GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Freshman forward Will Zellers struck 3:10 into the extra session to give No. 6 North Dakota a 2-1 overtime victory and series sweep over Bemidji State in front of a sellout crowd of 11,573 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
After Cole Reschny drew a penalty in overtime to give the Fighting Hawks (10-4-0) their first power play of the game, Zellers sniped home the game winner just 10 seconds into the man advantage off a faceoff win by Reschny to secure the series sweep and UND's sixth win in the last seven contests.
 
It was the young guns who led the way again for the green and white, with Zellers scoring his ninth of the season while Reschny added an assist for his team-leading 13th of the campaign. Rookie defenseman Keaton Verhoeff tallied a helper on each of UND's goals to record his first multi-point game in a UND uniform.
 
Freshman netminder Jan Špunar put together his best performance as a Fighting Hawk, finishing with 33 saves on 34 shots against to improve to 6-0-0 to begin his collegiate career. The Olomouc, Czechia, native becomes only the second goalie at UND in the last 21 years to win his first six starts – joining Jordan Parise in 2003-04.
 
Senior forward Ben Strinden ended his torrid month of November with yet another goal, as the Fargo, N.D., native opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season early in the second period. Strinden now has goals in four straight games for the first time of his career and closes the month with seven goals and five assists for 12 points.
 
North Dakota will jump back into NCHC play next weekend on the road against St. Cloud State beginning on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. (CT) on NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 39-6-8 all-time against Bemidji State and 27-3-5 in Grand Forks
• NoDak is now 6-2-0 in nonconference play this season – surpassing last season's win total with two games remaining
• UND is now 1-1-0 this season in overtime
• Ben Strinden scored his ninth goal of the season to give him 13 points (8G, 5A) in his last eight games
• Strinden also has goals in four straight games for the first time in his career
• Will Zellers scored his first-career overtime goal
• Zellers also has nine goals this season and seven tallies in the month of November
• Cole Reschny dished out an assist to give him 13 on the season and 10 during November
• Reschny now has 11 points (1G, 10A) over his last six games
• UND improved to 2-1-0 this season in games decided by one goal
• NoDak notched a sweep over Bemidji State for the first time since 2023-24
• Jan Špunar finished with a career-high 33 saves in the win
• Špunar improves to 6-0-0 to begin his career
• UND is now 24-5-4 against Minnesota teams since 2023-24
• Keaton Verhoeff dished out a pair of assists for his first multi-point game of his career
• Jake Livanavage notched his ninth helper of the season on the game winner
• UND has swept two home-and-home series this season
• This weekend marked the first perfect weekend for UND on the penalty kill
• UND is 4-2-0 this season on Saturday and 5-3-0 at home
• NoDak went 1-for-1 on the power play while Bemidji State was 0-for-2
• Faceoffs were 28-24 UND, with Reschny leading the way at 12-7

How It Happened 

First Period:                                                     
No scoring

Second Period: 
06:57 | UND – Ben Strinden (9) from Cole Reschny (13) and Keaton Verhoeff (5)
12:31 | BSU – Kasper Magnussen (7) from Adam Flammang (15)
 
Third Period:
No scoring

Overtime:
02:50 | UND – Will Zellers (9, PP) from Jake Livanavage (9) and Verhoeff (6)

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