OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 10/11 ranked North Dakota hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie against Omaha on Saturday night from Baxter Arena in Omaha.
UND (4-3-2, 1-0-1 NCHC) finishes the weekend with four points out of a possible six, as Omaha (4-4-2, 0-1-1 NCHC) secured the extra point in the finale with a 2-1 shootout victory.
Judd Caulfield (1), Tyler Kleven (1) and Riese Gaber (8) all struck for the Fighting Hawks in a game that saw both teams take a lead in the third period, but a strong penalty kill by NoDak in the final minutes of the overtime preserved the tie.
Drew DeRidder finished with 24 saves on 27 shots to finish the weekend with an unbeaten record, but it was Omaha's Jake Kucharski who stole the show with 43 saves on 46 North Dakota shots to steal two points for the hosts.
North Dakota came out with a similar push to Friday's contest, finishing the opening 20 minutes with a 15-5 shot advantage, but neither side could find the back of the net to keep the game scoreless.
It was Omaha, however, who struck first early into the second period when Jacob Slipec scored the first of his career on a centering feed from Victor Mancini to put the Mavericks in front, 1-0, less than three minutes into the middle stanza.
Late in the second, Griffin Ness threw a big hit in the neutral zone to free up a puck and spark a 2-on-1 where Dylan James slid a perfect pass over to Caulfield for his first goal of the season and a 1-1 game after 40 minutes.
The fourth line continued to grind out strong shifts for the visitors, earning UND another power play near the midway point of the third period. At the tail end of the man advantage, Cooper Moore put a perfect pass on the tape of Kleven, who wired home his first of the season to give UND a 2-1 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Omaha tied the game when Ty Mueller controlled a perfect bounce off the boards and tucked it in to bring the game level with 10 minutes to play. The Mavs weren't done, as Jack Randl potted his 11th goal of the season to give the hosts a 3-2 lead.
UND would not go away quietly, with Gaber potting yet another goal in Baxter Arena on a great, no-look pass from behind the net by Owen McLaughlin to tie the game at 3-3 with six minutes to play.
Both teams traded chances in the final minutes and overtime, but neither side could find the back of the net to have the game end in a 3-3 tie. Omaha captured the extra point in the NCHC standings with a 2-1 shootout victory.
North Dakota will return home to battle Denver on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Postgame Notes
- UND did not have any healthy scratches, with five players out due to injuries
- Chris Jandric saw his point streak come to an end at eight games
- Riese Gaber now has goals in six of his last seven games, including points in each game
- UND has now scored a power play goal in every game this season
- Caulfield scored his first goal of the season in the second, with Dylan James earning his first-career assist
- Kleven scored his first of the season, with James grabbing another assist for his first multi-point game
- UND finished with a 46-27 shot advantage, its most in a game this season
- The Hawks went 1-for-3 on the power play while holding Omaha to 0-for-3
- Omaha went 32-30 in the faceoff dot, with Jake Schmaltz leading with 13 wins for UND.
How It Happened
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
2:58 | Omaha – Jacob Slipec scores his first-career goal on a centering pass from Mancini to give Omaha a 1-0 lead
18:22 | UND – Judd Caulfield gets his first of the season on a 2-on-1 pass from Dylan James to tie the game at 1-1
Third Period
8:00 | UND – Tyler Kleven blasts a one timer home from Cooper Moore on the power play to give UND a 2-1 lead
9:24 | Omaha – Ty Mueller ties the game 1:24 later after a bounce off the end boards goes right to his stick
10:49 | Omaha – Jack Randl puts the Mavs right back in front on a pass from Tyler Weiss
13:53 | UND – Riese Gaber knots the game at 3-3 by finishing a great pass from Owen McLaughlin
Overtime
No scoring
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.
