GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 17/18 North Dakota exploded for five goals in the second period en route to a 6-1 trouncing over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night in front of 11,640 fans at Ralph Englestad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
After a scoreless first period, UND (17-12-2, 12-7-1 NCHC) erupted for five goals, including three in a 2:13 span, to build a lead and never look back for the eighth straight win over Minnesota Duluth (11-17-2, 7-12-1 NCHC). The Fighting Hawks also notched their first sweep since Dec. 13-14 vs. St. Cloud State and have rattled off three straight wins for the first time in 2025.
 
Junior forward Owen McLaughlin paced the offensive attack with a career-best performance, dishing out four assists and scoring a goal to give him five points. Freshman forward Sacha Boisvert also scored a pair of goals for the first time in his career while sophomore defenseman Jake Livanavage matched his personal best with a trio of assists to help UND move within one point of third in the NCHC standings.
 
Graduate student goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter quietly had another solid game between the pipes for the hosts, stopping 27-of-28 to improve to 14-8-2 on the season and raise his save percentage to .913 in league play. The Marlton, N.J., native has won four of his last five starts, posting .947 save percentage over that span.
 
NoDak took control in the middle frame, jumping out to a 1-0 lead when Boisvert blasted home the game's opening goal off a slick feed from McLaughlin 1:47 into the stanza before Cameron Berg quickly increased the advantage to 2-0 just 37 seconds later on the power play on another great pass from McLaughlin.
 
The game turned completely in UND's direction near the midway point of the second, when Minnesota Duluth's Jack Smith was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind to put the hosts on the power play for five minutes.
 
It took only 20 seconds to breakthrough on the power play, as Jake Schmaltz tipped home a Livanavage shot from the point to extend the lead to 3-0 and opened the floodgates. Boisvert added a second power play goal on the major just over a minute later with his second of the night before Berg potted his second and the third on the major advantage 50 seconds after Boisvert's to chase goaltender Klayton Knapp from the game and make it 5-0 UND after two.
 
McLaughlin capped off his career night with a breakaway tally early in the third, chipping a puck over the shoulder of the goaltender for his fourth goal of the season and fifth point of the game to make it 6-0.
 
Minnesota Duluth broke Semptimphelter's shutout bid in the final minute of the contest, but UND secured the sweep with the 6-1 triumph.
 
North Dakota will hit the road for the final time in the regular season next weekend against Western Michigan beginning on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
 
Postgame Notes 

• Forward Jayden Perron missed his fifth straight game with an injury
• Defenseman EJ Emery returned after his one game suspension
• UND has now won eight straight games over Minnesota Duluth and 12 of the last 13
• The winning streak is the longest over UMD since Dec. 1999-Feb. 2001
• NoDak now has 161 all-time wins over UMD, the second-most against an opponent in program history
• The Hawks have won all eight of those games against UMD by multiple goals
• UND is 8-1-1 over the last 10 games played on Saturday night, including four straight wins
• NoDak has won three straight games for the first time since early December
• Owen McLaughlin dished out a career-high four assists and had a career-high five points
• The five points are the most by a UND player since Jackson Blake on Feb. 23, 2024 vs. UMD
• Sacha Boisvert scored a career-high two goals
• Boisvert now leads the team with 12 goals
• Cameron Berg struck for a pair of goals for the sixth time in his career
• Jake Livanavage matched his career high with three assists, also doing so against UMD (Nov. 8, 2024)
• T.J. Semptimphelter made 27 saves to improve to 4-1-0 with a .947 save percentage in his last five starts
• UND improves to 8-7-1 this season at home and 5-5-0 in NCHC play
• NoDak went 4-for-6 on the power play, while UMD was 1-for-5
• The four power play goals were the most in a game since Jan. 28, 2023 at Miami
• UND has also killed off 17 of the last 19 penalties taken
• The Hawks are 14-2-0 this season when scoring first and 13-1-1 when leading after two
• UND blocked 20 shots to improve to 9-1-1 this season when blocking at least 15
• Faceoffs were 36-30 Minnesota Duluth, with Boisvert leading the way at 7-3

How It Happened 

First Period                                                     
No scoring

Second Period 
01:47 | UND – Sacha Boisvert (11) from Owen McLaughlin (15) and Abram Wiebe (17)
02:24 | UND – Cameron Berg (10, PP) from McLaughlin (16) and Jake Livanavage (20)
10:11 | UND – Jake Schmaltz (5, PP) from Livanavage (21) and McLaughlin (17)
11:34 | UND – Boisvert (12, PP) from Abram Wiebe (18) and Carter Wilkie (7)
12:24 | UND – Berg (11, PP) from Livanavage (22) and McLaughlin (18)

Third Period
03:06 | UND – McLaughlin (4)
19:02 | UMD – Jayson Shaugabay (10) from Dominic James (14) and Max Plante (13)


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