OMAHA, Neb.--  Senior Jordan Kawaguchi's overtime goal just 1:17 into the 3-on-3 overtime period lifted North Dakota to a 4-3 win over Denver, in a duel between rivals at Baxter Arena. The senior captain gave the Fighting Hawks two NCHC points with the OT win, his incredible fourth OT winner of his stellar career. 

The teams slugged it out throughout with neither team leading by more than one goal and the lead changing hands late. Denver (0-2-0, 0-2-0-0-1-0 NCHC) got on the board first in the opening period. Freshman Jake Sanderson etched his first career tally in second period on a rocket one-timer to tie the score, 1-1. 

Denver, however, had the answer just 30 seconds into the third period to reclaim the lead. It would be short-lived after Sanderson made a nifty no-look pass from the corner to an awaiting Ethan Frisch at the top of the right circle, and he wristed it past Magnus Chrona for a 2-2 game. 

Junior Jasper Weatherby put UND up briefly late in the third with his first goal of the year on a turnover in the Denver defensive zone. Weatherby picked off a pass deep in the corner to Chrona's right and waltzed right in front of the crease, depositing it in the back of the net for a 3-2 score with 4:26 left in regulation. 

The Pioneers struck again, though, with a power play tally just over a minute-and-a-half later to eventually send the game to overtime. New this season, NCHC games go straight to a 3-on-3 extra session (removing the original 5-minute frame), with both teams getting a point and any winner in that session claiming the win and another league point. Kawaguchi made it happen as Collin Adams set him up for another clutch goal. 

Adams raced the puck up the ice along the far wall and dropped a pass for Kawaguchi at the right dot, where the captain collected and flung it over Chrona's trapper for the winner. 

Adam Scheel got the win in net for UND, making 19 stops to improve to 2-0-0. 

North Dakota will face 17th-ranked Western Michigan Sunday at noon Central. The Broncos, without injured starting goalie Brandon Bussi, is off to an 0-2-0 start, being out-scored 10-2 Thursday in a loss to host Omaha. 

NOTES:
*Kawaguchi has four OT winners in his career: (Jan. 12, 2019 vs. CC, Mar. 9, 2019 vs. Omaha, Nov. 23, 2019 vs. St. Cloud State and Friday vs. Denver)
*Sanderson etched his first career collegiate points in the win (goal, assist). 
*Scheel now has 15 wins over ranked teams in his career. 
*All six UND goals so far this season have come from different players (3 defensemen, 3 forwards) 
*Four of UND's six goals have come in the third period or overtime. 
*Sophomore Shane Pinto has won 37 of 46 faceoff attempts this season (80.4%), including every one he took Friday (18-18). 
*Jasper Weatherby (64.0 %) and Collin Adams (62.1%) have all also helped UND win nearly two-thirds of faceoffs so far this year (76-115; 66.1%). 
*UND has 15 December wins (15-3-1) in head coach Brad Berry's tenure, 14 of them against nationally-ranked opponents.