Schmaltz's OT winner leads No. 16/18 UND to 4-3 win, weekend sweep over No. 9 St. Cloud State

BIG FORKS, ND Jake Schmaltz scored 2:03 into the 3-on-3 overtime session to give No. 16/18 North Dakota a 4-3 win and a weekend sweep against No. 9 St. Cloud State on Saturday night at a sold-out Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D

The winner propels UND (11-7-1, 6-2-0 NCHC) into sole second place in the NCHC standings with 17 points and sends the Fighting Hawks into the holiday break with a 6-1-1 record over the last eight games.

NoDak was in comeback mode the entire match and had to fight back from a trio of one-goal deficits, but Schmaltz sealed the victory for the hosts with his first OT goal of his career after a great feed from Dylan James to secure the first strike over St. Cloud State since November 2019.

Graduate goalkeeper TJ Semmhelter put together another strong performance between the pipes in the win, finishing with 23 saves on 26 shots conceded to earn his fourth straight win. The Marlton, N.J., native was at his best in the extra session, stopping a trio of St. Cloud State (10-7-0, 4-4-0 NCHC), including a pair of breakaways.

St. Cloud State broke through for the first goal of the weekend just after the middle of the first period, when Grant Achan scored a shorthanded goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Just like Friday night, UND put together a strong middle team and eventually tied the game at 1-1 Jayden Perron danced around his defender and tucked a backhander past the goaltender for his sixth goal of the season, but the Huskies answered back with a power play from Austin Burnevik to restore the lead for the visitors.

Let in the second, Abram Wiebe capped back-to-back weekends with a power-play goal as the sophomore nailed his fourth of the year in the final 110 seconds of the stanza, tying the game heading into the third.

SCSU grabbed its third lead of the night early in the third when Barrett Hall finished off a 2-on-1 rush, but the Fighting Hawks responded again when Caleb McDonald worked himself free and found Sacha Boisvert only in the closing stages for the eighth of the season for the freshmen and the match ended 3-3.

UND almost won the game in regulation, but the game headed to overtime with the score tied at 3-3. After a trio of big stops from Semptimphelter, Schmaltz won the match with his first career overtime winner to secure the victory and the series sweep.

North Dakota will enjoy a break before opening 2025 in an exhibition against Manitoba on Saturday, January 4 at 6:07 pm from the Ralph.

Post-game notes

• Louis Jamernik V returned to the lineup for the first time since November 22 vs. Robert Morris
• UND improves to 83-49-18 all-time against St. Cloud State and 43-19-9 in Grand Forks
• The Hawks achieved their first sweep over SCSU since November 2019
• Jake Schmaltz recorded his first OT winner of his career
• UND improves to 2-0-1 in overtime this season
• The Hawks are on a four-game unbeaten streak against SCSU, their longest in more than a decade
• Jayden Jubenvill recorded his first point of his career with an assist
• TJ Semmhelter finished with 23 saves on 26 shots
• UND now has an 8-2 third period lead over the last seven games
• The Hawks went 1-for-4 on the power play, while SCSU went 1-for-2
• Sacha Boisvert has 10 points over the last nine games
• The freshman also takes over the team lead with eight goals
• UND improves to 2-6-1 this season when the opponent scores first
• The Hawks improve to 5-3-0 in one-goal games this year
• The shots were 38-26 in favor of UND, with Boisvert leading everyone with eight shots on goal
• Owen McLaughlin notched an assist for six points in his last six games
• UND blocked 10 shots to improve to 10-3-1 in double-digit blocking on the season
• Faceoffs were 36-29 UND, with Carter Wilkie Everyone at 14-8 pace

How it happened

First period

11:42 | SCSU Grant Achan (4, SH)

Second Period

07:19 | AND Jayden Perron (6) from Owen McLaughlin (12) and Jayden Jubenvill (1)
16:06 | SCSU Austin Burnevik (9, PP) by Tyson Gross (5) and Barrett Hall (12)
18:06 | AND Abram Wiebe (4, PP) from MacSwanson (9) and Dylan James (3)

Third Period

01:38 | SCSU Hall (3) from Burnevik (7) and Verner Miettinen (8)
07:56 | AND Sacha Boisvert (8) from Caleb McDonald (3) and James (4)

Overtime

02:03 | AND Jake Schmaltz (3) from James (5) and Wiebe (10)

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