Monday, December 8, 2014

Sweep of LSSU lands UND three of four NCHC weekly awards




GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Three North Dakota skaters have been recognized by the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) in the wake of top-ranked UND’s non-conference sweep of Lake Superior State.

The NCHC announced today that Jordan Schmaltz has been named NCHC Defenseman of the Week, Zane McIntyre has been named Goaltender of the Week and Tucker Poolman has been named Rookie of the Week.

Schmaltz racked up a goal and four assists against LSSU, with a league-best four of those points coming on the power play. The junior from Verona, Wis., collected three assists in Friday’s 7-4 victory and helped UND erase a 4-1 second-period deficit. The following night, Schmaltz assisted on Brendan O’Donnell’s power-play goal to open the scoring then scored a power-play goal of his own late in the third period to seal the 3-1 win. Schmaltz, the NCHC scoring leader among defensemen with 14 points in 17 games, helped UND’s special teams go 5-9 on the power play and 9-9 on the penalty kill in the series.

McIntyre came off the bench to stop 12 of 13 shots in Friday’s comeback win and came within five minutes of a shutout in Saturday’s series finale, stopping 16 of 17 shots for the game. On the weekend, McIntyre stopped 28 of 30 shots for a .933 save percentage while posting a 1.21 goals against average. His 12 wins tie him with Miami’s Jay Williams for most in the nation.

Poolman, forced to play forward on Friday due to injuries, keyed UND’s rally with a pair of power-play goals in the second period. His first goal at the 12:35 mark cut the LSSU lead to 4-2 and his second goal tied the game with 1:14 remaining in the period. Poolman also led all UND skaters with a career-high seven shots on goal. On Saturday, the East Grand Forks, Minn., native returned to his natural defense position and assisted on Jordan Schmaltz’s power-play goal late in the third period that clinched UND’s 3-1 win.

Miami senior forward Cody Murphy claimed Offensive Player of the Week honors.

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