GRAND FORKS, N.D. – For the second straight night, fourth-ranked North Dakota notched a 5-0 victory over Bentley to secure a series sweep on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 11,652 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The night once again belonged to freshman netminder
Caleb Heil, who finished with a perfect 15-for-15 night to record his second straight shutout. He is believed to be the first freshman goaltender in North Dakota history to record back-to-back shutouts to begin his career.
Senior forward
Anthony Menghini returned to the lineup in a big way, scoring a pair of goals for his fifth multi-goal game of his career. Junior defenseman
Brasen Boser and senior forward
Hudson Malinoski both tallied their first goals in a NoDak sweater while
Cody Croal made it back-to-back nights with a goal to help the Fighting Hawks jump out to a 4-0-0 start for the first time since 2016-17.
Two rookies made their debut and found their way on the scoresheet, with freshman defenseman
Bauer Dumanski dishing out a pair of helpers and freshman forward
Brock Schultz tallying an assist to give the duo their first points as collegiate players.
It was a similar start as last night for NoDak, needing just over the halfway point of the first period to grab the opening goal. Dumanski ripped a shot from the point that was deflected in the high slot by Menghini for the senior's first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The power play took advantage early in the second period when Malinoski wired home a shot from the slot to double the advantage, 2-0, just over three minutes into the stanza. Just over a minute later, Croal finished off a pretty passing play from
Connor Davis and
Gavin Lindberg to quickly boost the lead to 3-0.
Just like Friday night, the Hawks added two more in the third on a blast from Boser and a second tally from Menghini to close out the 5-0 win and a series sweep.
North Dakota will hit the road to battle Minnesota beginning on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. (CT) from Minneapolis.
Postgame Notes
- UND improves to 2-0-0 all-time against Bentley
- Freshman forward Brock Schultz and freshman defenseman Bauer Dumanski made their collegiate debuts
- Caleb Heil notched a shutout for the second straight night – making 15 saves
- Heil is believed to be the first freshman goaltender to record back-to-back shutouts to begin his UND career
- Anthony Menghini notched a pair of goals for his fifth multi-goal game of his career
- Dumanski dished out a pair of assists for his first multi-point game of his career
- Schultz also recorded a helper for his first-career point
- 12-different players tallied at least a point in the win
- UND is 4-0-0 for the first time since 2016-17
- Connor Davis notched an assist to close his weekend with three points
- Jack Kernan, Hudson Malinoski and Gavin Lindberg all extended their point streaks to three
- UND went 1-for-4 on the power play while Bentley went 0-for-3
- Brasen Boser scored his first goal in a UND uniform
- UND improved to 3-0-0 this season when scoring at least four goals
- NoDak now has a plus-5 scoring differential in the third period
- This weekend was the last time UND shutout the same team on back-to-back nights since Nov. 18-19, 2016 at St. Cloud State
- Shots were 30-15 in favor of UND
- Faceoffs were 31-20 UND, with Ollie Josephson leading all skaters at 12-6
How It Happened
First Period:
14:17 | UND –
Anthony Menghini (1) from
Bauer Dumanski (1) and
EJ Emery (1)
Second Period:
03:18 | UND –
Hudson Malinoski (1, PP) from
Jack Kernan (2) and
Carson Carels (2)
04:58 | UND –
Cody Croal (2) from
Connor Davis (2) and
Gavin Lindberg (4)
Third Period:
15:11 | UND –
Brasen Boser (1) from Dumanski (2) and
Mac Swanson (3)
16:26 | UND – Menghini (2) from
Brock Schultz (1)
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.
