GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Josh Archibald’s hat trick wasn’t the only thing unusual about Nebraska-Omaha’s 6-3 win over 16th-ranked North Dakota on Saturday.
The Mavericks scored five straight goals after UND took a 3-1 lead and snapped North Dakota’s seven-game home winning streak.
UND (14-9-3, 9-7-0-0) has lost just twice in its last 13 games, but this one was particularly ugly. It was outshot again 35-26 and went 0-for-6 on the power play.
“We weren’t good enough in any phase of the game,” UND coach Dave Hakstol said. “This game’s not acceptable for us at home at any time of the year, let alone down the stretch.”
Archibald’s four-point night was only one of the many things that made it more than a run-of-the-mill game in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The night featured two penalties before the puck even dropped, two own-goals, a waved-off goal and the ejection of a head coach.
The intensity level was higher from the start than it was in Friday’s 4-2 UND win. UNO’s Archibald and North Dakota’s Stephane Pattyn were sent off before the opening puck drop.
Mavericks’ coach Dean Blais was hit with a game misconduct penalty with two minutes left in the first period and UNO (11-13-2, 8-6-2-1) leading 1-0. He wasn’t around to see Derek Rodwell tie it for North Dakota with seven seconds left in the period.
Goals by Drake Caggiula and Jordan Schmaltz in the first 2:03 of the second period gave UND a 3-1 lead. Schmaltz got credit for a goal that UNO defenseman Brian O’Rourke knocked in.
“We were up 3-1 in the second period. Regardless of how we got there, we built a two-goal lead and gave up five unanswered goals in our own building. There’s not much good in that,” Hakstol said.
It was all Mavericks from that point on.
“This one is a hard one to take,” said North Dakota’s Dillon Simpson, who deflected an Archibald pass into his own net. “I don’t think we did a good job of responding.”
UNO goalie Kirk Thompson had 23 saves to notch his first win since Nov. 2. North Dakota goalie Clarke Saunders made 29 stops, but allowed several weak shots to sneak in.
Dominic Zombo had a goal and two assists for the Mavericks.
“Early in the second period a couple of bounces went against us and we didn’t push back,” Hakstol said. “That’s probably the biggest disappointing thing about tonight.”
North Dakota fell to 10-2-1 in its last 13.
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