No. 5/6 North Dakota falls to Augustana 4-1 in the show opener

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 5/6 North Dakota lost to Augustana 4-1 in Saturday night’s exhibition game before a sellout crowd of 11,667 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota

Augustana scored two goals in the first period and built a 2-0 lead at the first intermission before scoring last in the middle stanza and scoring on a power play early in the third period to extend the lead to 4-0. Cameron Berg got the hosts on the board with a power play strike of their own near the halfway point of the stanza, but that was as close as UND could get as the Fighting Hawks lost their first preseason exhibition contest since 1996-97.

TJ Semptimphelter made his first appearance in a UND jersey between the pipes and finished with 15 saves on 18 shots against in 40 minutes of play. Junior Caleb Johnson played the final third for NoDak and made four saves on five counter throws.

North Dakota will open the regular season next Saturday night against Providence in the US Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ralph.

Post-game notes

• Saturday’s contest marked the first meeting (regular season or exhibition) between the two programs
• Brett Meerman scored two goals for Augustana in the win and was named the game’s first star
• Cameron Berg scored UND’s only goal on the power play in the third period
• NoDak finished the game with a 29-23 shots advantage
• 25 of the 26 players on UND’s roster played
• The Vikings went 1-2 on the power play, while UND was 1-3
• Augustana finished the game with a lead of 20-18 Carter Wilkie Pacer AND at 7-4
• UND suffered its first loss in a preseason exhibition since 1996-97

How it happened

First period
02:20 | AU – Brett Meerman by Will Svenddal and Simon Falk
10:42 | AU – Nace Langus by Tyler Hennen

Second period
17:05 | AU – Quinn Rudrud by Payton Matsui and Colton Friesen

Third period
03:41 | AU – Merman by Luke Mobley and Matusi
09:41 | AND – Cameron Berg out of Jake Livanavage And Owen McLaughlin

For more information on hockey in North Dakota, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmhockey.