UND Hockey Closes First Half Atop The NCHC; Top Three in Pairwise Rankings

Enter holiday break after series sweep of Colorado College

GRAND FORKS, N.D — North Dakota hockey skates into winter break ranked in the top five for the first time this season and are tied for 3rd in the pairwise rankings, with a 13-6 record highlighted with wins against four of the top 11 teams in the nation.

Last weekend’s trip to Colorado Springs earned sophomore forward Louis Jamernik NCHC forward of the week honors. Jamernik opened scoring for the Hawks Friday and Saturday.

Sweden netminder Jakob Hellesten was awarded freshman of the week after saving 23 of 24 shots Saturday in his first career start.

“Friends and family have been great and I think everyone is just super excited for me to first-off get the opportunity to play and also get the win in the first game,” Hellesten said.

“The biggest message for us is yeah we had a good start but we’re only halfway through the season and our ultimate goal is to be where we’re at at the end of the season,” head coach Brad Berry said.

With four other nchc teams in the top 14, the Hawks know what challenges lie ahead.

“Its definitely a strong conference this year I think there’s a lot of guys who transferred into the league and that definitely plays a big role into it so we know in the second half here every weekend is going to be a big weekend,” said sophomore forward Judd Caulfield. “I don’t know, there’s not many games we’re playing teams out of the top ten so were going to have to bring it every weekend.”

UNDwill take on the USA Under-18 team in an exhibition game New Years Day before resuming their season against no.9  Cornell January 7th.