North Dakota caps unbeaten weekend with 4-2 victory over Bemidji State

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota closed out an unbeaten weekend with a 4-2 victory over Bemidji State on Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

UND (6-6-3) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Beavers (5-4-3) struck for a pair of goals in a 1:02 span in the third period to trim the advantage to just 3-2. The Fighting Hawks were stout defensively over the final moments, holding BSU to no shots on goal over the final 6:22 of the contest to preserve the win.

Jakob Hellsten was solid in his sixth start of the season, stopping 18-of-20 shots for his third victory of the season while also notching an assist on UND’s third goal of the night. The sophomore has put together a 2-0-1 record over his last three starts dating back to Nov. 18. NoDak grabbed a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Dylan James cashed in a rebound following a great drive to the net by Tyler Kleven to put the hosts in front by a goal heading into the intermission.

Much like last night, the Hawks dominated the middle period to take control of the game. Riese Gaber scored his 10th goal of the season to extend the lead to 2-0 early into the frame before Louis Jamernik V tallied his first of the season just 2:33 later with a wrister through the arm of Gavin Enright to make it 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Bemidji State pressured in the third, striking for two goals in 1:02 span in the middle portion of the stanza, but Judd Caulfield struck for his fifth goal over the last seven games with an empty netter to seal the 4-2 victory. North Dakota jumps back into NCHC play next weekend against St. Cloud State from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The series begins on Friday night at 7:37 p.m. and can be seen on NCHC.tv or heard on the Home of Economy Radio Network through the iHeart app.