GRAND FORKS, N.D. – In the final home games of their careers,
Chris Jandric and
Ethan Frisch left their mark by each striking for a goal in the third period to lead North Dakota past No. 14 Omaha, 2-1, on Saturday night from a sold-out Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
With the win, UND (16-13-6, 10-10-4 NCHC) finishes tied for fifth in the league standings and books a return date to Omaha (18-13-3, 13-9-2 NCHC) for the NCHC Quarterfinals beginning next Friday night from Baxter Arena.
Drew DeRidder, also playing in his final collegiate home game, extended his unbeaten streak to a career-best six games with a 28-of-29 performance to improve to 8-3-3 between the pipes since Dec. 9 and give him one-or-fewer goal allowed at even strength in seven of his last 12 starts.
Following a back-and-forth opening 40 minutes that saw the goaltenders control the contest at a 0-0 game, Frisch finally broke the deadlock at the 4:36 mark of the third period when fellow senior
Carson Albrecht stripped his defender of the puck and feathered a pass over to Frisch and the Moorhead, Minn., native potted his second goal of the weekend to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The Fighting Hawks had a chance to increase the lead to 2-0, as
Jackson Blake was hauled down on a breakaway to give the freshman a penalty shot; however, he was thwarted by Jake Kucharski to keep the deficit at just a goal for the Mavericks.
Similar to last night, Matt Miller knotted the game at 1-1 in the third period by following up a loose puck in the crease to bring the contest level with 12 minutes to go in regulation.
Staring at the potential of overtime for the sixth straight game,
Owen McLaughlin danced around his defender and found Jandric at the side of the net for his fourth goal of the season and a 2-1 UND lead with just 3:02 to play. DeRidder and the defense closed down the remainder of the contest to seal the win and the weekend sweep.
North Dakota and Omaha will begin the quarterfinal round of the league tournament on Friday night from Baxter Arena and will air on Midco Sports and the Home of Economy Radio Network through the iHeart app.
Postgame Notes
- UND will head to Omaha for the quarterfinals of the NCHC Tournament beginning next weekend
- Drew DeRidder stopped 28-of-29 shots to stretch his unbeaten streak to six straight, a career long
- Ethan Frisch now has goals in back-to-back games
- The win was the first in regulation for UND since Jan. 28 at Miami
- NoDak improves to 4-0-2 over its last six games
- UND improves to 5-10-3 against ranked teams this season and 3-0-2 since Feb. 17
- Jandric, DeRidder and Frisch were named the game's three stars, in that order
- After losing six of their first eight one-goal games, UND is 4-0-0 since Feb. 17
- UND finished with a 32-29 shot advantage, with Riese Gaber leading the way with six
- Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play
- UND won the faceoff battle, 33-23, with Louis Jamernik V going 11-6 to pace all skaters
How It Happened
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
No scoring
Third Period
4:36 | UND –
Ethan Frisch wires home a great pass from
Carson Albrecht to open the scoring
7:59 | UNO – Matt Miller knots the game at 1-1 with a rebound goal in the crease
16:58 | UND –
Owen McLaughlin feathers a pass over to
Chris Jandric to give UND a 2-1 lead late in the game
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.
