UND arrived in Minneapolis flying high, ranked No. 3 nationally with a perfect 4-0 record, but left with a stark understanding of the work needed to return to the NCAA Frozen Four. A young defensive corps struggled through a rough weekend against rival Minnesota, culminating in a 5-3 defeat on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The sweep marked the first time Minnesota has taken both games from UND since November 2011 and the first time UND has been swept under second-year coach Dane Jackson. Despite entering the matchup with momentum following back-to-back shutouts against Bentley, the Fighting Hawks allowed five goals in consecutive outings, exposing vulnerabilities in transition and on odd-man rushes.
Minnesota Capitalizes on UND Defensive Breakdowns
Although UND (4-2) dominated the score-sheet metrics—out-shooting Minnesota 45-22 in shots on goal and 78-38 in attempted shots while winning 37 of 61 faceoffs—the team failed to stop transition opportunities. Minnesota freshman Wyatt Cullen notched his first three collegiate goals and a four-point performance, while Gopher captain Brodie Ziemer contributed a goal and an assist.
Austin Burnevik and Jacob Kvasnicka each added two assists for Minnesota (2-3-1), which capitalized on defensive breakdowns. We were a little fat and happy,
Jackson said. Our staff didn’t have our guys ready to play at a high enough level. We got punched in the mouth. Now, it’s time for us to respond and not let it define us.
Hudson Malinoski, Cody Croal, and Sam Laurila scored for UND, with Croal giving the visitors a 2-1 advantage at 5:38 of the second period. However, the momentum shifted quickly when Minnesota responded with consecutive goals to carry a 3-2 lead into the second intermission before Cullen added two more in the opening 11 minutes of the third.
Looking Ahead to Michigan State
UND goaltender Jan Špunar turned aside 17 of 23 shots, leaving the reigning National Collegiate Hockey Conference Goaltender of the Year with an .857 save percentage through four appearances. We were playing good hockey a lot of the game,
Lindberg said. We let our foot off the gas a couple of times and it’s in the back of our net.
The schedule offers no relief for the Fighting Hawks, who travel to Austin, Texas, to face No. 2-ranked Michigan State in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The Spartans feature an NCAA-record nine NHL first-round picks on their roster.
Jackson and his coaching staff plan to utilize upcoming film sessions to address defensive execution before traveling to Texas on Thursday. We believe in the guys we have in the room,
Jackson said. We believe in what we do. But we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get sharper in our execution and our details defensively.
