CINCINNATI – North Dakota’s high-powered attack was tested early by the nation’s hottest team, but the Fighting Hawks rallied for a 6-2 win in the NCAA Midwest Regionals. 
North Dakota, the region’s top-seeded team, will play Michigan in Saturday’s regional finals.
“Tonight, we checked the first box,” North Dakota coach Brad Berry said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re dialed in tomorrow.”
First-period action brought intense, hard-hitting action, along with plenty of goals.
Northeastern took a 1-0 lead at 3:07 when Nolan Stevens went top-shelf on North Dakota’s Cam Johnson.
But despite the deficit, the Fighting Hawks got their game under control and started breaking up the Huskies’ attempts to set up on offense.
The Huskies’ lead lasted all of two minutes. Keaton Thompson’s shot was deflected but landed on the stick of Johnny Simonson, who tied the game.
At 10:22, Tucker Poolman gave the Fighting Hawks the lead, scoring on assists from Brock Boeser and Nick Schmaltz.
Matt Benning of Northeastern went to the box for holding, and the Huskies slipped further behind when Luke Johnson picked up a loose puck at the bottom of the left circle and wristed a shot past Ryan Ruck, who was late to that side of the net.
Luke Johnson of North Dakota scores a power play goal in the NCAA Midwest Regional. Photo by Jake Murray/Pro Hockey News
It didn’t get any better for the Huskies in the second period, as Bryn Chyzyk and Boeser scored less than two minutes apart for a 5-1 North Dakota lead.
In the third period, Benning gave Northeastern a spark to make the game 5-2, but Drake Caggiula restored the four-goal lead at 12:15 of the third.
While the Caggiula-Boeser-Schmaltz line gets a lot of the opponent’s attention on game-by-game basis, the Fighting Hawks got contributions from all four lines.
“I know we have tremendous depth and all four lines can contribute whenever we need,” Caggiula said. “That’s what makes our team so special. We have four lines that know how to make plays, and it’s great when all four lines are contributing.”
Said Berry: “The team-first mentality is in our culture. It’s about nobody’s bigger than the program. I know there’s a lot of guys happy for guys like Simonson, Chyzyk when they did score tonight.”
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