No. 8 North Dakota got 26 saves from Cam Johnson and balanced scoring to defeat No. 13 Omaha 3-0 in Omaha, Neb., earning an important road win that leapfrogged the Fighting Hawks past Western Michigan into fourth place in the NCHC, in possession of the final home ice spot for the first round of the playoffs.
North Dakota got the only scoring it would need at 8:10 of the second on a play that was set up by defenseman Colton Poolman, who picked off an errant Omaha pass in the neutral zone and raced in on net. The puck was pokechecked off his stick in the slot, but Omaha’s Ryan Jones inadvertantly batted it right to Shane Gersich, whose quick wrist shot beat Evan Weninger.
North Dakota got an insurance goal at 4:47 of the third on a play that started Josh Rieger’s blast from the right point. It went wide, but ricocheted of the end boards to Johnny Simonson at the bottom of the left circle, who got off a quick wrist shot that hit Weninger’s left pad and went in.
