(UND Athletics)
OXFORD, Ohio (UND Athletics)– No. 16/17 North Dakota closed out its final road game of the 2024 calendar year with a 4-2 victory over Miami on Saturday night from Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.
The third period was kind to the Fighting Hawks (9-7-1, 4-2-0 NCHC) once again, breaking a 2-2 tie with a pair of goals to secure their second road sweep of the season in league play.
It was another top-to-bottom attack for North Dakota in the win, with all four lines once again getting on the scoresheet while two defensemen also potted points to hand the Hawks their ninth straight win in Oxford.
Freshman forward Mac Swanson was all over the ice in the win, potting a trio of assists for his first three-point game of his career. The Anchorage, Alaska, native finishes his weekend with four points all coming via the assist for his best two-game stretch of his career.
Sophomore forward Jayden Perron and sophomore defenseman Abram Wiebe each potted a goal and an assist to also notch multiple points while forward Jackson Kunz and defenseman Andrew Strathmann also both scored goals, with Strathmann’s being the first of his career.
Senior goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter bounced back after a tough night on Friday, finishing with 19 saves on 21 shots against to notch his second straight win.
After ending last night’s game with a flurry of goals, it didn’t take long for North Dakota to continue that offensive attack in the beginning of the weekend finale as the Fighting Hawks struck twice in the opening 6:01 to quickly build a 2-0 lead.
Wiebe got the visitors going with a power play goal just over two minutes into the contest before Strathmann danced around the Miami goaltender and tucked home the first tally of his career to extend the advantage to 2-0.
Miami pulled within a goal at 2-1 after 20 minutes and once again put together a strong start to the second period for the second straight night. The RedHawks eventually knotted the game at 2-2 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the stanza after some sustained pressure in the UND defensive zone.
Heading to the third all square at 2-2, UND took back the lead as Kunz buried a perfect feed from Boisvert just minutes into the final stanza to give the senior his second goal of the weekend and the visitors a 3-2 advantage. The Hawks kept up the attack early in the third period, as Perron wired home a perfect shot on the power play off a cross-ice feed from Swanson to quickly double the lead to 4-2.
After grabbing the lead, UND closed out the victory and secured the sweep.
North Dakota will close out the first half at home against St. Cloud State for a series beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Postgame Notes
- Caleb MacDonald missed his second straight game with an injury
- Freshman defenseman Andrew Strathmann scored his first career goal in the first period
- UND has now won nine straight games in Oxford and is 17-1-0 against Miami in the last 18 games
- Jayden Perron made it back-to-back games with a goal while also notching a multi-point contest
- Jackson Kunz also notched a goal in each game, potting the game winner on Saturday
- Mac Swanson finished with a career-high three assists
- Abram Wiebe scored his third goal of the season and registered back-to-back games with multiple points
- UND has earned six points twice this season on the road, doing so for the first time since 2021-22
- Sacha Boisvert tallied another point to give him eight (5G, 3A) over his last seven games
- NoDak finished with 13 blocked shots, with Swanson and Jayden Jubenvill each blocking two
- Three-different players scored their first career goal this weekend for UND
- Kunz moved into a tie for the team lead with seven goals
- UND went 2-for-4 on the power play while Miami was 0-for-3
- The Hawks held a 33-21 shot advantage
- UND won the faceoff battle, 33-32, with Cade Littler going 6-2 to pace the Hawks
How It Happened
First Period
02:27 | UND – Abram Wiebe (3, PP) from Jayden Perron (6) and Mac Swanson (6)
06:01 | UND – Andrew Strathmann (1) from Swanson (7) and Cade Littler (2)
16:03 | MU – Christophe Fillion (3) from Michael Quinn (5) and Conner Hutchison (6)
Second Period
08:02 | MU – Johnny Waldron (4) from Raimonds Vitolins (7) and Spencer Cox (2)
Third Period
03:07 | UND – Jackson Kunz (7) from Sacha Boisvert (8)
08:16 | UND – Perron (5, PP) from Swanson (8) and Wiebe (10)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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