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Brad Berry wants UND to try to stay at five-on-five


Brad Berry wants UND to try to stay at five-on-five

Oct. 26 -- GRAND FORKS -- There wasn't much for UND head coach Brad Berry to critique from

The Fighting Hawks started the game fast. They got contributions from across the lineup. They had excellent goaltending from T.J. Semptimphelter.

It was UND's most lopsided win over a top-three team since Jan. 10, 2009, when it beat Minnesota 6-1 in The Ralph.

It also marked UND's first five-goal opening period against a ranked team since Jan. 6, 2017, when it scored five in the opening frame at Omaha. UND won that game 9-1.

Berry did have one minor critique.

He wants to see his team play five-on-five as much as possible.

The Fighting Hawks, who have been quite disciplined early this season, gave the Terriers five power-play opportunities. UND allowed just six opponent power plays in the first three games combined.

Associate head coach Dane Jackson's penalty kill unit executed its game plan to perfection. It limited touches for Boston University's elite shooter, Cole Eiserman. The defensemen eliminated cross-crease passes, too.

The only power-play goal UND allowed came in the third period after captain Louis Jamernik V lost an edge, which opened space for Terrier defenseman Cole Hutson to make a play.

"We got into a little bit of trouble in the second period with penalties," Berry said. "We took about three penalties and that took us away from our five-on-five game. In order for us to be effective with the depth we talked about, you've got to keep four lines on the ice."

Berry also critiqued after-the-whistle penalties that resulted in matching minors.

UND and Boston University got into four-on-four situations three times.

Four-on-four opens up extra space for skilled players and usually lends to more scoring chances. For a Terrier team that was trailing in the game, they welcomed the four-on-fours. Berry wanted to keep things at five-on-five.

"We got into some scrums after the whistles that got into four-on-four," Berry said. "For us, we'll take four-on-four, but we're a five-on-five team. When you're playing against a skill team, sometimes they want four-on-four. We'll take five-on-five and be disciplined between whistles."

The Fighting Hawks put up excellent metrics at five-on-five.

Shot attempts from the slot at even strength were 27-10 UND.

UND seniors Jake Schmaltz and Jamernik have put together outstanding starts to the season.

They both had dominant games Friday.

Jamernik scored a goal and added two assists. He was named the game's first star. Jamernik is now UND's leading scorer with five points in four games.

Schmaltz scored a goal and set up Jamernik for another.

"It's something I've been working on a lot after practice to try to add something like that to my game," Schmaltz said of finishing scoring chances. "So, just keep shooting, trust that, and hopefully they keep going in."

Their advanced analytics were off the charts again.

In UND's two home games this season, Schmaltz has been over 97% in even-strength expected goal percentage. Jamernik has been over 92% in both games. Opposing teams have barely registered shot attempts when Schmaltz and Jamernik have been on the ice in The Ralph this season.

On Friday, rookies Cody Croal and Cade Littler alternated shifts with Schmaltz and Jamernik. Both had strong games. Littler, despite playing only about five minutes, registered an assist on Ben Strinden's goal and was screening Boston University goalie Max Lacroix on Schmaltz's tally.

Schmaltz also appears to be emerging as UND's go-to faceoff man. He was 13-5 on draws Friday night and is now 42-20 (67.7 percent) for the season.

* UND scored on its first two power-play chances of the night and is at 50 percent for the season. That's an impressive start for that unit after losing two of its critical pieces of the last two seasons -- Jackson Blake and Riese Gaber.

* Fighting Hawks defenseman Caleb MacDonald had a big game: assist, game-high five shot blocks, plus-3 rating and a team-high 24:02 time on ice. MacDonald returned to the lineup after missing last Saturday's contest in Mankato, Minn., due to an injury he sustained blocking a shot with his head.

* Freshman defenseman E.J. Emery quietly had an excellent game. His most impressive play was eliminating Eiserman on a one-on-one rush and finishing his check behind the net.

* Boston University had a slight edge overall in faceoffs at 37-35.

* Terriers coach Jay Pandolfo was pleased with the play of Lacroix, who replaced starting goalie Mathieu Caron in the first period. Caron gave up four goals on six shots. Lacroix stopped 25 of 28. Pandolfo said: "I thought Max competed. He's a guy who did compete. I wish some other people competed as hard as he did in front of him and they certainly didn't."

* The game was Boston University's most lopsided defeat since Game 2 of Pandolfo's tenure, when the Terriers lost 9-2 to Michigan on Oct. 14, 2022. Boston University came back to win that series finale against the Wolverines 3-2.

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