GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Twelve different players collected at least one point as balanced North Dakota rolled over visiting Miami of Ohio 7-1 Friday night in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference opener for both teams in front of 10,425 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
      
But according to sophomore defenseman Johnny Tychonick (2 goals, 1 assist), UND's eighth straight home ice win had as much to do with the fans as the players.
 
"I think it starts with the fan base,'' Tychonick said. "They're unbelievable. It's so much fun playing at the Ralph. We had 10 and half thousand tonight. It's a great atmosphere. They're all engaged. It really kind of feeds into our energy.''
 
The Fighting Hawks had energy in spades, blitzing the RedHawks with 6 goals in the first two periods and riding the usual stout goaltending of sophomore Adam Scheel (21 saves on 22 shots) to the impressive win. Scheel has allowed just 11 goals in 8 games, best in the nation.
 
"I can't remember the last time I was part of a 7-goal kind of showing,'' Tychonick said. "The most important thing is that we're doing things right in the 'O' (offensive zone). We've been working a lot in practice on stopping at nets and finishing plays. It's really paying off right now.''
 
UND scored in a variety of ways in chasing Miami starting goalie Ryan Larkin after he gave up 5 goals on 17 shots in the 25 minutes he played. 
 
Ironically, defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker and forward Jasper Weatherby, who ranked 1-2 among all NCHC players in shots on goal without a goal so far this season, scored UND's first two goals. Docker scored on a well-placed point shot on a 5-on-3 power play at 14:14 of the opening period, Weatherby on a one-timer from the slot on a 5-on-4 power play at 15:33.
 
JBD's goal snapped a streak of 16 power plays without a goal for UND. Weatherby's goal led to an eventual 2-for-4 night on the power play, being run by first-year assistant coach Karl Goehring, the former All-America and NCAA title-winning goalie at UND.
 
In a night of balanced scoring, Kawaguchi and defenseman Matt Kiersted (3 assists each) joined Tychonick with 3-point games.
 
The opening goal by Bernard-Docker was big for UND, coach Brad Berry said. "It was very important to score on the 5-on-3,'' he said. "I thought that was a key time of the game to get that first one. It seemed like they got a little more confidence on the 5-on-4 there. You can kind of take a breath a little bit, and know you can score on the power play.''
 
It hardly stopped there. Colin Adams made it 3-0 after one period and two goals from Tychonick followed the fourth of the year by senior forward Dixon Bowen in the second period for a 6-0 cushion after 40 minutes.
 
Westin Michaud, the Colorado College graduate transfer, made it 7-0 early in the second period before Miami countered with a deflection by Noah Jordan to ruin the shutout bid for Scheel.
 
In UND's second biggest offensive showing of the season, contributions from so many were noted by Berry. "I think everyone is contributing when you really look at the scoring of our team. Everybody wants a piece of it. I think it is just doing the details on a nightly basis of trying to finish plays, which we talked about a lot this summer and coming into the fall of having a mental focus trying to finish those plays.''
 
The unsung hero role belonged to the line of Mark Senden centering Cole Smith and Gavin Hain, the only combo of UND's four lines without a goal or an assist. Yet that line, assigned to check Miami's potent top line of Gordie Green, Casey Gillling and Karch Bachman, held them pointless despite seven shots on goal by Bachman. That performance allowed UND's other lines to feast against Miami's outmatched lower lines.
 
"They keep doing the right things time-and-time again,'' Berry said of the Senden line. "They're good checkers, they're good defenders, but they're also good with the puck. When you have the puck, that means the other team doesn't. That's a big part of having matchups, too. They did a good job tonight.''
 
The victory boosted UND, ranked No. 10 nationally in the polls this week, to 6-1-1 overall and 1-0 in the NCHC. Miaimi dropped to 2-4-2 overall and 0-1 in league play in matching its season high for goals allowed in a game.

Notes: Colton Poolman returned to the lineup after a one-game hiatus due to injury (he's missed just three games in his entire career) ... Scheel recorded his fourth straight win, all with just one goal allowed in each ... UND improved to 15-7-3 all-time against Miami ... Tychonick was named the first star, Kawaguchi was the second and Kiersted grabbed the third star by the media following the game ... It was both Tychonick's and Kiersted's first career three-point game and Kawaguchi's second of the season ... UND had a 28-22 edge in shots on goal but Miami outshot UND 10-8 in the second period and 6-5 in the third after UND had a 15-6 edge in the electric first period ... UND had eight shots on goal on its four power plays, while Miami was 0-2 on the power play with just one shot ... UND has killed 22 of 23 opponent power plays this season.