UND beats No. 5 Western Michigan to complete unbeaten weekend

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald By Brad Elliott Schlossman Today at 10:51 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? GRAND FORKS — Upon further review, UND may have a pretty good hockey team. The No. 10-ranked Fighting Hawks beat No. 5-ranked Western Michigan 4-1 on Saturday night, completing an impressive weekend in Ralph Engelstad Arena. ADVERTISEMENT UND (5-3-1) entered the series on a three-game losing streak, allowing 15 goals in that span. The Fighting Hawks proceeded to have convincing answers for their biggest questions while earning a win and a tie against the Broncos. That porous defense? Not this weekend. UND held the NCAA's No. 1 scoring offense to three goals in two games. The Broncos entered the weekend averaging 5.7 goals per game. Western Michigan mustered just 35 shots on goal during the series (17 on Friday, 18 on Saturday), the fewest on a weekend for the Broncos in 17 seasons. They entered the weekend averaging 42.4 shots per game. The need for a few more 5-on-5 goals? Not a problem Saturday. For the first time all season, UND's red-hot power play was shut out, but the Fighting Hawks managed four goals, anyway. "The last couple of weeks have been hard," UND coach Dane Jackson said. "We've got a lot of pride in our program. To get swept by Minnesota and go down to where all of our fans were in Austin and not get a win. . . the guys care a lot about the program. They care what we're trying to do here and you feel like you're letting people down." ADVERTISEMENT Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald Cody Croal was the first star of the game, tallying two goals and three points. Linemate Garrett Lindberg scored his first UND goal and tallied two points. Their center, Ollie Josephson, had an assist. That trio was assigned to match Western Michigan's top line of Adam Benák, William Whitelaw and Bobby Cowan most of the night. Benák scored Western Michigan's lone goal, but UND held Whitelaw off the scoresheet both nights. Whitelaw entered the weekend on a seven-game point streak, tallying 14 points in seven games. Their line combined for 35 points in the first seven games. "We just knew we had to keep it simple and not let them behind us," Lindberg said. "I think we did a pretty good job." Benák one-handed slashed Croal in the throat as he scored the empty-netter, setting off a scrum. Benák was called for a five-minute major and game misconduct. Croal returned to the ice for the ensuing power play, but was getting treatment after the game and was unavailable to talk to media. "He's ginger and sore," Jackson said. "It's not a very smart play. To me, the game is over and it's a reckless stick, but I don't think it was malicious. . . he's not a dirty player." ADVERTISEMENT Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald UND is 4-0-1 in Ralph Engelstad Arena this season and 15-2-2 at home since last Thanksgiving. "It's a great feeling," UND forward Anthony Menghini said. "We kind of found our stride this week. It's a good feeling inside that locker room. We know when we stick together and play like that, we're going to be a really good team." Jackson said he liked his team's response to the three-game losing streak in October. "We've had a lot of hard practices and very succinct meetings about the standard and what we've got to do and where we've got to improve," Jackson said. "The guys took it. They didn't (complain). They did the hard practices with fervor. They listened to the meetings and took what we were saying and put it in action." Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald UND plays at St. Thomas next weekend, the first meeting between the teams since the Tommies joined the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this summer. The Fighting Hawks will go into that series with momentum after a four-point weekend against Western Michigan (6-2-1). "We feel we have a lot of guys who are character-filled guys," Jackson said. "When you go through hard stuff, that's how you get better. We've gone through a hard thing. We've come out. . . not through it. . . but we're working through it. We're a better team because of the hard times we've battled through." ADVERTISEMENT Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS UND SPORTS UND FIGHTING HAWKS HOCKEY SUBSCRIBERS ONLY By Brad Elliott Schlossman Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald's circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at [email protected]. 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