GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A game-winning college overtime goal is something one would think would stick in the memory of the scorer for life.
 
Not so with University of North Dakota sophomore wing Jordan Kawaguchi. His goal 50 seconds into overtime gave UND a 3-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference victory over Colorado College and its second overtime win in as many nights over the Tigers.
 
Kawaguchi, UND's leading scorer who had a four-point weekend, knocked in a rebound after CC goalie Alex Leclerc had stopped UND's Nick Jones on a wraparound effort.
 
But when asked to describe the fifth goal of the season and first game-winner, Kawaguchi went blank.
 
"Honestly, I blacked out,'' Kawaguhi said. "The whole play before Nick came around the net is a blur to me. I don't remember a lot. I just remember seeing the puck, just trying to put it toward the open net. Jonesy made a helluva play''
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In a game similar to how Friday's 4-3 UND win played out, the Fighting Hawks build a two-goal lead, only to see the Tigers erase it on goals by Westin Michaud (shorthanded) and Trey Bradley (breakaway), the goals in the second and third periods wiping out the 2-0 lead after one for UND.
 
Defenseman Hayden Shaw and wing Dixon Bowen had staked UND to the 2-0 lead with their first goals of the season. Shaw beat Leclerc cleanly with a wrist shot just 1:18 into the game and Bowen scored on a shorthanded breakaway, slipping his wrist shot between the arm and body of Leclerc on the goalie's stick side.
 
In a game of strange twists, CC had two goals disallowed after video reviews. Michaud's apparent second goal of the game at 13:23 of the second period was disallowed when teammate Trey Conzo interfered with UND goalie Adam Scheel in the crease.
 
Then as the buzzer sounded ending period two, Mason Bergh's shot was determined to have entered the net after time had expired.
 
But CC slipped a long pass from Cole McCaskill to set up Bradley for his breakaway goal at 7:21 of the third period, which set up Kawaguchi for his overtime heroics. "We're working well as a team right now,'' Kawaguchi said. "We're going to try to keep that going.''
 
UND will get that chance next weekend with a two-game set at Nebraska-Omaha, which was swept by Denver this weekend, 1-0 and 3-2 (OT).
 
Bowen, besides scoring his first goal of the season and his ninth in 83 games, saved a goal as well. With CC on the power play, he dove to knock a shot headed for an open net away with his stick just after the Tigers had hit the crossbar on the same power play. That play loomed large when Michaud's goal on the power play was disallowed by the referees for goalie interference.
 
"It was a dogfight both games,'' Bowen said. "Both games went into overtime, both teams went back and forth.''
 
Bowen also said he had to acknowledge freshman goalie Adam Scheel, who stopped 22 of 24 shots. He now has allowed two goals or fewer in 13 of 17 appearances.
 
This strong showing came under duress. "I have to tip my hat to Scheeler,'' Bowen said. "He was puking this morning and last night. So he battled up, and he played a great game.''
 
UND coach Brad Berry was not happy with some undisciplined penalties in the second period that sparked CC's rally. "That's not the way we play, as far as being team first,'' Berry said "We took a couple of penalties that were undisciplined. When you take penalties, it drains guys, and it takes guys out of the game.''
 
But for the second night in as row, UND (5-5 NCHC, 11-9-1 overall) found a way to pull out a victory to collect their third home sweep of the season. The win moved UND into fifth place in the NCHC, one point behind fourth-place Minnesota Duluth and three points in back of Denver.
 
Game notes: The 1959 NCAA championship team from UND was honored on ice after the first period. It was the first of 7 NCAA titles owned by UND . . . For the second game in a row, Ludvig Hoff (6 shots) led his team in shots on goal, followed by Shaw with 5 and Kawaguchi with 4 . . .  Shaw was the only player with a plus-3, rating, being on the ice for all three UND goals and none by CC . . . UND had a 35-22 faceoff edge, led by Rhett Gardner (13 of 22) and Jones (9 of 15) . . . UND was 0-for-3 on the power play with 6 shots, the Tigers 0-for-5 with 5 shots . . . North Dakota's last sweep with both wins in overtime came back in 1969.         

Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 35 seasons for the Grand Forks Herald, including 5 NCAA title teams, before his retirement. Since his retirement, he's reported on UND hockey games exclusively for FightingHawks.com. This marks his 50th season since he began covering UND hockey in 1969.