DULUTH — North Dakota scored on its power play chances Saturday, and Minnesota Duluth did not.

The result was a 4-1 victory for the No. 3-ranked Fighting Hawks over the No. 10 Bulldogs in NCHC play at Amsoil Arena.

Sophomore wing Mac Swanson, freshman wing Will Zellers and senior wing Dylan James scored for the Hawks, all in the third period. James scored two breakaway goals to clinch the win, putting his second into an empty net.

Sophomore center Zam Plante was credited with the Bulldogs’ lone goal after a shot by his younger brother and linemate, wing Max Plante, went in off the elder Plante’s skate with 7:58 to play, pulling UMD within a goal before James answered.

Freshman goaltender Jan Spunar made 25 saves for North Dakota while Bulldogs sophomore Ethan Dahlmeir finished with 24 saves.

“That’s playoff hockey, that’s how tight it is going to be,” said Bulldogs senior defenseman and captain Joey Pierce about how UMD’s series with North Dakota felt. “That’s how small the margin is — one little shift, one little decision. That’s something we need to learn from and think about. Everyone has to realize every decision they’re making matters. I think we do that at times, but we have to be able to do that all the time.”

North Dakota took command on a five-minute power play in the third period to break open a scoreless game. Zellers and Swanson both scored while UMD senior center Kyle Kovich sat for five minutes in the penalty box for boarding.

The Hawks finished the game 2-for-5 on the power play, going 2-for-3 on the Kovich major that came 3:37 into the third period.

“We took a bad penalty in the third period and it cost us the game,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said. “That’s all that needs to be said.

“We’re in a tight game. It was back and forth, 0-0. Going into the third period we had a chance to win a game. We take a penalty. Good teams, like they usually do, capitalize. I would hope we do the same thing. It’s the difference in the game.”

The Bulldogs went 0-for-3 on the power play in the first period,

just as they did Friday night in the 3-2 overtime win.

North Dakota took three penalties in less than four minutes in the first period, giving UMD a 5-on-3 advantage for 46 seconds at one point.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

UMD had the best power play in the NCAA coming into the weekend at 32.3%, but dropped to second behind Minnesota after Friday’s results — the Gophers entered Saturday 32.5% — as UND held UMD to 1-for-5 on Friday.

North Dakota took a fourth penalty to close the first period, giving UMD a power play to start the second period. UMD didn’t convert on that one, either, and finished the game 0-for-4 after not getting another power play Saturday.

UMD put seven shots on Spunar on four power plays that spanned 7:14, but Max Plante said he didn’t feel good about how the power play performed.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

“We’re having chances, the power play should have chances, but we’ve got to capitalize on them,” Max Plante said. “I don’t know what needs to change. Maybe move the puck faster. Myself, I need to make smarter plays. It just needs to be better.”

North Dakota had a goal overturned by a UMD challenge early in the second period. The Bulldogs successfully challenged for offside, wiping out what would have been the first goal of the season for Hawks sophomore defenseman Jayden Jubenvill.

There were three video reviews Saturday. The first two — the offside challenge by UMD and a North Dakota challenge for a missed major penalty — both went in the Bulldogs’ direction. The referees initiated the third review, which was of Kovich’s hit in the North Dakota zone, ruling it was worthy of a major penalty.

Why did Sandelin not challenge a hit from behind on Luke Bibby in the third period? The Bulldogs freshman wing was hit from behind into the wall with UMD down 2-1. The hit looked similar to what landed Kovich in the penalty box for five minutes.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Sandelin had a conversation with the referees, and then decided not the challenge the hit.

“They came over and told me it was a dive,” Sandelin said. “I said, ‘Well then why don’t you call the penalty on us?’”

Sandelin didn’t blame the referees for the loss. He blamed his team’s lack of discipline, something they discussed after the second period ended with a scrum that had UMD junior defenseman Brady Cleveland and North Dakota sophomore wing Cody Croal starting the third in the penalty box.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The coach felt the momentum of Saturday’s game was swinging in their favor, that North Dakota was getting frustrated. Then Kovich took a major penalty.

“We did it to ourselves. We put ourselves in a bad position and can’t do that,” Sandelin said. “We talked about it in between periods. Stay disciplined. You know what? Every time we talk about it, we do something dumb. It’s unbelievable, so I don’t know if I should stop talking about it?”

Dahlmeir suffered his first loss in the UMD net Saturday. The Bulldogs backup is filling in for starter Adam Gajan, who is with Slovakia at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Dahlmeir, a transfer from Miami, started his UMD career 3-0, including a win Friday in goal against North Dakota. He’s now 4-11-1 as the goalie of record in his college career.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The Hawks leave Duluth battered and bruised. UND was without one half of its top defensive pairing Saturday — senior Bennet Zmolek — because of an undisclosed injury.

Freshman center Cole Reschny left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury after getting slashed by Cleveland on a breakaway. He and Cleveland got tied up and crashed hard into the end wall together.

Reschny had to be helped off the ice, unable to put weight on his left leg.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The Bulldogs got their first sellout of 2025-26 on Saturday, with an announced crowd of 6,869. That tops Friday’s season-high of 6,668, which was 88 tickets short of a sellout. The previous high at Amsoil Arena in 2025-26 over the first 13 home games was 5,801 on Saturday, Jan. 4 against Western Michigan. UMD entered the weekend averaging 5,337 fans per game, which ranked 10th in the NCAA and fourth in the NCHC.

