GRAND FORKS — Banners covered the side of fraternities on University Avenue. They offered encouragement for UND, vulgarities for the University of Minnesota.
When UND players arrived for the rivalry game on Friday night, they walked past a student line that wrapped around Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The chants started during warmups.
College hockey’s greatest rivalry returned to Grand Forks, and UND players ensured the night ended with a standing ovation for the final 90 seconds of the game.
Sophomore defenseman E.J. Emery scored the first two goals of his career, senior forward Dylan James added two more and No. 8 UND beat No. 13 Minnesota 5-2 in front of a raucous crowd of 11,634.
“I don’t know if I’ll experience something like this again — pro hockey or wherever hockey takes me,” James said. “I don’t think there’s a crowd or a fan base that has more passion for their players. I’m grateful to be here and score in front of them.”
UND gradually took over the series opener.
It was tied 2-2 after the first.
UND outshot Minnesota 8-4 during a scoreless second.
Then, the Fighting Hawks outshot the Gophers 11-2 in the third and scored three times.
Emery buried the game-winner at 2:25 into the third, pinching in and finishing a feed from freshman Cole Reschny.
“The whole week, you just have that feeling — the energy of the city,” Emery said. “You’re walking around campus and students are getting fired up for a big series like this. You see it all over Instagram. You really feel it the whole week. Coming in to the game today, you can really feel how special this is. Going out there and playing, it was incredible. There’s not going to be much more that tops playing the Gophers in The Ralph.”
UND continued its strong run against the Gophers in recent years.
UND is now 8-3 in last 11 rivalry games against Minnesota, and 20-3-4 in the last 27 against college hockey teams from the state of Minnesota.
“That’s a lot of fun,” UND first-year coach Dane Jackson said. “It’s such a great crowd. The Ralph was just rocking tonight. Just to be able to compete hard and represent the program in a positive manner makes you proud. We take a lot of pride in trying to live that identity that’s been put before us. The fact that guys competed at such a high level and checked and really battled and had a good mentality made you feel good.”
UND moved to 3-0 this season. Minnesota dropped to 1-3-1.
“When we game-planned, we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make they come through five people,’” Jackson said. “We want to make them come 200 feet and not give them those quick-strike chances where they’re coming up the ice and making high-skilled plays. I thought we did a good job bottling them up and re-loading. Guys were continually getting above pucks and taking hard strides back, not cheating for offense. That was part of the success of checking well.”
UND will now try to finish a two-game sweep — a rarity in this rivalry series.
There has only been one sweep in the last nine two-game series between the teams. In 2019, UND won a pair of games on Thanksgiving weekend in Minneapolis.
The last time UND swept the Gophers in The Ralph was January 2009.
“The mental reset now is going to be huge,” Jackson said. “Happy for the guys. We’re excited. It’s a big win. We should be proud of it. But just the idea of saying, ‘Hey, we want to be a mature group, not too high here, let’s learn from the things we did well, figure out the things we can improve and come back with a real business-like attitude.’
“We know how hard it is in this series to get a sweep. We want to make sure we’re playing our best game. If we focus on the process of playing our best game, they’ve got a chance to do it again.”
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