(Russell Hons/UND Athletics)
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– Junior defenseman Tyler Kleven tallied a pair of goals, including the game-winning strike on the power play with 3:15 to go in regulation, to help North Dakota rally for a 4-3 victory over Lindenwood on Friday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND (8-8-4) fell in an early 3-1 hole just 5:19 into the contest but held the Lions (5-14-0) off the scoreboard and to just eight shots on goal for the remainder of the game to help complete the comeback.
Following two early goals by Lindenwood in just over three minutes, Ty Farmer answered back 47 seconds later with his first tally of the season to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Lions struck on the rush to make it 3-1 in favor of the visitors and chase Drew DeRidder from the UND net in favor of Jakob Hellsten.
Kleven trimmed the deficit to one midway through the opening period with his first power play goal of the night, rocketing a one-timer pass from Ethan Frisch past goaltender Trent Burnham to close the gap to 3-2 after 20 minutes.
North Dakota dominated the middle frame, finishing with a 13-3 shot advantage, but could not find the equalizer as Burnham turned in his sharpest period of the night.
Following a strong push by the hosts to start the third, Ben Strinden feathered a perfect pass to a streaking Nick Portz and the sophomore roofed his second goal in as many games to tie the game at 3-3 with 12:56 to play in regulation.
After Cooper Moore drew a penalty late in the stanza, Kleven wired home his second of the night on another picturesque pass from Frisch to give the Fighting Hawks their first lead of the game in the final moments before holding off a final push from the Lions to secure the 4-3 victory.
North Dakota will go for the series sweep on Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. from the Ralph. Fans can watch on Midco Sports or listen on the Home of Economy Radio Network through the iHeart app.
Postgame Notes
- Tyler Kleven tallied his first multi-goal game of his career and now has points in six of his last nine games
- UND finished with a 41-14 shot advantage, the fewest shots allowed since Nov. 27, 2021 vs. Minnesota (13)
- Ty Farmer scored his first goal of the season and first since Oct. 15, 2021 at American International
- Nick Portz now has goals in back-to-back games after not scoring in the first 18 games of the year
- Jackson Blake returned from the IIHF World Junior Championships and notched an assist
- Blake now has an 11-game point streak, the longest by a UND freshman since 2015-16
- Ethan Frisch notched his second multi-assist game of the season
- UND went 2-for-3 on the power play while Lindenwood was 1-for-2 with one shot
- NoDak went 26-23 in the dot, with Louis Jamernik V leading with nine
- UND has rallied from five multi-goal deficits this season
How It Happened First Period 0:50 | LU – David Gagnon opens the scoring on a rebound chance to make it 1-0 Lions
3:02 | LU – Hunter Johannes doubles the lead for Lindenwood on a centering pass that banks in
3:49 | UND – Ty Farmer scores his first of the year on a shot from the point that deflects in to make it 2-1
5:19 | LU – Caige Sterzer comes right back and snaps a puck past DeRidder on the rush for a 3-1 LU lead
11:51 | UND – Tyler Kleven tallies his first of the night on a one-timer on the power play
Second Period No scoring
Third Period 7:04 | UND – Nick Portz makes it goals in back-to-back games on a slick feed from Ben Striden to tie it at 3-3
16:45 | UND – Kleven wires home his second of the night to give UND its first lead of the game
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 1/6/2023 11:10:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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