GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Third-ranked North Dakota grabbed another critical trio of points in NCHC play with a 1-0 victory over No. 20 Miami on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 11,609 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
UND improves to 22-7-0 overall and 14-5-0 in league play to remain in first place in the NCHC standings with five regular season games remaining. NoDak sits two points ahead of second place Denver but has two games in-hand while also holding a seven-point lead over Western Michigan in third.
 
Tyler Young broke the scoreless deadlock just before the midway point of the contest when the senior deflected home an Andrew Strathmann point shot for his third goal of the season and the eventual game winner. The Fighting Hawks dominated every other statistical category, including a 42-12 shot advantage, to tally their 11th straight win over Miami (17-10-2, 8-9-2 NCHC).
 
Freshman netminder Jan Špunar stopped all 12 shots fired his way to record his league-leading fourth shutout of the season. The freshly-named Mike Richter Award Semifinalist improves to 15-3-0 in 18 starts this season and has surrendered two-or-fewer goals in 12 contests.
 
North Dakota will aim for the series sweep on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. (CT) on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
 
Postgame Notes 

• UND improves to 34-8-4 all-time against Miami and 16-3-2 in Grand Forks
• The Hawks have won 11 straight over Miami dating back to 2022
• Jan Špunar finished with 12 saves to notch his fourth shutout of the season
• The four clean sheets is tied for the national lead and leads the NCHC
• UND maintains its lead for first place in the NCHC standings with five games remaining
• Tyler Young scored his third goal of the season
• Andrew Strathmann notched an assist to give him three points (1G, 2A) in three career games vs. Miami
• Anthony Menghini also tallied a helper and has eight points (4G, 4A) over his last 13 games
• UND did not score in the third period for the first time since Jan. 17 vs. Denver
• The win was UND's second 1-0 victory of the season (Oct. 25 at Clarkson)
• NoDak went 0-for-3 on the power play while Miami was 0-for-2
• Shots were 42-12 in favor of UND
• The Hawks improve to 7-4-0 this season against ranked opponents
• UND is 17-0-0 this season when leading after two periods
• NoDak is now 4-4-0 this season in one-goal games
• The Hawks improve to 11-4-0 this season on Friday nights and 11-4-0 at home
• UND wore its green jerseys at home for the second time this season
• Faceoffs were 35-25 in favor of UND, with Ellis Rickwood leading the way at 14-7

How It Happened 

First Period:                                                     
No scoring

Second Period: 
09:57 | UND – Tyler Young (3) from Andrew Strathmann (3) and Anthony Menghini (5)

Third Period:
No scoring

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