photo credit: UND Athletics Russell Hons
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND Athletics)– No. 3 Boston University struck for a pair of power play goals and added a shorthanded goal to defeat No. 7 North Dakota, 4-3, on Saturday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
UND (3-2-0) settles for its second straight weekend split, both coming against ranked opponents, and suffers its first regulation loss at home since Oct. 20, 2023 vs. No. 1 Minnesota.
After winning the special teams battle last night, North Dakota couldn’t replicate it in the series finale, as Boston University (4-1-0) struck twice on the power play and took the lead for good in the third period on a shorthanded goal to notch three of its four goals during special teams play.
NoDak received goals from Caleb MacDonald (1), Cameron Berg (3) and Jake Livanavage (1) while Owen McLaughlin dished out a pair of assists for the multi-point outing. Goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter finished with 24 saves on 28 shots in his first defeat as a Fighting Hawk.
Following the five-goal outburst in the opening period on Friday, the opening 20 minutes in the finale was more what was expected between the two teams, as both sides played with strong pace and generated chances. BU broke through late in the stanza on a power play goal from Ryan Greene to give the visitors a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
UND came out strong in the middle frame, however, eventually knotting the contest at 1-1 when MacDonald rifled a shot into the top corner off the rush for his first goal in the green and white at the 7:36 mark of the period. After Jackson Kunz was stopped on a breakaway chance late in the stanza, Jack Harvey gave the Terriers a 2-1 advantage on a breakaway goal of his own in the final minute of the second to send the hosts to the locker room trailing by a goal.
Momentum seemed to be turning the way of the Hawks as the third wore on, with Berg bringing the score level at 2-2 on a power play snipe at the 9:53 mark followed by Carter Wilkie drawing a holding penalty just moments later to bring the sellout crowd of 11,736 to its feet. It was the Terriers who capitalized, however, as Devin Kaplan struck shorthanded to give BU a 3-2 lead before doubling the advantage to 4-2 a few minutes later on a power play tally from Tom Willander.
With the goalie pulled, UND trimmed the deficit to 4-3 on Livanavage’s first of the season and nearly tied the game in the final seconds, but Ben Strinden’s attempt was stopped by Mathieu Caron to preserve the 4-3 win.
North Dakota heads back on the road next week to battle another ranked foe, Cornell, beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT).
Postgame Notes
- Bennett Zmolek missed his fourth straight game with an injury
- UND drops to 3-2-0 this season, all coming against ranked opponents
- Cameron Berg scored his team-leading third goal of the season and second on the power play
- The senior also added an assist to give him a multi-point outing
- Owen McLaughlin dished out two assists to give him a multi-point contest
- Caleb MacDonald scored his first goal in a UND uniform and fifth of his career
- BU’s shorthanded goal was the first allowed by UND since Feb. 2, 2024 at Miami
- UND falls to 14-13-2 all-time against BU and 7-2-1 at home
- The teams have split three of the last four series between the two
- UND finished with a 32-28 shot advantage
- T.J. Semptimphelter finished with 24 saves and suffered his first loss of the season
- BU went 2-for-5 on the power play while UND finished 1-for-3
- UND finished with a 39-20 advantage in the dot, with Jake Schmaltz going 14-4 and Berg going 12-2
How It Happened
First Period
17:09 | BU – Ryan Greene (3, PP) from Cole Hutson (4) and Cole Eiserman (1)
Second Period
07:36 | UND – Caleb MacDonald (1) from Owen McLaughlin (4) and Cameron Berg (3)
19:16 | BU – Jack Harvey (2) from Matt Copponi (3)
Third Period
09:53 | UND – Cameron Berg (3, PP) from Abram Wiebe (4) and McLaughlin (5)
12:28 | BU – Devin Kaplan (1, SH) from Harvey (3) and Sascha Boumedienne (1)
16:08 | BU – Tom Willander (2, PP) from Kaplan (2) and Jack Hughes (3)
18:05 | UND – Jake Livanavage (1) from Jayden Perron (3) and Carter Wilkie (2)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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