TEMPE, Ariz. – For the second straight night, No. 4 North Dakota used an offensive onslaught over the final 20 minutes to defeat Arizona State, 5-3, and complete the weekend sweep on Saturday night at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
 
Facing a 3-2 deficit entering the third period, UND (20-6-0, 12-4-0 NCHC) exploded for a trio of goals to tally its first win this season when trailing after two periods (1-4-0) and remain well ahead of the pack in the league standings through 16 games.
 
North Dakota also becomes the second team in the nation to reach the 20-win mark this season and did so in just 26 games to match the 2015-16, 2019-20 and 2020-21 teams as the fastest to do so since 2002-03.
 
Dylan James put together a dominant performance in the win, as the senior dished out two assists and scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to give him three points on the night. Linemate and fellow senior Ben Strinden also had multiple points, notching the primary assist on James' goal and adding the insurance marker with his 14th of the season late in the third.
 
Defenseman Keaton Verhoeff rounded out his strong weekend with a career-best performance. The rookie struck for the second straight night on the power play in the first period before dishing out a pair of helpers for his first three-point game of his career.
 
Senior forward Ellis Rickwood was the final Fighting Hawk with multiple points, as he tallied two assists to close his weekend with six points while Will Zellers and Andrew Strathmann added goals in the comeback victory.
 
After jumping out a 2-0 lead on Friday night, UND fell behind by a pair of goals in the early going in the series finale, as the Sun Devils struck twice in the opening 9:20 of the contest to build a 2-0 advantage.
 
NoDak started to claw back as the period wore on and drew one back on the power play, as Verhoeff found a loose puck in the crease and just snuck it over the line for his second straight game with a goal to cut the lead to 2-1 after the first period.
 
The visitors put a ton of pressure on in the first half of the middle frame, including a breakaway chance from Zellers, but the Hawks could not bring the game level. ASU took advantage of other power play opportunity and restored its two-goal advantage, 3-1, just over five minutes into the second.
 
UND got a big goal late in the frame, as James won a battle along the wall and centered the puck to a streaking Strathmann who wired home his first of the season in the final minute of the second period to cut the deficit to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
 
The Strathmann goal seemed to spark the visitors coming out the intermission, as it only took 42 seconds for the Hawks to draw even in the third period. Rickwood made a great centering feed to Zellers and the freshman made no mistake for his third goal of the weekend and tied the game at 3-3.
 
UND kept the pressure on and took its first lead of the contest near the midway point of the final stanza. Strinden started a rush and feathered a perfect pass to James cutting the net for the senior's team-leading 15th goal of the season and a 4-3 NoDak lead.
 
Strinden put the game on ice in the final minutes with his 14th of the campaign to complete the comeback and seal the series sweep.
 
North Dakota will enjoy a week off before heading to Minnesota Duluth for a series beginning on Friday, Feb. 6 at 7:07 p.m.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 4-3-0 all-time against Arizona State and 3-1-0 in Tempe
• The win was the first time this season when trailing after two periods (1-4-0)
• UND becomes the second team this season to reach 20-win mark (Michigan)
• The 26 games are tied for the fastest to reach 20 wins since 2002-03 (2015-16, 2019-20, 2020-21)
• The Hawks also overcame a multi-goal deficit for the first time this season
• UND finished the series with a 7-2 scoring margin in the third period
• NoDak swept Arizona State for the first time in program history
• Dylan James has 10 points (7G, 3A) over his last seven games and points in three straight
• NoDak improves to 10-2-0 this season on the road and is 15-4-1 in road NCHC games since 2024-25
• Ellis Rickwood has 16 points (5G, 11A) over the last 10 games and 6 points (1G, 5A) this weekend
• UND now has a plus-26 goal differential in the third period this season
• The Hawks are also outscoring NCHC foes 29-8 over the final 20 minutes of regulation
• UND is 12-0-0 this season when scoring at least five goals
• NoDak now has 20 players with at least one goal
• Will Zellers has goals in back-to-back games and finished the weekend with three
• Keaton Verhoeff had a career-high three points (1G, 2A)
• Verhoeff made it back-to-back games with a goal for the first time in his career
• UND is 7-0-0 this season when scoring multiple power play goals
• ASU was 2-for-3 on the power play while UND went 2-for-7
• UND faced a multi-goal deficit for the first time since Nov. 15 vs. Arizona State
• Andrew Strathmann scored his first goal of the season in the second period
• Shots were 45-21 in favor of UND
• Jan Špunar finished with 18 saves and improved to 13-2-0 this season
• James now has a season-high 15 goals, surpassing his total from 2024-25
• Faceoffs were 26-22 in favor of UND, with Cole Reschny pacing UND with 10 wins

How It Happened 

First Period:                                                     
07:21 | ASU – Brasen Boser (1) from Bennett Schimek (23) and Cruz Lucius (22)
09:20 | ASU – Samuel Alfano (4, PP) from Ty Nash (4) and Lucius (23)
13:12 | UND – Keaton Verhoeff (6, PP) from Ellis Rickwood (17) and Dylan James (6)

Second Period: 
05:28 | ASU – Logan Morrell (6, PP) from Kyle Smolen (11) and Joel Kjellberg (7)
19:38 | UND – Andrew Strathmann (1) from James (7)

Third Period:
00:42 | UND – Will Zellers (13) from Rickwood (18) and Mac Swanson (13)
09:31 | UND – James (15) from Ben Strinden (12) and Verhoeff (10)
17:06 | UND – Strinden (14, PP) from Cole Reschny (21) and Verhoeff (11)

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