No. 16 UND bounces back with 3-1 win over No. 20 Colorado College

February 8, 2025

KVRR Staff,

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND ATHLETICS)– After a tough Friday night, No. 16 North Dakota bounced back with a 3-1 victory over No. 20 Colorado College on Saturday night from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

UND (14-11-2, 9-6-1 NCHC) grabbed the lead and never surrendered it, holding off a late push from Colorado College (14-13-1, 8-9-1 NCHC) in the third period to vault back into fourth place in the NCHC standings with 28 points and climb to No. 23 in the Pairwise Rankings.

Graduate student goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter shined between the pipes in the win, finishing with 24 saves on 25 shots against to improve to 4-0-1 in his career against the Tigers. The Marlton, N.J., native was at his best in the final 20 minutes, turning aside 12 CC shots to help secure the series split.

Forwards Ben Strinden (5) and Carter Wilkie (5) each potted a goal while defenseman Andrew Strathmann (2) notched the eventual game winner early the in third to provide the balanced scoring attack for UND. Wilkie also tallied an assist on Strathmann’s winner, giving him his first multi-point game in the green and white.

After a scoreless first period, UND opened the scoring early in the second when Mac Swanson drew the defense in and feathered a perfect pass to Strinden to wire home his fifth of the year and give the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead for only the third time in the last eight games.

The 1-0 score remained the same until just over a minute into the third, as Strathmann fired a shot through traffic and past the CC goaltender for his first goal at Ralph Engelstad Arena and second of his career to extend the advantage to 2-0.

CC answered back with a push, however, drawing back within a goal on a tally from Grand Forks, N.D., native Drew Montgomery, but Semptimphelter and the Hawks held firm before Wilkie potted an empty netter to seal the 3-1 victory.

North Dakota will head back on the road for a matchup with Denver beginning on Friday night at 8 p.m. (CT) on CBS Sports Network and the Fighting Hawks Radio Network.

Postgame Notes

North Dakota improves to 174-89-12 all-time against CC and 112-25-7 at home
Jayden Perron missed tonight’s game due to an injury – the first missed game of his career
The win also snaps a six-game winless streak and five straight losses against the Tigers
Carter Wilkie (1G, 1A) recorded his first multi-point game of the season
Andrew Strathmann’s goal was the second of his career and first game winner
Ben Strinden scored his first goal since Nov. 15 vs. Denver
T.J. Semptimphelter finished with 24 saves on 25 shots against
UND snaps a three-game losing streak at home and improves to 3-5-0 at home during NCHC play
Both teams were perfect on the PK, with UND going 4-for-4 and CC finishing 2-for-2
The two sides combined for 76 penalty minutes
NoDak jumps back into fourth in the NCHC standings with 28 points
This was the first weekend without an OT game for UND since Dec. 6-7 at Miami
UND blocked a season-high 23 shots, with Jake Livanavage and Jayden Jubenvill each blocking four
Mac Swanson notched an assist against his father Brian’s old team
Swanson now has 13 assists and 15 points this season
UND improved to 11-2-0 when scoring first
North Dakota is now 8-1-0 all-time on “One More Shift” promotion nights
The program honored Dennis Hextall on Saturday night – UND’s first player to reach the NHL
UND is now 10-1-1 this season when leading after two
The Hawks also improved to 8-5-1 this season on Saturday night
The win was only the fourth this season when scoring fewer than four goals (4-10-2)
Andrew Strathmann, Carter Wilkie and T.J. Semptimphelter were named the game’s three stars
Faceoffs were 30-22 CC, with Jake Schmaltz pacing UND at 6-7

How It Happened

First Period
No scoring

Second Period
05:34 | UND – Ben Strinden (5) from Mac Swanson (13)

Third Period
01:08 | UND – Andrew Strathmann (2) from Carter Wilkie (4)
07:05 | CC – Drew Montgomery (7) from Gavin Lindberg (5)
18:37 | UND – Carter Wilkie (5, EN)