Top-seeded UND draws eighth-seed Miami in the quarterfinals Friday
Miami (5-17-2) at #2 North Dakota (18-5-1)
NCHC QUARTERFINALS
Mar. 12, 2021
Ralph Engelstad Arena
7:37 PM CT Friday
All-time Series: UND leads 19-7-4 (.700)
This season: UND 2-0-0
RADIO
PxP: Tim Hennessy
Analyst: Steve Olson
Radio: 790 AM 104.7 |96.1 FM & Home of Economy Radio Network
Web: FightingHawks.com
ON TAP
North Dakota opens postseason play this week, hosting eighth-seed Miami in the quarterfinal round of the NCHC Tournament. This season, all eight teams converge on Ralph Engelstad Arena for a single-elimination tournament.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Longtime broadcaster Tim Hennessy, in his 41st season as the voice of UND men’s hockey, calls the action while Steve Olson provides color analysis.
FROZEN FACEOFF MOVING TO GRAND FORKS
Ralph Engelstad Arena will serve as the host venue for the entire NCHC postseason tournament this year, announced Feb. 8. The tournament will be shifted to a single-elimination championship with all eight teams competing for the league’s autobid into the NCAA Tournament. The quarterfinals begin Mar. 12-13 with the semifinals on Mar. 15 and the title game on Mar. 16. There will not be a third-place game this season.
ALL-TIME AGAINST MIAMI
North Dakota 19-7-4 all-time against Miami, including a 2-0-0 mark this season vs. the Redhawks (both in the NCHC pod in Omaha). At REA, the Fighting Hawks are 9-2-2 against Miami with the last series here coming in Nov. 2019 (7-1, 5-4 wins).
POLL POSITION
Four NCHC teams remain nationally ranked in the newest polls. UND slipped to No. 2 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls. St. Cloud State is 6th/8th, Minnesota Duluth holds down 9th in both polls while Omaha is 11/12th. WMU and Denver are each receiving votes in the USCHO poll.
FARE THEE WELL, BAXTER
North Dakota made three trips to Baxter Arena in Omaha this season. UND was 7-2-1 in the NCHC pod and then split its first series with Omaha (Jan 29-30) before last Friday’s 4-2 win. UND is 9-3-1 (.792) in Baxter this season while Omaha is 10-6-1 (.618) in their home rink.
MIAMI VICE
Jordan Kawaguchi has 17 points in just 12 career games against Miami, including a pair of assists against the Redhawks this year.
NCHC TOURNEY AT HOME
North Dakota is 10-1 at home in NCHC Tournament games (quarterfinals in previous years). Head coach Brad Berry is 6-0 in NCHC quarterfinal home games.
ALL-NCHC, ALL UND
The All-NCHC Teams had a heavy North Dakota feel to them as four Fighting Hawks were on the first team, part of six UND players honored. Jordan Kawaguchi (F), Matt Kiersted (D), Shane Pinto (F) and Adam Scheel (G) were part of a league-high-tying first team while Jacob Bernard-Docker (D) was a second team selection and Collin Adams (F) was part of the honorable mentions.
AWARDS KEEP A-COMING
Pinto picked up NCHC Forward of the Year and Defensive Forward of the Year while Jacob Bernard-Docker was the NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year and Adam Scheel is the NCHC Goalie of the Year. The NCHC Coach of the Year, the Rookie of the Year, Senior Scholar Athlete and the Player of the Year are all announced Thursday.
HIGH FIVERS
UND’s seven-spot in its last home win marked the Fighting Hawks’ eighth game with five goals or more this season (8-0-0).
WEATHERBEAST
Jasper Weatherby has been on a tear lately, registering points in each of the last eightgames. In that stretch, the junior forward has eight goals and a five assists for 13 points. He was named the February NCHC Player of the Month with 10 points (6-4–10) in five games.
FIFTY SIX IN FIFTY SIX
Shane Pinto eclipsed the 50-point plateau in the Jan. series at Omaha and now has 56 career points in 56 games played.
FIRST AND FOREMOST
North Dakota is 17-0-0 when it scores first this season, including the Feb. 26 win (4-2) at Omaha. Conversely, when the opponent strikes first, UND is 1-5-1, including last Friday’s 3-2 overtime setback to Omaha.
WELCOME TO THE RALPH
North Dakota has had back-to-back seasons wtih just one loss at home each year. UND is outscoring its opponents, 30-8, part of some eye-popping stats that stand out in UND’s home schedule this season
*12 different UND scorers
*UND is outshooting opponents, 218-141
*UND is 8-for-35 on the power play
*Opponents are 2-for-27 on the power play
*UND is outscoring teams, 14-5, in the second period
*North Dakota has not allowed a third period goal at home (9 goals for)
*UND has allowed just 36 SOG at home in the third period over the 7 games.
*Collin Adams has 11 pts (4 G, 7 A)
*Shane Pinto has 9 pts (7G, 2 A)
*Jake Sanderson is a +8.
*Adam Scheel has a 0.60 GAA, .970 save pct. and a 5-0-0 record
*UND is 24-2-0 at home the past two seasons.
WHY PINTO? WHY NOT!
New York native Shane Pinto etched another multi-point game in the Feb. 20 Penrose Cup-clinching win over Omaha. This gives him 11 for the season, tied for the fourth-most in the NCAA. He leads the NCHC in points (28), goals (15) and PPG (7).
HE’S ON QUITE THE STRETCH
Adam Scheel picked up his second straight NCHC Goalie of the Month after a perfect February. In the month, Scheel went 4-0-0 with an NCAA-best 1.01 GAA and .960 save percentage.
I’LL HAVE WHAT SCHEEL’S HAVING
Adam Scheel has allowed one goal seven times and posted four shutouts this season, giving him more than half of his starts (11-of-21) where the opposition has one goal or fewer. In his career, Scheel has now either shutout an opponent or only allowed one goal in nearly half of his appearances (34 of 73 appearances).
POWER PLAY PROFICIENCY
North Dakota’s power play has operated at a 25.0 percent (27/108) efficiency so far this season, tops in the NCHC and tied for sixth-best in the nation. UND has a power-play goal in 20 of 24 games this season.
QUICK DRAW
North Dakota’s centermen have been great in the faceoff dot, currently second in the NCAA with a .555 faceoff win percentage. Shane Pinto’s .620 win percentage is sixth in the country and his 308 wins are fifth-most in NCAA D1.
Men’s Hockey 3/10/2021 9:30:00 PM Mitch Wigness, FightingHawks.com
Comments