Entering Friday’s game against the Mavericks, the Hawks had blown a 2-0 lead in five of the last 11 games. UND didn’t want to make that six in the last 12 games. With the 4-0 win, they didn’t.

On this particular Friday night, UND would take a two-goal lead and not relinquish it.  The Hawks would tack on two more goals in the second period, with goals from junior forwards Nick Jones and Joel Janatuinen.

No one in the UND locker room is celebrating, not yet. This is just one game, one step in the process. If UND wants to extend their season, they need to continue playing like they did on Friday night. There’s no room for error.

“It’s a good start,” Berry said. “That’s the key word, a start. It’s just one game. Our guys did a lot of good things, but again the biggest thing is focusing on tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day and our lives are on the line. Our guys know that it’s going to be a business-like mentality.”

On Saturday night, the Mavericks are going to come out and try to even the series. It’s very hard to end a team’s season. UND doesn’t want to play on Sunday night, Omaha does.

“We want to play the same way and we don’t want to play on Sunday — they do,” junior defenseman Christian Wolanin said. “Obviously, it’s going to be up a notch. They’re going to be more desperate than they were tonight. I think if we play the same way, we should come out with a good result. It’s just a matter of a full team effort and a full 60 minutes again tomorrow. It’s all talk until we can make it happen.”

The Hawks look to close out the Mavericks tomorrow at 07:07 PM CT.