GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Matteo Costantini struck with just 35 seconds remaining in overtime to give North Dakota a 4-3 victory over the United States National Under-18 Team on Saturday afternoon from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. in exhibition action.
The sophomore took a pass from Louis Jamernik V and beat his defender down the wall before firing it over the blocker of goaltender Michael Chambre in the 3-on-3 session to close out the 2022 year on a winning note in front of 11,034 fans.
UND, who dropped the exhibition contest to the U-18’s last season, came out with a torrid attack by striking for two goals in the opening 3:53 to take an early 2-0 lead. Jake Schmaltz opened the scoring just 1:15 in before Riese Gaber pounced on his own rebound to double the advantage and put the Fighting Hawks on the offensive.
The Americans did not go away quietly, scoring a pair of goals in under two minutes themselves to knot the contest up at 2-2 after 20 minutes of play.
In the latter stages of the second, Owen McLaughlin made a great play on a backcheck to thwart a U-18 chance before finding Cooper Moore on the ensuing offensive rush to make it 3-2 NoDak with 5:55 to play in the middle stanza. Once again, the USNTDP came right back to tie the game at 3-3 entering the final period of play.
After a successful challenge by North Dakota took away a potential game winner for the U-18’s late in the third, Costantini scored the overtime winner to polish off the 4-3 victory.
North Dakota returns back to regular season play next weekend against Division I newcomer Lindenwood on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from the Ralph.
Postgame Notes
- All three goalies saw action for UND, with Kaleb Johnson earning the victory
- Drew DeRidder made eight saves on 10 shots in 29:58 of play
- Jakob Hellsten then followed with a 6-for-7 day in just over 21 minutes
- Johnson finished off the game with three saves on three shots over the final 13:14 to earn the win
- UND improves to 11-1-0 all-time against the USNTDP and 10-1-0 in Grand Forks
- Riese Gaber led all skaters with six shots on goal
- NoDak finished with a 41-20 shot advantage, including a 13-4 margin in the third and OT
- Owen McLaughlin finished with a pair of assists, while Matteo Costantini also had two points (1G, 1A)
- Louis Jamernik V went 13-5 in the faceoff dot to help UND finish with a 36-30 advantage
- The Hawks were missing Jackson Blake due to his participation at the IIHF World Junior Championships
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