DULUTH, Minn. – Fourth-ranked North Dakota struck for a trio of goals in the opening 20 minutes and held off a late rally from the hosts to capture a 4-2 win over No. 18 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night from AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.
 
UND (6-2-1, 1-0-0 NCHC) rode another strong start to a game, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period on goals from Jayden Perron, Logan Britt and Louis Jamernik V before Cameron Berg iced the game with a power play goal in the final minute to open NCHC play with a victory for the sixth straight year and ninth time in 11 years.
 
Ludvig Persson was solid once again with 20 saves on 22 shots to notch his sixth win of the season and record his sixth start of the season with two-or-fewer goals allowed.
 
The visitors took control of the game from the opening drop and jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 9:03 mark when Hunter Johannes forced a turnover behind the net and Berg feathered a perfect pass to Perron, who sniped home his fifth goal of the season to give the visitors the early advantage.
 
UND quickly doubled its lead just over two minutes later, as Owen McLaughlin found Britt alone at the top of the slot for the Crystal Lake, Ill., native to wire his second goal of the year past goaltender Matthew Thiessen to increase the score to 2-0.
 
Jamernik V kept the onslaught going in the final two minutes of the opening stanza by batting home a puck out of midair for his first goal of the year and a 3-0 lead going into the intermission.
 
Minnesota Duluth began to rally back, cutting the deficit to 3-1 midway through the second on a power play goal from Luke Loheit before Anthony Menghini made it a one-goal game with just over five minutes to play in regulation, but Berg's power play snipe in the final minute secured the 4-2 victory for the visitors.
 
North Dakota goes for the sweep on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. from AMSOIL Arena. Fans can catch all the action on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Home of Economy Radio Network.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 154-89-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 66-46-6 in Duluth
• The Hawks have now won six straight NCHC openers and are 9-2 overall since 2013-14
• NoDak is 76-5-3 since 2018-19 when scoring four-or-more goals in a game
• The Hawks have scored first in eight of the nine games this season and are 6-1-1
• UND finished 1-for-4 on the power play while UMD was 1-for-3
• NoDak tallied 16 blocked shots, with Bennett Zmolek, Garrett Pyke and Jake Schmaltz all notching three
• UND has won four straight games at AMSOIL Arena and is 7-3-1 against UMD in the last 11 games
• Owen McLaughin has points in three straight games, a new career high
• Cameron Berg recorded his first multi-point game at UND
• Louis Jamernik V scored his first goal since Jan. 20, 2023, also coming against Minnesota Duluth
• Friday marks the sixth time this year UND has recorded at least 15 blocked shots
• Minnesota Duluth finished with a 29-27 faceoff advantage, with Jake Schmaltz leading UND at 9-7

  
How It Happened 
First Period                                                     
09:03 | UND – Jayden Perron opens the scoring following a pretty pass from Cameron Berg
11:06 | UND – Logan Britt walks down the slot and fires it home to make it 2-0 UND
18:03 | UND – Louis Jamernik V bats a puck out of the air for his first goal of the season and a 3-0 advantage
Second Period 
12:13 | UMD – Luke Loheit deflects home a power play goal to cut the lead to 3-1

Third Period 
14:44 | UMD – Anthony Menghini scores off a weird bounce to make it a 3-2 contest
19:21 | UND – Cameron Berg snipes home a power play goal to seal the win by a 4-2 score

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