MINNEAPOLIS – Third-ranked North Dakota dropped a 5-3 decision to Minnesota on Thursday night from 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn.
UND (4-1-0) nearly rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third period, but the Golden Gophers (1-3-1) held off a late push and added an empty net goal to collect their first victory of the season in the series opener.
NoDak picked up goals from
Jack Kernan (3),
Anthony Menghini (3) and
Cole Reschny (4) while
Keaton Verhoeff dished out a pair of assists for his first points and multi-point game of the season. Reschny added an assist to give him his third multi-point game of the season in just five contests.
Sophomore netminder Jan Špunar returned between the pipes and finished with 30 saves while suffering his first loss of the season.
The opening 20 minutes saw both teams have spurts of control, but it was Minnesota who took the lead in the final minutes of the period off a turnover to carry a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
After some back-and-forth play to start the second period, an ill-advised penalty after the whistle on Minnesota gave the lethal UND power play a chance to draw even. Kernan took full advantage of the opportunity, sliding home a deflected puck to pot his third of the season and level the score at 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Špunar had to come up big in that middle frame, as the Fighting Hawks were outshot by a 16-5 margin and had to kill off a penalty. The Olomouc, Czechia, native stopped all 16 shots fired his way in the frame, including a couple of key saves late in the stanza, to keep the game level heading into the third.
In a third period that saw a combined six goals, Minnesota exploded for a trio of tallies in the opening 4:44 of the frame to quickly jump out to a 4-1 lead. The Gophers potted two in just over a minute before adding a third on the power play, the first goal allowed by UND all season on the man advantage, on a controversial high stick to build their advantage.
UND started to claw back, however, as Menghini struck for the third time in the last two games with a snipe off the rush before Reschny struck just as a power play expired to pull the Hawks within a goal, 4-3, with just over five minutes remaining.
The Hawks pushed hard for the equalizer, but Minnesota added an empty netter to survive the comeback bid and seal the 5-3 victory.
North Dakota will look to salvage a series split on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Midco Sports, B1G+ and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND falls to 138-147-16 all-time against Minnesota
- The loss was the first of the season for the Fighting Hawks
- Keaton Verhoeff tallied his first points of the season with a pair of assists
- Anthony Menghini notched his third goal of the last two games
- The four goals allowed in the third period were the most since Oct. 17, 2025 against Minnesota
- Jack Kernan and Hudson Malinoski extended their point streaks to four games
- Jan Špunar finished with 30 saves
- The Hawks have now scored a power play goal in every game this season
- UND was trailing after the first period for the first time all season
- Kasper Magnussen tallied his first point as a Fighting Hawk
- NoDak was 1-for-5 on the power play while Minnesota was 1-for-3
- Shots were 35-24 in favor of Minnesota
- Faceoffs were 39-24 UND, with Cole Reschny leading everyone at 17-5
How It Happened
First Period:
17:21 | UMN – Tanner Hendricks (1) from Tate Prichard (1)
Second Period:
10:15 | UND –
Jack Kernan (3, PP) from
Cole Reschny (3) and
Carson Carels (3)
Third Period:
02:02 | UMN – Christian Humphreys (1) from Evan Murr (3) and Tanner Ludtke (1)
03:39 | UMN – Jacob Kvasnicka (2) from Mason Moe (1) and Brooks Cullen (3)
04:44 | UMN – Humphreys (2, PP) from Murr (4) and Moe (2)
07:02 | UND – Anthomy Menghini (3) from
Kasper Magnussen (1) and Keaton Verheoff (1)
14:41 | UND – Reschny (4) from
Hudson Malinoski (3) and Verhoeff (2)
18:56 | UMN – Beckett Hendrickson (2, EN) from Brodie Ziemer (1)
For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.
