Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio -- Five of the seven defenseman in the lineup tallied at least one point to help lead No. 7 North Dakota past Miami, 5-4, on Saturday from Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio. 

UND (8-3-0, 4-0-0-0 NCHC) completes only the second sweep in program history in Oxford, riding a three-goal first period and surrendering only two 5x5 goals all weekend. 

Ashton Calder led the way with a two-goal, one-assist night, opening the scoring just 1:37 in and adding a second early in the middle stanza to guide the Fighting Hawks to their second straight sweep to open conference play. 

While Calder provided a pair of goals, it was the defensive core who provided a huge spark on offense. Jake Sanderson continued his torrid weekend with a goal and two assists while Tyler Kleven (G), Ethan Frisch (A), Chris Jandric (A) and Brady Ferner (A) all broke through on the score sheet. 

Zach Driscoll was solid again in net, stopping 11-of-15 shots for his fourth straight win and allowing just two goals to get by him during even-strength play in the series. 

In a period that saw five-combined goals, it was North Dakota who jumped out to the early advantage. After a great shift from the Mark Senden, Louis Jamernik and Gavin Hain line to start the game, Calder tipped home a wrister from Brady Ferner just 1:37 into the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. 

Miami bounced back with some puck luck of its own, forcing a turnover at the blue line and allowing Chase Pletzke to skate uncontested his own blue line and wrist one upstairs over Driscoll to tie the at one. 

Kleven, who was the defenseman with the giveaway on the MU goal, made up for it in the best way by scoring his second in the last three games with a rocket through the arms of Persson to restore the advantage at 2-1 just 2:01 after the RedHawk strike. 

The defenseman kept up the scoring act in the opening stanza, with Sanderson polishing off a beautiful shift with a highlight-reel goal to notch his third tally of the weekend and extending the lead to 3-1 with 7:56 remaining in the first period. 

Penalty trouble haunted the Fighting Hawks in the final moments of the stanza, as Miami struck for its second power play goal of the series to send both teams to the locker room with a 3-2 UND advantage. 

Sanderson and the defensive core kept up the offensive attack in the second period, with the sophomore working his way through the entire RedHawk defense before his shot was stopped Persson; however, Calder jumped on the rebound in the crease to give UND a 4-2 lead at the 5:15 mark of the second. 

The penalty trouble reared its head again in the middle frame, with UND having to try and kill a 5-on-3 advantage for over a minute. North Dakota nearly had the first minor killed, but Miami connected on a back-door pass to cut it back to a one-goal game, 4-3, with half of the second complete. 

Neither side could strike in the final 10 minutes of the period, setting up a final 20 minutes with UND holding a 4-3 advantage. 

Early in the third, it was North Dakota who took advantage of a Miami penalty. A play that has haunted the RedHawks for two years happened, as Riese Gaber wired a shot off the post and in following a pass from Sanderson to push the lead back to two, 5-3, and hand Gaber his sixth goal in five-career games against Miami. 

The RedHawks cut it to one once again, this time late in the third period on a seeing eye shot from the point that found its way in, but did not get another shot on goal as UND closed out the 5-4 win. 

North Dakota returns home for another conference showdown with Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 19-20 from Ralph Engelstad Arena for Hockey Fights Cancer Weekend. 

NOTES: Nick Portz picked up his first-collegiate point with an assist ... Ashton Calder tallied his third multi-goal game of the season ... Riese Gaber has scored in every game against Miami in his career ... North Dakota tallies only its second sweep in its history at Steve Cady Arena (2016-17) ... UND moves to 4-0-0 in league play for the first time since 2015-16 ... UND finished with a 36-15 shot advantage ... Jake Sanderson, Ashton Calder and Miami's Michael Regush were named the game's three stars ... UND went 34-for-62 in faceoffs ... Connor Ford won a game-high 14 draws.