GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 12 Western Michigan struck three times in the third period, all coming in the final six minutes, to rally for a 7-6 victory over North Dakota on Saturday night from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
The Fighting Hawks (9-10-4, 3-7-2 NCHC) held a 5-2 lead late in the second period, but the nation's top scoring offense erupted for four goals on the next 19 shots to erase the deficit and escape with a weekend sweep over the hosts.
 
WMU's (14-9-1, 6-5-1 NCHC) Luke Grainger led the way, scoring two goals and dishing out four assists to become the first player since Casey Hankinson of Minnesota on Nov. 9, 1996 to register six points against North Dakota.
 
Redshirt freshman goaltender Kaleb Johnson made his first start between the pipes for the Fighting Hawks, stopping 28-of-35 thrown his way to fall just short of collecting his first win in his hometown.
 
North Dakota jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just nine minutes in, when Cooper Moore and Jackson Kunz both struck for their third goals of the season to give the hosts the early advantage and energize the sellout crowd of 11,664.
 
After WMU answered back with a pair of its own to knot it at 2-2, Riese Gaber halted a five-game goalless drought with a power play snipe from the slot to send the Hawks to the locker room with a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.
 
NoDak kept it going early in the middle frame, with Chris Jandric sneaking a loose puck in the crease through the arms of goaltender Cameron Rowe to restore the two-goal cushion just 74 seconds into the second. UND notched its third goal on the power play just beyond the midway point of the stanza, as Luke Bast wired home his first of the season on a one-timer for a 5-2 advantage.
 
The Broncos started to claw back into the game in the dying moments of the second, striking for back-to-back goals in under two minutes to close the gap to 5-4 entering the final 20 minutes of regulation.
 
UND held serve until the final five minutes of the contest, when the visitors potted two goals in 17 seconds to turn the 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. This time, the Hawks answered back in short order on Ethan Frisch's third goal of the season, following a great pass from Jackson Blake, to tie the game right back up at 6-6.
 
The goals kept coming, with Western Michigan taking the final lead of the game with just under three minutes to go before holding off a final charge by the hosts to secure the weekend sweep.
 
North Dakota remains home to battle Minnesota Duluth next weekend from Ralph Engelstad Arena on Friday night at 7:07 p.m.
 
Postgame Notes 

• Kaleb Johnson made his first start in 600 days, last coming with the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness
• Grainger is the first player to record six points against UND since Nov. 9, 1996 (Casey Hankinson)
• Jandric, Moore, Blake, Gaber, Owen McLaughlin and Bast all finished with multiple points
• UND drops to 66-5-3 when scoring four-plus goals in a game since 2018-19 and 8-1-1 this season
• The Hawks have now lost three games this season when leading in the third period
• UND falls to 78-6-3 when leading after two periods since 2018-19 and 7-3-1 this season
• NoDak is now 2-5 in games decided by one goal and 2-8-2 against ranked foes
• WMU finished with a 35-25 shot advantage, including 13-6 in the third period
• The 13 combined goals are the most scored at the Ralph since Nov. 25, 2011 in a 7-6 UND win over CC
• Saturday marks the first time since Dec. 7, 2001 at Wisconsin that UND has scored six goals and lost
• UND finished 4-for-6 on the power play while WMU was 2-for-4
• The four goals with the man advantage are the most in a game for UND since Mar. 11, 2016 vs. CC
• WMU won the faceoff battle, 37-36, with Jake Schmaltz finishing 14-12 to pace UND

  
How It Happened 

First Period                                                     

1:55 | UND – Cooper Moore fires home a power play goal just 1:55 into the game to give UND a 1-0 lead
9:44 | UND – Jackson Kunz finds a loose puck in the crease for his third of the season and a 2-0 advantage
12:38 | WMU – Cole Gallant cuts the lead to 2-1 right after a power play expires
17:06 | WMU – Luke Grainger scores on a nifty backhander to tie the game at 2-2
19:26 | UND – Riese Gaber goes top shelf on a shot from the slot to give UND a 3-2 lead


Second Period 

1:14 | UND – Chris Jandric swats a puck in from the crease to make it 4-2 for the hosts
13:15 | UND – Luke Bast scores on a one-timer on the power play to give the Hawks a 5-2 advantage
14:32 | WMU – Grainger gets his second on an odd-man rush on the power play
15:59 | WMU – Chad Hillebrand pots a rebound to cut the lead to 5-4 after 40 minutes


Third Period 

14:19 | WMU – Tim Washe ties the game at 5-5 on a deflection in front of the net
14:36 | WMU – Hugh Larkin scores on a 2-on-1 rush to give the Broncos their first lead of the night
15:51 | UND – Ethan Frisch ties the game again on a great feed from Jackson Blake
17:06 | WMU – Carter Berger powers one home from the slot to give WMU a 7-6 advantage


For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.