UND Falls to Wisconsin at Frozen Four

(UND Sports Information) – LAS VEGAS – Second-ranked North Dakota came up just short on Thursday afternoon falling by a 2-1 score to No. 4 Wisconsin in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinal from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The loss ends UND’s season at 29-10-1 – marking the most wins for the program since the 2015-16 season. The Fighting Hawks also reached the Frozen Four for the first time in a decade and captured the program’s seventh Penrose Cup as NCHC regular season champions under Head Coach Dane Jackson in his first season at the helm.

Fittingly, it was a trio of seniors who got on the scoresheet for UND in their final collegiate games, as Ellis Rickwood scored his ninth goal of the season in the third period while Dylan James (11) and Ben Strinden (20) each tallied assists to close their college careers.

Rookie goaltender Jan Špunar finished with 35 saves on 37 shots against for UND, but suffered only his third regulation loss of the season. He ends his rookie campaign with a 1.91 goals against average to set a new school record by a freshman while his .919 save percentage sits third all-time among UND rookies.

It was a slow start that doomed the Fighting Hawks, as Wisconsin (24-12-2) built a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes thanks to an 18-4 shot advantage and a pair of goals in just 27 seconds to carry that two-goal lead into the first intermission.

UND started to find its game in the middle 20 and had a golden opportunity to climb back into the contest with a 5-on-3 man advantage for 1:57. The Fighting Hawks had a couple of good looks, including a great chance from Jack Kernan in the slot, but the Badgers killed off both power plays to keep the score at 2-0 after two periods.

The Hawks pulled within a goal in the final minute with the extra attacker, as Rickwood buried a centering feed from James to make it 2-1, but that was as close as the green and white would get.

Postgame Notes

UND falls to 3-1-0 all-time against Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament and 1-1 in the Frozen Four
North Dakota ends its season at 29-10-1 – the most wins in a season since 2015-16
Ellis Rickwood scored his ninth goal of the season and finished the season with 37 points
His 37 points are a career high and led the team
Bennett Zmolek, Tyler Young, Dylan James and Ben Strinden all played their final games at UND
Jan Špunar finished 20-5-1 and dropped only his third regulation game of the season
Špunar also set the school’s freshman record for GAA at 1.91 and shutouts with 6
NoDak went 0-for-5 on the power play while Wisconsin was 0-for-2
Shots were 37-22 in favor of the Badgers
Faceoffs were 34-29 in favor of UND, with Rickwood leading everyone at 16-12

How It Happened First Period:
12:54 | UW – Simon Tassey (14) from Vasily Zelenov (13)
13:21 | UW – Ryan Botterill (10) from Ben Dexheimer (21) and Joe Palodichuk (15)

Second Period:
No scoring

Third Period:
19:08 | UND – Ellis Rickwood (9, EA) from Dylan James (11) and Ben Strinden (20)