GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– Senior goaltender Ludvig Persson stopped all 35 shots fired his way to help No. 3 North Dakota defeat No. 12/11 Western Michigan, 3-0, and capture the Penrose Cup for the sixth time in program history on Saturday night from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND (24-8-2, 15-6-1 NCHC) wins its 21st conference crown in program history and league-leading sixth Penrose Cup in 11 years. The Fighting Hawks have won four of the last five league titles and will host Miami in the best-of-three NCHC Quarterfinals beginning on March 15.
Persson shined between the pipes once again to register his NCHC-leading fifth shutout of the season with 35 saves. The Swede was dialed in the final 40 minutes, stopping all 27 shots fired his way to earn his 21st win of the season.
Similarly to last night, North Dakota jumped out to an early lead on a breakaway goal as Louis Jamernik V got sprung on a great feed from Dylan James to give the senior his second tally of the weekend and a 1-0 UND lead just over four minutes into the game.
UND held strong through the opening 40 minutes, carrying the 1-0 lead into the final period before Jackson Blake put his mark on the contest with a highlight-reel goal to extend the advantage to 2-0 with just over 13 minutes to play. Owen McLaughlin put the finishing touches on the victory with his 12th of the season, dancing around the Western Michigan (18-13-1, 9-13-0 NCHC) goaltender and tucking it home on the breakaway to seal the 3-0 win.
North Dakota will close the regular season at Omaha for a weekend series beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from Baxter Arena.
Postgame Notes
- UND wins its sixth Penrose Cup in 11 years, fourth in the last five years and 21st overall conference title
- NoDak will host Miami in the NCHC Quarterfinals beginning March 15
- Ludvig Persson finished with 35 saves to record his fifth shutout of the season and 21st win of the year
- UND blocked 26 shots for the second straight night, with Keaton Pehrson leading everyone with five
- Abram Wiebe dished out a pair of assists for his first-career game with multiple points
- The rookie also has points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career
- Louis Jamernik V potted goals in both games in the series for the second time this season
- Dylan James now has four points over his last three games
- Jackson Blake scored his 19th goal of the season to give him 50 points on the year
- Blake is the first player since Brock Boeser and Drake Caggiula in 2015-16 to hit 50 points
- The sophomore also ties Boeser and Bobby Brink for the most points in NCHC play with 35
- Owen McLaughlin extended his point streak to four games and has five points in that span
- UND improves to 18-0-0 this season when leading after two periods
- NoDak is also 8-2-1 this year when being outshot
- The Hawks are 11-2-2 this season when blocking at least 15 shots
- WMU went 0-for-2 on the power play while UND was 0-for-1
- UND improves to 30-12-1 all-time against Western Michigan and 14-6-0 at home
- WMU held a 32-20 faceoff advantage
How It Happened
First Period
04:05 | UND – Louis Jamernik V scores on a breakaway to give UND a 1-0 lead
Second Period
No scoring
Third Period
06:36 | UND – Jackson Blake blows by the defender and tucks it past the goaltender to make it 2-0 UND
14:20 | UND – Owen McLaughlin seals the win with another breakaway goal to increase the lead to 3-0
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 3/2/2024 10:24:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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