GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 6 North Dakota struck for three goals in the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock and defeat Arizona State, 5-2, on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 11,572 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
The win stretches UND's (8-3-0, 4-1-0 NCHC) to a season-long four straight games and keeps the Fighting Hawks in first place in the league standings with 13 points. NoDak has also won seven of its eight games this season by at least three goals and allowed two-or-fewer goals in eight contests.  
 
Freshman forward Will Zellers had an impact on the offense again, as the rookie scored a pair of goals for his second multi-goal game in the last three contests. The Maple Grove, Minn., native notched the eventual game winner just 64 seconds into the final stanza for his team-leading seventh goal of the year while also stretching his point streak to five games.
 
Senior forward Tyler Young returned to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 31 and put together his best game in a UND uniform with a goal and an assist for his first multi-point contest since Jan. 18, 2025 when he was at Merrimack. Fellow senior forward Ellis Rickwood also had a pair of points with two assists, as 11-different UND skaters notched at least a point.
 
Rookie netminder Jan Špunar made it four straight wins to begin his collegiate career, finishing with 19 saves on 21 shots against to become the third goalie in the last 21 years at UND to start his career 4-0-0.
 
North Dakota came out flying to begin the game, putting together one of its best opening 20 minutes of the season. The hosts finished with 18 shots on goal in the frame, but only found itself in front, 1-0, after Ben Strinden cut to the middle of the ice and fired a shot through the goaltender's legs to give the Hawks the advantage at the end of one.
 
The Hawks doubled their advantage just prior to the midway point of the second period, as Zellers potted his first of the night on a seeing-eye shot that also snuck through the netminder's legs to make it 2-0. The lead ended up being short lived, however, as Arizona State (3-7-1, 1-3-1 NCHC) tallied a pair of goals over the final 7:44 of the middle stanza to knot the game at 2-2 heading into the third.
 
UND, who entered the contest as one of the best teams in the third period this season, proved why in the early moments of the stanza with back-to-back goals in the frame's opening 100 seconds to take a 4-2 lead.
 
Zellers got the scoring started in the third with his second of the night, as the freshman finished off a nice feed from Dylan James to make it 3-2 before Young tipped home an EJ Emery rocket from the point just 36 seconds later to restore the two-goal advantage for the green and white.
 
NoDak kept its foot on the gas over the remainder of the third, with Cody Croal notching his third of the season on a tic-tac-toe passing play between Young, Rickwood and him on the power play to make it 5-2 and close out the win.
 
North Dakota will go for its fifth straight win and the series sweep tomorrow night at 6:07 p.m. on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 2-2-0 all-time against Arizona State and 1-0-0 at home
• NoDak has won four straight games and five of its last six
• Will Zellers notched his second multi-goal game of the season
• Zellers also leads the team with seven goals
• Tyler Young scored his first goal at UND and added an assist for a multi-point contest
• Ellis Rickwood dished out a pair of helpers for his third multi-point game of the year
• The Hawks saw 11-different players get on the scoresheet
• UND now has 17-different goal scorers this season
• NoDak holds a plus-11 goal differential in the third period this season
• UND has also scored 19 goals over the final 20 minutes this year
• The Hawks have won seven of its eight games this season by three-or-more
• NoDak has also scored at least five goals in six of its eight wins
• Jan Špunar finished with 19 saves to improve to 4-0-0 in his career
• Ben Strinden has nine points (4G, 5A) over his last five games
• UND is now 2-1-0 this season when the game is tied after two
• NoDak went 1-for-3 on the power play while ASU was 1-for-1
• UND improves to 7-0-0 this season when scoring at least four goals
• Shots were 43-21 in favor of UND, including a 16-5 mark in the third period
• Faceoffs were 31-28 UND, with Rickwood leading all skaters at 12-3

How It Happened 

First Period:                                                     
11:57 | UND – Ben Strinden (5) from Keaton Verhoeff (3) and Jake Livanavage (8)

Second Period: 
08:27 | UND – Will Zellers (6) from Cole Reschny (9)
12:16 | ASU – Kyle Smolen (2, PP) from Cullen Potter (6) and Bennett Schimek (10)
18:05 | ASU – Cruz Lucius (9) from Schimek (11) and Brasen Boser (2)
 
Third Period:
01:04 | UND – Zellers (7) from Dylan James (3) and Abram Wiebe (7)
01:40 | UND – Tyler Young (1) from EJ Emery (2) and Ellis Rickwood (6)
13:54 | UND – Cody Croal (3, PP) from Rickwood (7) and Young (1)

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