GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 8 North Dakota opened up NCHC play with a 4-3 overtime loss against No. 10 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND (4-3-0, 0-1-0 NCHC) found itself trailing by two goals with under four minutes to play in regulation, but
Mac Swanson and
Ben Strinden each struck to level the score at 3-3 and send the contest into overtime to secure a point in the league standings.
In the extra session, graduate student goaltender
Gibson Homer made a highlight save on an odd-man rush, but the rebound fell right to UMD's (8-1-0, 1-0-0 NCHC) Ty Hanson who fired the puck off the post, Homer's hand and then into the back of the net for the overtime winner to give the Bulldogs their first win over NoDak since Jan. 21, 2023.
Ollie Josephson led the way offensively for the green and white, scoring his first goal in a collegiate uniform while also adding an assist to give him multiple points for the first time at UND. Swanson potted his third goal of the season to set a new season high in just seven games while Strinden notched his second tally of the campaign.
Three rookies also picked up helpers, with
Jack Kernan,
Will Zellers and
Sam Laurila each notching an assist while Homer finished with 19 saves on 23 shots against.
After a shorthanded goal by the Bulldogs in the opening 20 minutes to give the visitors a 1-0 lead, UND struck back with a shorthanded tally of its own when Josephson sprung himself for a breakaway and chipped it over the goaltender to knot the game at 1-1 in the middle stanza.
With the second winding down, UMD regained the lead on a pretty passing play finished off by Zam Plante to send the Bulldogs to the locker room with a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes.
Following Max Plante's second goal of the night, this time on the power play, made it 3-1 with time dwindling down, Kernan made a great rush up the ice and found Swanson alone in the slot for the sophomore's third of the year to cut the deficit to 3-2 with just under four minutes remaining.
With the goaltender pulled, Zellers sent a puck to the slot that deflected off of Strinden's skate and into the net to even the game at 3-3 with 1:11 to play and send the REA crowd into a frenzy.
Both teams nearly found the winner in regulation, but each side secured a point in the league standings as the game headed to 3-on-3 overtime. In the extra session, Hanson scored the game winner just 43 seconds in to give the Bulldogs the 4-3 victory.
North Dakota will look to secure the series split on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. from the Ralph on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND drops to 161-92-11 all-time against Minnesota Duluth and 88-40-3 at home
- The loss snaps an eight-game winning streak for UND over UMD
- NoDak also falls to 8-4-0 all-time on Halloween
- Friday marked the first overtime game of the season for UND
- Ollie Josephson notched his first multi-point game at UND
- Josephson scored his first goal in the green and white in the second period
- Each team notched a shorthanded goal – the second of the season for NoDak
- UND has now allowed two shorthanded tallies this season
- Mac Swanson scored his third goal of the season to set a new season high
- Ben Strinden tallied his second goal of the year and second in the last three games
- UMD went 1-for-3 on the power play while UND was 0-for-2
- Shots were 28-23 UND
- Faceoffs were 36-25 in favor of UND, with Ellis Rickwood pacing all skaters at 15-4
How It Happened
First Period:
14:20 | UMD – Max Plante (8, SH) from Ty Hanson (7) and Zam Plante (8)
Second Period:
14:26 | UND –
Ollie Josephson (1, SH)
19:07 | UMD – Z. Plante (6) from Jayson Shaugabay (11) and M. Plante (8)
Third Period:
12:47 | UMD – M. Plante (9, PP) from Shaugabay (12) and Z. Plante (9)
16:02 | UND –
Mac Swanson (3) from
Jack Kernan (2) and
Sam Laurila (2)
18:49 | UND –
Ben Strinden (2, EA) from
Will Zellers (3) and Josephson (2)
Overtime:
00:43 | UMD – Hanson (3) from Z. Plante (10) and M. Plante (9)
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.