The Bulldogs have two regular season home games remaining, Feb. 27-28 against Colorado College, and hold the final spot to host a best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series March 6-8, sitting fourth in the NCHC.

The Bulldogs are idle next weekend before hitting the road for the final time in the 2025-26 regular season at Miami. The Bulldogs and RedHawks drop the puck at 4:30 p.m. CST on Feb. 20 and at 5:05 p.m. CST on Feb. 21.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

North Dakota 0-0-4—4
Minnesota Duluth 0-0-1—1
First period
No scoring.
Second period
No scoring.
Third period
1. ND, Mac Swanson (Will Zellers, Abram Wiebe), 4:49 (pp)
2. ND, Zellers (Wiebe, Swanson), 7:35 (pp)
3. UMD, Zam Plante (Max Plante, Aaron Pionk), 12:02
4. ND, Dylan James (Wiebe), 14:44
5. ND, James (Ben Striden), 17:06 (en)
Saves — Jan Spunar, ND, 25; Ethan Dahlmeir, UMD, 24.
Power play — ND 2-5; UMD 0-4. Penalties — ND 5-10; UMD 4-11.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

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Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

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GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Carson Johnson had 22 points in Denver’s 98-79 victory over North Dakota on Saturday.

Johnson added seven assists for the Pioneers (12-14, 5-6 Summit League). Logan Kinsey scored 20 points while going 8 of 11 and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and added nine rebounds. Jeremiah Burke went 8 of 15 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) to finish with 20 points, while adding seven rebounds and five assists.

Zane Nelson scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half to help put the Pioneers up 43-27 at the break.

The Fightin’ Hawks (14-13, 8-3) were led by Greyson Uelmen, who finished with 24 points and two steals. North Dakota also got 14 points from Marley Curtis. George Natsvlishvili also had 12 points. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Fightin’ Hawks.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

GRAND FORKS — No candidates for the state’s U.S. representative seat have been officially certified yet, but some have still started campaigns ahead of the 2026 election.

The most recent to announce his candidacy is Vern Thompson, a former state lawmaker who will be running on the Democrat ticket.

Aside from Thompson, Trygve Hammer is so far the only other Democrat in the race. Republicans who have announced are Alex Balazs, Ferris Broxton and incumbent Julie Fedorchak.

Thompson served in the state House of Representatives from 1989-1990 and in the state Senate from 1997-2000. He said his decision to run for the congressional seat was prompted by others suggesting the idea after a letter he wrote to Fedorchak, giving her what he called “tough love,” was popular on Facebook.

“I was getting people asking me, ‘Well, you know, maybe you should run?’ ” he said. “I prayed about it; I talked to my family about it; I talked to all the former congressional members from North Dakota that were with the Democratic-NPL (Nonpartisan League) … and kind of let them know what was going through my mind.”

Thompson, of Minnewaukan, said his previous experience with the Legislature gives him the tools needed to fill the U.S. House seat, adding he also had “the knowledge, the energy, the passion and the inspiration” to do the job. He also has no plans to become a “career politician,” he said, and would only serve two terms if elected.

Thompson wants to address health insurance costs, utility prices, and support for farmers and agriculture, among other topics.

He is also concerned about tariffs on other countries like Canada, saying he’s heard frustrations from Canadians.

“I’m talking to as many Canadians as I do on the U.S. side, and the president has just gotten our neighbors, or biggest trading partner, angry with us, where they’re not coming as far as tourism for Grand Forks,” he said.

Another recent entry into the race is Republican Ferris Broxton, a businessman from Minot.

Broxton, who’s originally from Georgia, said he chose to run for the seat because of what he called systemic corruption in the government. He said he reached out about it to Gov. Kelly Armstrong — when Armstrong was North Dakota’s representative — as well as to Sen. Kevin Cramer, Sen. John Hoeven and Fedorchak.

By running for the U.S. House, Broxton said he can make his concerns about the government known more publicly.

“That’s a position where I can make a difference; where I can have a megaphone, where I can talk to the news on a regular basis, where I can educate people,” he said.

Broxton has also laid out more of his goals if elected on his website, including holding public town hall meetings and improving transparency at all levels of government.

He also said while he doesn’t have prior experience as a politician, he has been a “fighter” all his life and hopes to hold government officials accountable if he is elected.

“If nobody’s able to step forward and get me heard and show that they will represent North Dakota and protect us from the biggest threat, then I will do everything I can to take that position. That’s what I’m running for,” he said.

Fedorchak, the incumbent,

announced her bid for reelection at the beginning of January.

She was first elected to the position in 2024 and is a native of Williston.

“As a fourth-generation North Dakotan, I want the very best state and nation for my kids and for families across our state,” Fedorchak said in a news release. “That means advancing policies to make America safer, stronger and more affordable — and that’s what I’m working toward every day.”

Alex Balazs

announced his candidacy in December.

Balazs previously ran for the House seat during the primary in 2024. He is a military veteran from Cando.

“Public service should never become a permanent campaign,” Balazs said in a news release. “North Dakota deserves a representative who leads, who introduces legislation, drives the conversation, and stays accountable to the people, not the politics.”

Trygve Hammer

also launched his campaign in January,

having also ran for the same seat during the 2024 election. Hammer is a Velva native, a retired Marine and former educator.

“Right now we have no voice in Congress. We need someone who will see something and say something. We need a representative who will demand that Congress take back its rightful powers,” Hammer said via release.

The primary election on June 9 will determine which Democrat and Republican candidate will move forward to the general election on Nov. 3.