GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Matteo Costantini struck with just 35 seconds remaining in overtime to give North Dakota a 4-3 victory over the United States National Under-18 Team on Saturday afternoon from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. in exhibition action.
The sophomore took a pass from
Louis Jamernik V and beat his defender down the wall before firing it over the blocker of goaltender Michael Chambre in the 3-on-3 session to close out the 2022 year on a winning note in front of 11,034 fans.
UND, who dropped the exhibition contest to the U-18's last season, came out with a torrid attack by striking for two goals in the opening 3:53 to take an early 2-0 lead.
Jake Schmaltz opened the scoring just 1:15 in before
Riese Gaber pounced on his own rebound to double the advantage and put the Fighting Hawks on the offensive.
The Americans did not go away quietly, scoring a pair of goals in under two minutes themselves to knot the contest up at 2-2 after 20 minutes of play.
In the latter stages of the second,
Owen McLaughlin made a great play on a backcheck to thwart a U-18 chance before finding
Cooper Moore on the ensuing offensive rush to make it 3-2 NoDak with 5:55 to play in the middle stanza. Once again, the USNTDP came right back to tie the game at 3-3 entering the final period of play.
After a successful challenge by North Dakota took away a potential game winner for the U-18's late in the third, Costantini scored the overtime winner to polish off the 4-3 victory.
North Dakota returns back to regular season play next weekend against Division I newcomer Lindenwood on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from the Ralph.
Postgame Notes
- All three goalies saw action for UND, with Kaleb Johnson earning the victory
- Drew DeRidder made eight saves on 10 shots in 29:58 of play
- Jakob Hellsten then followed with a 6-for-7 day in just over 21 minutes
- Johnson finished off the game with three saves on three shots over the final 13:14 to earn the win
- UND improves to 11-1-0 all-time against the USNTDP and 10-1-0 in Grand Forks
- Riese Gaber led all skaters with six shots on goal
- NoDak finished with a 41-20 shot advantage, including a 13-4 margin in the third and OT
- Owen McLaughlin finished with a pair of assists, while Matteo Costantini also had two points (1G, 1A)
- Louis Jamernik V went 13-5 in the faceoff dot to help UND finish with a 36-30 advantage
- The Hawks were missing Jackson Blake due to his participation at the IIHF World Junior Championships
How It Happened
First Period
1:15 | UND –
Jake Schmaltz opens the scoring with a sneaky chip over Chambre's shoulder to make it 1-0 UND
3:53 | UND –
Riese Gaber is stopped on his first attempt, but buries his rebound to quickly make it 2-0
9:53 | USNTDP – Gabe Perreault cuts the lead to 2-1 with his first of the night
11:33 | USNTDP – Will Smith finishes off a pretty passing play to tie the game at 2-2
Second Period
14:05 | UND –
Cooper Moore rifles home a wrister from the slot to give UND the lead back, 3-2
18:01 | USNTDP – Perreault notches his second of the night on a snipe to tie it back up at 3-3
Third Period
No scoring
Overtime
4:25 | UND –
Matteo Costantini beats his man to the net and fires it past the blocker of Chambre for the OT winner
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.
