Goon's Takeaways: UND Inches Closer to Another Penrose Cup with 5-3 Victory over WMU

Friday night's theme: "Our goalie really bailed us out."

Sometimes wins don't come easy. Friday, the University of North Dakota was badly outshot 37-17 but still prevailed with a hard-fought 5-3 win. Senior goalie Ludvig Persson was rock solid in net, stopping 33 of 37 shots (.918); many were grade-A shots. Fighting Hawks blocked 26 shots led by defenseman Bennett Zmolek and Dylan James with five blocked shots each. It was a gritty team effort.

"I gotta give a shout-out to Luddy (Ludvig Persson)," Carson Albrecht said. "He stood on his head, and I don't think we would have won without him."

UND received balanced scoring. Five players scored goals for UND: Owen McLaughlin, Jackson Kunz, Louis Jamernik V, Carson Albrecht, and Cameron Berg. 

Last night, Blake continued his torrid pace with (0g-2a-2pts). Blake sits in fourth place in the national scoring race behind Boston College's Will Smith (17g-37a-54pts), Cutter Gauthier (31g-20a-51pts), Gabe Perreault (15g-35a-50pts), Blake (18g-31a-49pts), Boston University Macklin Celebrini (26g-22a-48pts), and Denver University's Jack Devine (22g-26-48pts). Can we say Hobey Baker? (Link to National Scoring Stats) According to Brad Schlossman, with Blake's two assists, he's within one point of the NCHC record for most league points in a season (35). The record is held by former UND forward Brock Boeser (2015-16) and former Denver Pioneer Bobby Brink (2021-22). (Yeah, that Brink.) 

There's a lot on the line on Saturday night. 

"There's a ton of motivation tomorrow to know you can do it on the second last series of the year, at home, on senior night, which is always emotional, Berry said. "(In the past) our guys have done a good job on senior night, they know what's coming, but they block it out till the end of the game. They know the task at hand. That's going to be a salty team coming in tomorrow. They probably thought they deserved a better fate. At the end of the day, that's hockey."

With the 5-3 victory, the UND hockey team inched closer to winning their fourth Penrose Cup in the last five years and their sixth in the previous 11 years. With a win against Western Michigan on Saturday night, UND would clinch at least a share of the Penrose Cup. If UND wins and Denver sweeps SCSU, UND will win the Penrose outright. There are numerous other scenarios still out there. 

"We control our destiny, Jamernik V said. "If we play the right way, everybody will bring it tomorrow because it's senior night. We have to stay focused on the task at hand."

Former UND forward Matteo Costantini returned to the Ralph Engelstad Arena and recorded (1g-1a-2pts). A change of scenery has done Costantini well; he now has (8g-18a-26pts) and is also a plus-20.

 

UMD Bulldog Luke Bast Faces Off Against His Former Team

On Thursday, I was listening to the UND hockey podcast and Brad Schlossman brought up an interesting fact: in the coming weeks, a few UND players will be playing against their former teams. There will also be a few former UND hockey players, playing with their new team against UND. 

Up first, Minnesota-Duluth d-man Luke Bast, who played at UND for two seasons. Bast entered the NCAA Transfer Portal after the 2022-23 season.  This is what Bast had to say during this week's UMD media day. 

“You have to outwork them,” Bast told the media in Duluth, who has two goals nine games into his career as a Bulldog. “At the end of the day, are we going to win with all our talent? Are we going to out-skill teams? Probably not, which is fine. The thing that we got is we got a group that's willing to win and do the little things that are going to win. You see it in the long run. Past teams here, you look at the roster, and you might not think that they're going to be great or whatever, but they come together as a group and they do what it takes to win."

Another Comment From Bast that caught my attention was this: 

"I was actually on the phone with my dad, a couple days ago, and he was talking to a fellow father from North Dakota," Bast said. The fellow UND hockey father said, hey, 'what would you rather do? Fly on a chartered plane and not play or get left behind? Or would you rather fly commercial and play every night?' 

Bast continued, "That was interesting. I think you take the commercial flight and you play every night. I think you'll have a lot more fun, and your college experience will be a hell of a lot better than staying home; rather than flying on a chartered plane."

Future Matchups 

As I mentioned, this week, it's Bast facing off against his former team, UND. Next week, Ludvig Persson and the Fighting Hawks will take on the Miami RedHawks in Oxford, OH. On January 12-13, 2023, Cameron Berg will take on his former team the Omaha Mavericks. The following week, on March 19-20, 2023, UND will take on former forward Nick Portz and the St Cloud State Huskies. Finally, UND will take on Matteo Costantini and the Western Michigan Broncos on March 1-2, 2023. 

The Transfers

 

Here's how the six former UND hockey players have faired this season. 

Luke Bast, UMD, nine games (2g—0a—2pts) even

Nick Potz, SCSU, seven games (1g-1a—2pts) even

Brent Johnson, OSU, five games (3g-1a—2pts) minus-one

Cooper Moore, QU nine games, (0g-3a—1pts) plus-five

Matteo Costantini, WMU, six games, (3g-3a—3pts) plus-six he has two multi-point games.

Jakob Hellsten, UNH, four games, (2-1-1, GAA 1.24, and a .939 save percentage)

This week, Bast was on the Bulldog Postcast with Matt Wellens. 

Bulldog Insider Podcast: UMD junior defenseman Luke Bast prepares for reunion with North Dakota, shares what he really thinks of the Red Pepper

Listen here or wherever you get podcasts: https://t.co/pgfopInjDj

— Matt Wellens (@mattwellens) November 9, 2023