Just because North Dakota is now using a different nickname, it doesn’t mean their hockey skill level is different. They can still overwhelm you in many ways.
They used those ways for many new firsts as the newly christened Fighting Hawks: first goal, first hat trick, and first victory.
Drake Caggiula scored three times to record his first collegiate hat trick, and Matt Hrynkiw stopped 35 shots as North Dakota held off St. Cloud State, 4-3, Friday night at the National Hockey Center.
“I had a couple two-goal games, so it was nice to get that hat trick,” said Caggiula, who also had an assist.
“It’s indicative of how he’s played his whole career at North Dakota,” UND coach Brad Berry added. “He plays with passion, heart, and has good offensive ability.”
Rhett Gardner also scored for the Fighting Hawks, who were playing their first game with a nickname since the WCHA Final Five in March 2012.
Judd Peterson, Jimmy Murray, and David Morley scored for the Huskies, who suffered their first conference loss of the season, as well as their first loss at home. They had been 4-0 at the NHC before Friday, outscoring their opposition 13-1.
Charlie Lindgren, who made 22 saves for SCSU, hadn’t really been tested in those games, however, and UND capitalized on just about every scoring chance it had, despite being outshot, 38-26.
Things started off quickly in the first period. SCSU jumped on top with an early one-timer from Patrick Newell to Judd Peterson for his team-leading seventh goal of the year, making it 1-0 Huskies just 2:20 in.
It didn’t take long for North Dakota to respond, however. Four minutes after Peterson’s tally, Caggiula buried a pad rebound of a Troy Stecher point shot to tie the game, then he added another on a power play to give the Fighting Hawks a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. SCSU was outshooting UND 11-7 at the time, but don’t let that fool you. North Dakota had many more scoring chances, and they were skating circles around the St. Cloud defense.
North Dakota increased their advantage to two goals when Gardner, who assisted on Caggiula’s second goal, buried another Stecher rebound on another power play at 5:48 of the second. St. Cloud State finally stopped the bleeding with an extra-man tally of their own late in the frame when Murray snuck a one-timed rocket from Morley under the left arm of Hrynkiw to bring it back within a goal after two periods.
“[Hrynkiw] had some really nice saves; fortunately, we were able to get one back there,” said Murray.
Caggiula completed the hat trick just 28 seconds into the third period when he picked up a carom off the boards and roofed it behind Lindgren to restore their two-goal lead. Despite North Dakota’s passionate traveling fan base being in full force, no hats were tossed. Of course, it didn’t really matter to him and the Fighting Hawks. For the Huskies, it did. Momentum was back on North Dakota’s side.
“Obviously not the start we wanted in the third period, which cost us,” said Morley.
Morley knocked home a sitting puck in the crease with about five minutes left to cut the UND lead to 4-3, but the Huskies couldn’t generate the equalizer despite late pressure and fell behind the Fighting Hawks in the NCHC standings.
First place North Dakota (5-0-0 NCHC, 10-1-2 overall) will attempt its first sweep at St. Cloud State (4-1-0 NCHC, 8-3-0 overall) since November 27-28, 1998, on Saturday night at 7:07 CT.
Ironically, that series started off with a 4-3 UND win, too. Caggiula knows it won’t be easy to repeat the feat.
“We gotta play just as good as we did tonight, if not better. It’s always hard to sweep, especially on the road. [St. Cloud State]’s a great team,” he said.
