SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - No Boeser, no Jost, no problem.
Playing without two of its top three scorers, North Dakota jumped ahead on its first shift of the game and beat Union College 3-1 in men’s hockey on Saturday.
Austin Poganski scored twice and goalie Cam Johnson made 32 saves for eighth-ranked North Dakota (10-6-3).
Poganski scored 11 seconds into the game and with 24 seconds left to play for the Fighting Hawks (10-6-3). Shane Gersich also scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
“That was huge,” UND coach Brad Berry said. “You always say the first five minutes are the most critical. It’s always a bonus when you can get a goal in the first five minutes. We got one on the first shift and that kind of lifted us up.”
Shane Gersich, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s leader in goals (14) and points (25), scored at 2:57 of the third period.
Johnson flirted with his fourth shutout before Spencer Foo scored with the Dutchmen (14-4-2) playing with an extra attacker late in the third period.
Union goalie Alex Sakellaropoulos made 26 saves for 10th-ranked Union, which had won its previous six games, all on the road.
The eighth-ranked Fighting Hawks extended their unbeaten streak when leading after two periods to 84 games (79-0-5). Their last loss when leading after two periods was Nov. 1, 2013.
Johnson stymied Union forwards Mike Vecchione and Foo until the closing minutes. Vecchione, a senior, leads the nation with 18 goals and 38 points. Foo leads with 22 assists and has 35 points.
North Dakota played without two of its top scoring threats. All-American Brock Boeser remains sidelined with a wrist injury and freshman forward Tyson Jost is playing for Canada in the World Junior Championships. Boeser has 16 points in 13 games and Jost is second on the team with 18 points.
Nevertheless, North Dakota needed just 11 seconds to quiet the sold-out Frank L. Messa Arena, which seats just 2,054. Poganski scored his sixth goal of the season with an assist from Rhett Gardner on UND’s first shift.
Gersich made it 2-1 and it stayed that way until the Dutchmen pulled their goalie with 2:45 to play and scored seconds later when Vecchione won a faceoff, which led to Foo’s goal with 2:41 left.
At 19:36, Poganski flung the puck into the Union zone and it rolled into the empty net, dropping Union to 0-2-1 in its last three home games.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.