GRAND FORKS (KVRR) – North Dakota hockey will still be heading to the NCAA Tournament, but it will not be as NCHC champions.
No. 2 North Dakota fell 5–1 to No. 8 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks.
The loss drops the Fighting Hawks to 27–9–1 on the season, but their postseason hopes remain very much alive. North Dakota is widely expected to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020–21 season when selections are announced Sunday, March 22.
Minnesota Duluth seized control early in the opening period, striking twice within the first eight minutes to grab a 2–0 lead. Callum Arnott opened the scoring just over two minutes into the game before Max Plante doubled the advantage a few minutes later.
The Bulldogs kept the pressure on early in the second period when Warroad native Jayson Shaugabay scored just 84 seconds into the frame, pushing the lead to 3–0.
North Dakota generated chances throughout the night, outshooting Minnesota Duluth 34–22 and dominating the faceoff circle 38–22. Ellis Rickwood led the way at the dot, winning 16 of his 21 draws.
The Fighting Hawks finally broke through early in the third period. Dylan James fired a shot through traffic for his team-leading 19th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 3–1. Cole Reschny and EJ Emery were credited with assists on the play, extending Reschny’s point streak to eight games and Emery’s to three.
That would be as close as North Dakota would get.
Minnesota Duluth answered with two more goals later in the third from Harper Bentz and Kyle Gaffney to seal the 5–1 victory. Bulldogs goaltender Adam Gajan was stellar in net, stopping 33 shots.
Goaltender Jan Špunar made 17 saves for North Dakota and fell to 18–4–1 on the season.
The defeat was notable historically for the Fighting Hawks. It snapped an 18-game home postseason winning streak and marked the program’s first postseason loss at home since March of 2014 against Colorado College. North Dakota has also now dropped five straight Frozen Faceoff semifinal games and is 2–9 in the contest since the NCHC formed in the 2013–14 season.
Despite the setback, the focus now shifts toward the NCAA Tournament.
Junior defenseman Abram Wiebe said the team plans to use the loss as motivation moving forward.
“Just use this loss as fuel kind of heading into the tournament,” Wiebe said. “We’ve got a lot of time to regroup and kind of get going and just kind of fuel us for the tournament. We’re excited for it.”
Head coach Dane Jackson said he still has full confidence in the group as they prepare for the national tournament.
“You know, a ton of belief in our room, a ton of belief in the character of the guys that we have,” Jackson said. “We have no doubt we’ll be much better. This was obviously a blemish on our record, not our best preparation for this one, but we’re going to learn from it and be ready to go for the next battles in the NCAA regionals.”
North Dakota will find out its NCAA Tournament opponent, seed and regional location during the selection show on Sunday, March 22.
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