COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Freshman netminder Jakob Hellsten made 23 saves in his first-collegiate start to help No. 7 North Dakota defeat Colorado College, 4-1, and secure a weekend sweep from Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

UND (13-6-0, 8-2-0-0-0-0 NCHC) heads into the holiday break in a familiar spot, on top of the league standings, and hand Colorado College (3-10-3, 1-6-1-0-1-0 NCHC) its first sweep of the season. 

Louis Jamernik and Gavin Hain both potted goals for the third straight game to lead the Fighting Hawks, who were without a trio of regulars in the lineup due to injuries, while Tyler Kleven added an empty netter. 

Hellsten, who saw his first action last Friday at St. Cloud State in relief, was calm between the pipes in a lively Ed Robson Arena, stopping 23-of-24 shots. He was at his best in the final period of regulation, turning aside all nine opportunities from the Tigers to hand the green and white only its seventh sweep in Colorado Springs since 1990. 

For the fourth straight game, it was the opponent who struck first in the opening period. After a 4-for-4 night on the penalty kill on Friday night, Colorado College struck on its first power play attempt when Matthew Gleason tapped home a cross-crease pass to make it 1-0 Tigers less than eight minutes into the contest. 

It took less than a minute for North Dakota to respond, as Jamernik took possession of the puck and went coast-to-coast before sniping it off the post and in to knot the game at 1-1 at the midway point of the first frame. The tally marks a goal in three straight for the sophomore, a career-long streak. 

UND nearly followed its script from last night and took a 2-1 lead late in the stanza, but Connor Ford was robbed by the pad of Vernon on a 2-on-1 attempt to send both teams to the locker room tied at one after 20 minutes. 

Special teams took over the opening half of the second period, with both teams earning a few looks on the man advantage. Following a big kill by the Fighting Hawks, Hain made it 2-1 after pouncing on a loose puck in the crease for his third straight game with a goal, this one on the power play, with just over 10 minutes to play in the middle chapter. 

The parade to the penalty box continued in that frame, but neither side could cash in outside of Hain's strike to give UND a 2-1 advantage following 40 minutes of play. 

Hellsten answered the bell in the opening moments of the third period, making a flurry of saves on a CC power play and the moments following to keep North Dakota in front by a goal. 

The freshman was tested again at the midway point of the stanza, with UND heading to the penalty kill once again. Hellsten made a couple of big stops, sandwiched around a huge block from Cooper Moore, to help the Hawks kill off another power play chance for the hosts and keep the 2-1 lead. 

Following a huge save by the pad of Hellsten on a deflection, Kleven launched one nearly the length of the ice and into the empty net to seal the victory for UND with his fourth of the year before Jamernik added another empty net strike. 

North Dakota will enjoy a break before returning to action on Jan. 1 for an exhibition showdown against the U.S. Under-18 program at 2:37 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena. 


NOTES: Ashton Calder missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury ... Jake Sanderson also missed his second straight game due to an injury ... Mark Senden was a late scratch for tonight's game due to injury and was replaced by Carson Albrecht ... Jakob Hellsten made his first-collegiate start in net for UND ... Louis Jamernik has scored a goal in three straight, the longest stretch of his career ... UND is now 4-0 when wearing the black jerseys this season and 14-2-1 since 2019-20 in the business suits ... Gavin Hain has now scored four goals over his last five games and has a tally in three straight ... The Hawks are now 9-1-0 this season when scoring at least four goals and 50-4-2 since 2018-19 when hitting that mark ... UND has now won 47 straight games when leading after two periods ... The Hawks went 45-30 in the dot ... Connor Ford led UND with 20 wins in dot while Jake Schmaltz went 11-3 ... UND went 1-for-6 on the power play while CC also went 1-for-6.