ryan Larkin over there. He (Senden) made a great play, a heads-up play to do that.

Said Senden: "I just saw an open lane and so I thought I'd throw it on net. When it went it, I was very excited. Really happy about that one."

Senden, who was a late addition to North Dakota's incoming class this season, also found himself playing a key role on UND's power play and penalty kill units. It's quite a workload for the final player to join UND's roster.

"The guys that are performing and are taking it another step, we want to give them a little bit of ownership in our game. That's part of a carrot, throwing those guys on the power play," continued Berry.

UND dominated the first 40 minutes of the game, including a first period that saw the visiting Fighting Hawks outshoot the RedHawks 14-5. But UND was unable to build on the lead – senior Nick Jones hit the crossbar in each of the first two periods – and a late second-period turnover gave the RedHawks life.

With time winding down in the middle frame and Miami pressuring, Gardner, behind his own net, set a puck to the half-wall where he thought a winger would be stationed.

Instead, Miami's Ryan Siroky threaded a point shot through traffic that eluded UND netminder Adam Scheel at the buzzer. After video review, it was determined the puck went in with 1.5 seconds left on the clock.

UND went into the locker room once again in the middle of another nailbiter at Steve Cady Arena.

"They closed out the second period with a goal to make it a - goal deficit and then it was game on again," said Berry. "Our guys responded after the second period. They said all the right things in the locker room to try to push it ahead to get the win and they did."

The Fighting Hawks were forced to kill a pair of penalties in the latter half of the third period before Gardner sealed the win with an empty netter.

"Can't say enough about the special teams tonight," said Berry. "The kill was outstanding and we needed to get a goal on the power play and we did. When you win the special teams battle, that's a good thing."

Besides the empty-net goal, Gardner was his usual dominant self in the faceoff circle, going 14-6 as part of a 28-18 team effort.

"The more draws I take and the more minutes I take I think the more effective I am in a game. Kind of grinded the last five minutes out. It felt good," said Gardner. "It was a greasy, greasy road win. We had no doubt in that locker room we were going to win that game. I thought everyone stepped up. Obviously, Senden with that big goal."

Scheel stopped 16 of 17 shots and has been the goalie of record for UND's entire 5-game winning streak.

"They didn't get too many chances. That just shows how well we play defensively as a team," said the Lakewood, Ohio, native, who was playing in front of several family and friends. "I think we're playing really confident. We're really clicking, but we're not complacent."

North Dakota will aim for its sixth straight win on Saturday night. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Eastern.

Notes: Senden, Grant Mismash and Larkin were named the game's three stars … UND finished 1-4 on the power play while going a perfect 4-4 on the PK. The Fighting Hawks are 10-10 on the penalty kill over the last three games ... UND is on its first 5-game winning streak since March 2017 and hasn't enjoyed a 6-game streak since its 2015-16 NCAA championship season.