For the second season in a row, forward Mark Senden will be captain of UND’s hockey team, as voted by his teammates.
Defenseman Ethan Frisch and forward Gavin Hain will be assistant captains for the second consecutive season…. while forwards Judd Caulfield and Reese Gaber will be first-time assistant captains.
The Fighting Hawks have an Oct. 1st home exhibition game against Manitoba. The regular season opens the following week with a home series versus Holy Cross.
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(UND Athletics:)
Graduate student forward Mark Senden has been named the 2022-23 University of North Dakota hockey captain in a vote by his peers, earning the honor for the second straight season. Joining him in the leadership group are senior defenseman and now two-time assistant captain Ethan Frisch, fifth year forward and fellow two-time assistant Gavin Hain, senior forward Judd Caulfield and junior forward Riese Gaber, who will all don the “A” on their sweaters as assistant captains.
Senden has been a leader at every level, captaining the Fargo Force to a USHL Clark Cup title as well as Wayzata to a Minnesota Class 2A state championship as a prep before leading the Fighting Hawks to their third consecutive Penrose Cup, the first team in NCHC history to do so, and an NCAA Tournament berth. Last season, the Medina, Minn., native finished with a career-high 17 points, scoring five goals and adding 12 assists. He was named the NCHC Sportsmanship Award winner and was a national finalist for the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award.
Over his career, Senden has appeared in 131 games, tallying 56 points (19g, 37a) and becomes the 16th player in program history to wear the “C” in two seasons. He is currently working on his master’s degree in business administration (MBA).
Noted as a shutdown defender, Frisch had an offensive explosion last season along the blueline for NoDak, leading all defenseman with nine goals in 36 games. He was once again rocksteady on the ice, earning the NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year Award after leading the Fighting Hawks with 60 blocked shots. He provided a huge stretch of offense for UND in the months of January and February, scoring six goals over seven games and a 5-1-1 stretch for the team. Most notably, the Moorhead, Minn., native tallied two goals, an assist and eight blocked shots while logging nearly 59 minutes of ice time in a two-game sweep over Colorado College.
Frisch is a two-time assistant captain, a three-time AHCA Academic All-America selection and is a marketing major.
Another player returning for his extra year of eligibility, Hain appeared in 18 games last season before suffering a season-ending injury in January. The fifth year forward had six goals and three assists in those contests, including a run of goals in each of the final four series leading up to his injury. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native has always had a knack for scoring the big goal, with 13 of his 20 career goals coming against ranked opponents, including a pair of overtime winners.
Hain is a three-time NCHC All-Academic Team selection, a two-time assistant captain and is a communication major.
In a season filled with injuries, Caulfield was a steady in the lineup for North Dakota last season as one of only three players to appear in all 39 games. The forward logged a career-high 20 points, including finishing second on the team with 11 goals, third with five power play strikes and tops with a trio of shorthanded tallies. The Grand Forks, N.D., native was crucial during the second half of the season, scoring eight of his 11 goals from Jan. 21 through the end of the campaign.
Caulfield has been selected as an AHCA Academic All-American in each of his three seasons, was named the UND Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2021 and is majoring in accounting.
Gaber is the lone junior selected to the leadership group in 2022-23 and is coming off another explosive season. In 34 games, he led the team with 15 goals and 37 points to earn All-NCHC First Team honors and a Hobey Baker Award nomination. Limited to just 19 league games, Gaber terrorized the NCHC with nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points. In those 19 contests, he scored a point in 13 of them, including seven multi-point outings. Three of his 15 goals were game winners and seven came on the power play, both pacing the squad.
The Gilbert Plains, Man., native was an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete last season for the first time in his career and is an elementary education major.
