Grand Forks, North Dakota (KNFL/KFGO/UND Athletics) – No. 8 North Dakota suffered its first defeat of the season on Saturday night, dropping a 5-1 decision to No. 13/14 Minnesota in front of a sellout crowd of 11,710 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
After UND (3-1-0) exploded for three goals in the third period to break a deadlock in Friday’s contest, it was Minnesota’s (2-3-1) in the series finale, as the Golden Gophers struck for four goals over the final 20 minutes to break a 1-1 tie and skate away with the 5-1 victory.
Freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff tallied the lone goal for North Dakota in the loss, with the rookie notching his second goal of the season. Senior forwards Dylan James and Ellis Rickwood each picked up a helper to give Rickwood points in four straight games to begin the season and James three points on the weekend.
In similar fashion to the series opener, Minnesota struck early to take a 1-0 lead when Tanner Ludtke finished off a pretty passing play on the power play, but NoDak answered back just over three minutes later on Verhoeff’s tally to bring the contest level at 1-1.
After a scoreless middle frame, Minnesota took the lead for good just 73 seconds into the third when a point shot snuck through traffic and trickled its way over the line to make it 2-1 in favor of the visitors.
UND pushed hard for the equalizer, but the Golden Gophers weathered the storm in the opening half of the final stanza before adding a trio of insurance tallies to close out the 5-1 win and secure the series split.
North Dakota will hit the road for its first two-game series away from Grand Forks against Clarkson beginning on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. (CT).
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