UND Athletics/Russell Hons
AUSTIN, Texas (UND Athletics) – Eighth-ranked North Dakota dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 4 Michigan State on Saturday night in the annual U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game from H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Austin, Texas.
After the Fighting Hawks (4-3-0) tied the game late in the third on a power play goal from Cooper Simpson, Michigan State’s (5-1-0) Cayden Lindstrom answered back just 19 seconds later to restore the lead for the Spartans before an empty-net goal sealed the victory.
Simpson put together his best offensive game as a Fighting Hawks in his young career, scoring a pair of power play goals for his first tally and multi-goal game of his career. Will Zellers also snapped a four-game pointless skid with a goal and an assist to give him eight points on the season.
Freshman netminder Caleb Heil finished with a career-high 28 saves on 32 shots against but suffered his first defeat of his collegiate career.
Following a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Michigan State struck first with a power play goal just 54 seconds into the middle frame before extending its lead to 2-0 with only 3:40 played in the stanza. North Dakota was able to cut the deficit in half when Simpson wired home his first-collegiate goal on a great pass from Mac Swanson to pull the Hawks within 2-1 heading into the second intermission.
Early in the third, UND brought the game level after Gavin Lindberg won a faceoff directly back to Zellers who found the back of the net for his third of the season and tied the game at 2-2.
Michigan State jumped back in front on Anthony Romani’s second of the night, but once again, UND was able to draw even. On a late power play, Simpson blasted home his second of the game to send the 6,483 fans into a frenzy and bring the game level at 3-3 with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.
The even score lasted for only 19 seconds, however, as the Spartans were able to regain the lead on a rebound tally from Cayden Lindstrom before MSU sealed the 5-3 win with an empty netter in the final minute.
North Dakota will return home to open NCHC play against Western Michigan beginning on Friday night at 7:07 p.m. from Ralph Englestad Arena. The contest will air on Midco Sports, NCHC.tv and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.
Postgame Notes
- UND falls to 64-38-3 all-time against Michigan State and 6-5-0 at a neutral site
- The Fighting Hawks have lost three straight games for the first time since Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2024
- Saturday’s game featured 13 first round picks – the most ever in a college hockey game
- The game was also the first collegiate hockey game played in the state of Texas
- Cooper Simpson scored the first two goals of his collegiate career
- Will Zellers snapped a four-game pointless streak with a goal and an assist
- Ollie Josephson registered his first point of the season with an assist
- Gavin Lindberg recorded his team-leading sixth assist of the season
- UND falls to 3-3-0 all-time in destination games that it has hosted and has lost three straight
- The Hawks have allowed nine goals over their last three third periods
- UND drops to 0-2-0 this season following a loss
- NoDak is also 0-1-0 this season against ranked opponents
- The Hawks have scored at least one power play goal in every game this season
- UND went 2-for-7 on the power play while MSU was 1-for-4
- Caleb Heil made a career-high 28 saves and dropped to 2-1-0 in his career
- Shots were 35-33 in favor of UND
- Faceoffs were 42-36 UND, with Josephson leading everyone at 14-8
How It Happened
First Period:
No scoring
Second Period:
00:54 | MSU – Anthony Romani (6, PP) from Chase Reid (5) and Gavin O’Connell (3)
03:40 | MSU – Eric Nilson (2)
05:25 | UND – Cooper Simpson (1, PP) from Mac Swanson (4) and Ollie Josephson (1)
Third Period:
01:54 | UND – Will Zellers (3) from Gavin Lindberg (6)
07:41 | MSU – Romani (7) from Cullen Potter (2)
16:08 | UND – Simpson (2, PP) from Zellers (5) and Sam Laurila (4)
16:27 | MSU – Cayden Lindstrom (2) from Ryker Lee (5) and Reid (6)
19:11 | MSU – Tommi Mannisto (2, EN)
Game Recap: Men’s Hockey | | Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
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