COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - For the University of North Dakota tonight, patience was a virtue.
Out-shooting and out-playing host Colorado College for the second night in a row, North Dakota found itself staring at a 2-1 deficit with seconds remaining in regulation and the possibility of being swept by the Tigers for the first time since 2004-05. Making matters even more dire, UND had not solved CC goalie Josh Thorimbert since Corban Knight (Sr., High River, Alberta) had opened the scoring 34 seconds into the game.
But UND junior defenseman Dillon Simpson (Edmonton, Alberta) tied the game with 13. 4 seconds remaining to give his team new life, and freshman Drake Caggiula (Pickering, Ontario) scored his third goal of the weekend 51 seconds into overtime to give UND a 3-2 victory over the 18th-ranked Tigers.
The victory improved UND to 7-5-2 overall and 4-2-2 in the WCHA and gave the team a critical road split before returning home next week to host first-place Denver.
Simpson's goal came with junior goalie Clarke Saunders (Brockville, Ontario) on the bench for an extra attacker. UND had applied heavy pressure for several consecutive shifts but could not find the equalizer. With the final seconds ticking away, Knight, stationed in the corner to the left of the Tigers' net, zipped a centering pass to Simpson in the slot, and Simpson ripped a wrist shot high to the blocker side to tie the game.
UND continued its offensive pressure from the drop of the puck in overtime. Senior captain Andrew MacWilliam (Calgary, Alberta) got the puck to Caggiula stationed in the circle to the left of Thorimbert, and Caggiula quickly unloaded a wrist shot that beat the netminder to the glove side.
The victory snapped UND's brief 2-game losing skid and kept the Green and White within five points of WCHA-leading Denver heading into next week's series with the Pioneers.
CC had taken the lead midway through the third period when Archie Skalbeck tapped home a Rylan Schwartz centering pass with 13 minutes remaining.
Skalbeck had a chance to extend the lead minutes later, but Saunders turned him away on a breakway, keeping the deficit at one goal.
UND went a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill for the second straight night, blanking what had been the league's top power play heading into the series.
UND was held scoreless in four tries with the man advantage.
Notes: UND outshot the Tigers 42-20 on the night and 87-46 on the weekend ... With his goal and assist, Knight extended his career-long point streak to nine games. He has one goal and 11 assists during the streak that began on Nov. 3 against Boston University. His goal was his first since Oct. 27 vs. Alaska Anchorage ... Knight also won 20-plus faceoffs for the second straight night, going 20-11. No other UND player won more than seven ... Grimaldi assisted on both the tying and winning goals.
Out-shooting and out-playing host Colorado College for the second night in a row, North Dakota found itself staring at a 2-1 deficit with seconds remaining in regulation and the possibility of being swept by the Tigers for the first time since 2004-05. Making matters even more dire, UND had not solved CC goalie Josh Thorimbert since Corban Knight (Sr., High River, Alberta) had opened the scoring 34 seconds into the game.
But UND junior defenseman Dillon Simpson (Edmonton, Alberta) tied the game with 13. 4 seconds remaining to give his team new life, and freshman Drake Caggiula (Pickering, Ontario) scored his third goal of the weekend 51 seconds into overtime to give UND a 3-2 victory over the 18th-ranked Tigers.
The victory improved UND to 7-5-2 overall and 4-2-2 in the WCHA and gave the team a critical road split before returning home next week to host first-place Denver.
Simpson's goal came with junior goalie Clarke Saunders (Brockville, Ontario) on the bench for an extra attacker. UND had applied heavy pressure for several consecutive shifts but could not find the equalizer. With the final seconds ticking away, Knight, stationed in the corner to the left of the Tigers' net, zipped a centering pass to Simpson in the slot, and Simpson ripped a wrist shot high to the blocker side to tie the game.
UND continued its offensive pressure from the drop of the puck in overtime. Senior captain Andrew MacWilliam (Calgary, Alberta) got the puck to Caggiula stationed in the circle to the left of Thorimbert, and Caggiula quickly unloaded a wrist shot that beat the netminder to the glove side.
The victory snapped UND's brief 2-game losing skid and kept the Green and White within five points of WCHA-leading Denver heading into next week's series with the Pioneers.
CC had taken the lead midway through the third period when Archie Skalbeck tapped home a Rylan Schwartz centering pass with 13 minutes remaining.
Skalbeck had a chance to extend the lead minutes later, but Saunders turned him away on a breakway, keeping the deficit at one goal.
UND went a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill for the second straight night, blanking what had been the league's top power play heading into the series.
UND was held scoreless in four tries with the man advantage.
Notes: UND outshot the Tigers 42-20 on the night and 87-46 on the weekend ... With his goal and assist, Knight extended his career-long point streak to nine games. He has one goal and 11 assists during the streak that began on Nov. 3 against Boston University. His goal was his first since Oct. 27 vs. Alaska Anchorage ... Knight also won 20-plus faceoffs for the second straight night, going 20-11. No other UND player won more than seven ... Grimaldi assisted on both the tying and winning goals.
