UND heads to Miami in critical need of two wins

GRAND FORKS — These next few games for UND are critical.

With four games left in the first half of the season, the Fighting Hawks sit at 26th in the pairwise. A safe spot to be at would be 12th to get into the NCAA tournament. UND will head to Oxford, Ohio, to face the Miami RedHawks in a key series. A loss to Miami could hinder UND’s chances of making the NCAA tournament.

“The last 20 games of the regular season, the four before the break and 16 after, every game is critical,” UND coach Brad Berry said.

Through 15 games, UND is 7-7-1. By Christmas break, the Fighting Hawks would ideally want to be 11-7-1. That all starts this weekend against the RedHawks.

Miami heads into the weekend 58th in the pairwise and last in the NCHC standings. It has not won a game since beating Lindenwood October 26th, and the RedHawks have yet to win an NCHC game. 

Brad Berry discussed some of the positive aspects of last weekend's series against Bemidji State that he wants his team to carry over.

“I think our conviction of going to the net and trying to make it tough and playing inside the dots,” Berry said.

Last Saturday night, UND scored all of its goals within the dots. Owen McLaughlin opened the scoring with a breakaway goal. He was followed by Carter Wilkie, who scored a goal by getting open in front of the net. Lastly, Jake Schmaltz buried the puck into the net after sliding into the crease for a rebound.

“When teams that can play inside the dots in the offensive zone, you can generate offense,” Berry said. 

Berry also talked about some of the things that he thinks the Fighting Hawks need to do better against Miami.

“Our puck execution on our breakouts,” Berry said. “We have players who are younger. It’s a situation where you got to keep things simple on breakouts and in transition. Instead of overhandling pucks and looking for different options on breakouts, we talk about going back hard on pucks and using your first option.”

Injury report

Berry talked about how there is a likely chance that UND forward Ben Strinden will play this weekend.

Berry had no further comments on anyone else (Jamernik, Berg, MacDonald, and Zmolek).

The streak

UND has not lost a game to Miami since November 19th, 2022 (4-3).

Since that day, the Fighting Hawks have outscored Miami 44-13. Miami has never swept UND.

Miami’s leading scorer this season is senior forward Matt Choupani. The transfer from Northeastern has already matched his point totals from last season (12).

Freshman Michael Quinn is tied for the most points of any defenseman on Miami. He has one goal and four assists on the season. 

The RedHawks have also had a difficult time finding consistent goaltending this season. Bruno Brueveris has appeared in 10 games and has posted a 3.66 GAA and a .876 SV%. Ethan Dahlmeir has played in 8 games this season, posting a 3.38 GAA and a .881 SV%. Dahlmeir has started the last two games.

The Rookie

UND forward Sacha Boisvert was recently announced as the NCHC Rookie of the Month. 

Boisvert tallied five goals in  November. He also leads all freshman skaters in the NCHC in goals and points.

He leads the Fighting Hawks in goals with six and is tied for the team lead in points (10).

Game notes

• UND leads Miami 31-8-1

• Entering this weekend, UND is ranked 26th in the pairwise, the lowest at Thanksgiving since the 2013-14 season when they were 30th.

• UND has won seven straight games in Steve Cady Arena, last losing 3-2 on Nov. 10th, 2018.

• Anthony Noreen is entering his inaugural season as the head coach of Miami after dedicating the previous seven seasons to coaching Tri-City in the USHL.

• Kings of the faceoff dot. UND enters the weekend sitting fifth in the country and second in the NCHC at 55.0%.