COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-- A two-goal first period put North Dakota in the driver's seat and goalie Peter Thome made it hold up as UND beat Colorado College, 2-1, Saturday evening at Broadmoor World Arena in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play. CC got a late goal to spoil the shutout then nearly had a game-tying tally in the closing seconds but UND held on.

"I thought he was outstanding," UND head coach Brad Berry said of Thome. "He had to be sharp early. they had a couple Grade As in the first period. He was the difference tonight. We gave him a little run support for the win and I'm proud of the way he played."
 
Colorado College (13-17-4, 7-12-3 NCHC) came out firing, forcing the issue early. North Dakota (16-15-2, 10-11-1 NCHC) responded near the end of the opening period with a pair of goals in the final 2:18.
 
With just over two minutes left in the first period, Cole Smith put North Dakota in front. The sophomore took the puck from the near corner and circled in on Alex LeClerc, getting off a shot then slicing across in front to find his own rebound, potting it home for the lead. It was his fourth goal of the season.
 
"Typical Cole Smith goal," Berry said. "Just kind of battling and getting the puck to the net and getting to that blue painted area and finding a way to bury it, that was a huge deal. Again, that line pushed us through to get a goal."

UND needed just 1:08 to double its lead when Jordan Kawaguchi faked a shot in the slot a found Matt Kiersted charging the net on the left side and he beat LeClerc stick side on the power play.
 
North Dakota kept its foot on the gas in the second, peppering LeClerc with 15 shots, outshooting the Tigers by a dozen in that frame alone. Despite needing to make just three saves in that period, UND sophomore goaltender was outstanding on a pair of highlight-reel stops. He shut down a point-blank chance with a quick glove save on Christiano Versic, who had found his way alone in at the doorstep to Thome's right. A few minutes later, Thome sent a blocker save into the corner on a breakaway to keep the shutout intact.
 
He kept it that way until a late flurry produced a goal with just 2:09 to play. Versic, this time, finished on a scramble in front to cut the deficit in half. The Tigers had a couple looks at a game-tying goal but Thome emerged with the win, making 24 saves in the process.
 
"Pete came up big and it was awesome to see," Smith said of Thome. "He came up with some big saves when we needed him to. I love that confidence out of him, just showed his swagger out there and you've got to have that out of your goalie. Pete's been kicking for us ever since Adam (Scheel) went down and it's awesome to see."

North Dakota will finish its regular season at home this coming weekend hosting Omaha on Friday and Saturday.
 
NOTES
*North Dakota wins the season series over CC, 3-1-0.
*Thome moved to 3-5-0 on the season with the win.
*UND improved to 12-1-1 when leading after two periods.
*Scheel missed his fourth straight game with a lower body injury
*NIck Jones also missed his fourth straight game with a lower body injury, his 11th missed game of the season. 
 *Jacob Bernard-Docker was out of the lineup for the first time in his young career.
*Jordan Kawaguchi centered the first line, the first time in his collegiate career he's been listed as a centerman.
*UND moves within four points of fourth-place Western Michigan with six points available over the final two games (WMU would hold a tie-breaker).
*North Dakota will either be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the upcoming NCHC Quarterfinal round (Mar. 16-18).