GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The No. 12 Boston University men's ice hockey team fell to No. 5/6 North Dakota, 4-2, on Friday evening in the opener of a weekend series at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Freshmen Danny O'Regan and Ahti Oksanen scored for the Terriers, which fall to 3-2-0 on the year.
Connor Gaarder recorded a hat trick for UND, scoring his team's first three goals, and broke a 2-2 tie with the game-winner on a 5-on-3 power play at 4:24 of the third.
O'Regan opened the scoring 16:52 into the contest before Gaarder scored twice in the first half of the middle stanza.
With the Terriers on a major power play, Oksanen recorded his first collegiate goal on a shot from the top of the zone to make it a 2-2 game at 12:12 of the second.
BU, which gave the home team four power-play chances in the third period, struggled to create offensive chances in the third and could not answer Gaarder's third tally.
Rocco Grimaldi created the 4-2 final on an empty-netter with 20 seconds left in regulation.
Freshman Sean Maguire recorded 31 saves for the Terriers and made a handful of standout stops in what was just his second collegiate start.
Junior Clarke Saunders made 20 saves in goal for UND, which held a 35-22 shot advantage.
The Terriers successfully killed off six of NoDak's seven power-play chances. The only time BU got its power-play unit out on the ice all night was on the major penalty.
The two teams will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday (Nov. 3) at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on NESN and FCS Central.