No. 7 UND wins Ice Breaker Tournament title with 2-0 win over Wisconsin

October 14, 2023

Ryan Bowlin,

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND ATHLETICS)– No. 7 North Dakota put a bow on what many Grand Forks natives would describe as a “perfect day” on Saturday, taking down longtime rival Wisconsin, 2-0, to capture the 2023 Ice Breaker Tournament crown in front of a sellout crowd of 11,783 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

UND (2-0-0), which had put up 17 goals in the previous exhibition and regular season opener, only needed to find the twine twice, as goaltender Ludvig Persson stole the show with a 29-save shutout to give the program its second Ice Breaker Tournament title in five tries.

For the second time in as many games, Hunter Johannes opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the opening frame, finishing off a great pass from Louis Jamernik V to give the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The goal is the second tally while playing with a man down this season for the green and white, already sitting just one behind last season’s total of three.

The middle frame had been the offensive period for UND this season, entering with a plus-11 scoring margin in the period after the exhibition and contest against Army West Point, and Saturday proved to be no exception. Riese Gaber extended the advantage to 2-0 with a backhander over the blocker of goaltender Kyle McClellan following a great forecheck and pass from Cameron Berg just over six minutes into the stanza.

Persson and the new defensive group put the lid on any comeback effort by the Badgers in the third, holding the visitors to just six shots on goal to close out the shutout and the 2-0 victory.

North Dakota remains home to battle another old rival next weekend, taking on Minnesota for a two-game series at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Fans can catch all the action on Midco Sports or listen on the Home of Economy Radio Network.

Postgame Notes

Nate Benoit made his collegiate debut for UND on Saturday

UND captures his second Ice Breaker Tournament in program history, also doing so in 2015-16

Hunter Johannes struck for the third time this season, notching his second shorthanded goal of the year

Gaber has goals in back-to-back games to begin the season

Wisconsin finished with a 29-28 shot advantage

Persson notched the fifth shutout of his career and first in a UND uniform

Garrett Pyke led all skaters with four blocked shots, with UND finishing with 15 as a team

Keaton Pehrson and Logan Britt each collected their first points in a UND uniform with assists

Johannes was named the tournament’s most outstanding player

Jackson Blake and Pyke were also named to the all-tournament team

NoDak went 31-22 in the faceoff dot, with Owen McLaughlin going 9-3

The Hawks went 0-for-5 with the power play while Wisconsin was 0-for-4


How It Happened

First Period
13:17 | UND – Hunter Johannes finishes off a shorthanded goal from Louis Jamernik V to give UND a 1-0 lead

Second Period
06:31 | UND – Riese Gaber polishes off backhander over the goaltender’s blocker to extend the advantage to 2-0

Third Period
No scoring

For more information on North Dakota hockey, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.