Grand Forks, ND — On Friday, the University of North Dakota hockey team did something it hadn’t done in 2025: They won a game on Friday night. After Friday’s 4-2 win, UND is 1-4-1 on Fridays in 2025. Yes, it’s been a tough year for the green and white.
If you’ve been following the 2024-25 version of the Fighting Hawks, you’d know that Fridays had been a house of horrors for UND; the Fighting Hawks hadn’t won a game on Friday night since December 13, 2024, against St. Cloud State. We’re almost into March, and time is running out. With Friday’s win, UND is sitting at 18th in the Pairwise Ranking; depending on upsets in conference tournaments, they would probably need to get to 14th or 15th. Five regular season games remain, and UND must continue winning, or their season is over.
Friday was a night of ending negative streaks. It was also the first time UND had won back-to-back games since December when they won back-to-back games against SCSU and Miami. Saturday is a different story for UND. They’re 7-1-1 on the last night of Saturdays; their only loss was against the Western Michigan Broncos.
UND scored two in the first period, with goals from Ben Strinden, his seventh goal of the season, and Cade Littler’s fourth goal. In the second period, UMD scored twice, with goals from Joe Molenaar and Blake Bechen. Sandwiched between the two UMD goals, UND forward Sacha Boisvert would score the game-winning goal, his 10th goal of the season. It was a good night for the Fighting Hawks. They played a smart defensive game, and when the Bulldogs got a shot on the net, T.J. Semptimphelter was there to stop the puck. Semptimphelter would stop 30 of 32 shots and continue his steady play between the pipes.
UND would enter the third period with a 3-2 lead. UND is 12-1-1 when leading after two periods. UND would have to kill two Bulldog power plays but would still come out on top. In the waning seconds of the third period, UND forward Carter Wilkie iced the game to pace UND to a 4-2 victory.
UND Seems to Be Coming Together
One thing that I’ve noticed in the last few games is that UND is playing better defensively. In the past two games, they’ve closed out games they might have lost during the first half of the season.
“We’re not gripping our sticks as much, and we’re playing a little more free,” Carter Wilkie said. “We’re staying to our game and not changing or panicking with the puck. Our biggest thing is keeping pressure on them, keeping them in the D zone, and allowing us not to defend or stay on our heels as much. Drive the game from there on out.”
Makeshift Line Pays Dividends.
When I got to the arena, I picked up the line charts and noticed the fourth line consisted of three freshman forwards: Cody Croal, Sacha Boisvert, and Cade Littler. I first thought that Berry put Boisvert on the line because he missed last Saturday’s game and was still slightly banged up from his injury. That line ended up being the most productive of the night; they scored two goals and recorded four points.
“Sasha (Boisvert) was out most of the week,” head coach Brad Berry said. “He was in one full practice here; we had him on one of the powerful units. In fairness to him, to see where he was, he was really good tonight, playing in a 60-minute game.”
UND Continues Dominace over UMD
As of late, UND has had UMD’s number. Tonight’s 4-2 win was UND’s seventh straight win over UMD. After the game, I was looking through X when I saw this tweet by Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman.
UND beats Minnesota Duluth for the seventh time in a row and the 11th time in 12 games, 4-2 in the series opener Friday. Wilkie with a goal and 3 points. Strinden, Littler, Boisvert with goals. Croal with 2 assists. Semptimphelter stops 30 of 32.
— Brad Elliott Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) February 22, 2025
