(UND Athletics)
OXFORD, Ohio (UND Athletics)– No. 16/17 North Dakota overcame a multi-goal deficit in the third period to rally for a 5-4 victory over Miami on Friday night from Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.
Trailing 4-2 late in the third period, UND (8-7-1, 3-2-0 NCHC) struck three times in the final 5:23 of the contest to complete the rally and secure a huge three points with a regulation win in the NCHC standings.
With all 22 healthy skaters in the lineup, the Fighting Hawks showed off their depth in the win, with 10 different players recording at least a point and all four forward lines finding the back of the net to help the visitors mount their second two-goal, third period rally of the season (Oct. 18 at Minnesota State).
Freshman forward Cody Croal started the comeback with his first career goal to pull UND within one at 4-3 with just over five minutes to play in the third before Head Coach Brad Berry pulled goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter for an extra attacker with over two minutes remaining in regulation.
With the sixth skater on the ice, Jayden Perron walked to the middle of the ice and wired home his fourth goal of the year to tie the game at 4-4 with 1:43 to play in regulation.
As the game looked destined for overtime, Sacha Boisvert blasted home a perfect cross-ice feed from Jake Livanavage with just 23 seconds remaining to give UND a 5-4 lead and complete the comeback win.
Boisvert was one of four Fighting Hawks to record multiple points, with Croal (1G, 1A), Owen McLaughlin (2A) and Abram Wiebe (2A) also doing so. Senior forward Jackson Kunz added his sixth goal of the season in the first period while freshman forward Dalton Andrew also potted the first goal of his career early in the middle stanza.
It was a strong road start for North Dakota through the opening 20, doubling up the RedHawks in shots and owning the puck for a majority of the stanza. The visitors finally broke through on the game’s first power play opportunity, as Kunz finished off a great feed from Boisvert at the side of the net to give the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead at the end of one.
NoDak nearly stretched the lead to 2-0 moments into the second, as Ben Strinden raced past his defender and rifled a shot that hit both posts and somehow stayed out before Miami knotted the game just a few seconds later to flip the tide and even the score at 1-1.
Just 18 seconds after the Miami goal, Andrew worked the puck out from behind the net and beat the goaltender to the short side for his first-career tally and quickly restored the lead at 2-1 early in the middle frame.
The momentum flipped back to the hosts, however, as Kunz was whistled for a major penalty following a successful Miami challenge. The RedHawks didn’t get too many chances on the major but cashed in on two of them to take a 3-2 lead at the midway point of the period before adding a fourth to take a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
UND showed off its rallying ability in the third period, getting goals from Croal, Perron and Boisvert to complete the comeback and secure the 5-4 regulation victory.
North Dakota will go for the series sweep tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. (CT) on NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- Caleb MacDonald missed tonight’s game with an injury, leaving UND no healthy scratches
- Freshman goaltender Aleksi Huson dressed for the first time in his career
- Freshman forward Dalton Andrew scored his first career goal in the second period
- Freshman forward Cody Croal scored his first career goal in the third period
- Sacha Boisvert scored his seventh goal of the season and five in his last six games
- Owen McLaughlin dished out two assists to give him four points (1G, 3A) in the last three games
- Abram Wiebe had two assists for his fourth-career game with multiple points
- Croal also recorded his first game with multiple points in his career
- UND has now won eight straight games at Miami and is 13-4-2 all-time in Oxford
- The Hawks have also won 16 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams
- Friday marked the ninth time this season scoring multiple goals in under three minutes
- UND improves to 7-1-0 this season when scoring first
- Livanavage now has 10 assists over the last nine games
- UND held Miami to only 23 shot attempts while firing 73 shots towards goal
- NoDak improves to 2-6-0 this season when trailing after two, both wins came on the road
- The Hawks are now also 4-3-0 in games decided by one goal this season
- 18 players on UND’s roster have now scored a goal this season
- UND finished with a 27-20 advantage in the dot, with Jake Schmaltz pacing everyone at 11-4
How It Happened
First Period
14:42 | UND – Jackson Kunz (6, PP) from Sacha Boisvert (7) and Owen McLaughlin (9)
Second Period
02:07 | MU – Raimonds Vitolins (2) from Brayden Morrison (1) and Conner Hutchison (5)
02:25 | UND – Dalton Andrew (1) from Cody Croal (3) and Abram Wiebe (7)
06:35 | MU – Ryan Sullivan (3, PP) from Christophe Fillion (5) and Johnny Waldron (7)
10:40 | MU – Waldron (3, PP) from Sullivan (3) and Fillion (6)
14:04 | MU – Michael Feenstra (1) from Waldron (8) and Vitolins (6)
Third Period
14:37 | UND – Croal (1) from Andrew Strathmann (2) and Wiebe (8)
18:17 | UND – Jayden Perron (4, EA) from McLaughlin (10) and Mac Swanson (5)
19:37 | UND – Boisvert (7) from Jake Livanavage (12)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | 12/6/2024 9:46:00 PM | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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