UND Freshman goalie Peter Thome (Photo Credit: Russell Hons)<\/p>\n
Historically, wins haven\u2019t easy to come by in Madison, Wisconsin. In years past, sweeps were hard to come by in Kohl Center. While some fans will be disappointed with the University of North Dakota hockey team\u2019s 2-2 tie on Saturday night, head coach Brad Berry seemed pleased.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you come out of here with a win and a tie, I\u2019ll take it,” Berry told Tim Hennessy on the post-game radio show.<\/p>\n
Berry continued, \u201cwe grew as a team and we’re proud of our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you think about what Berry said, he\u2019s right. On Friday, after the morning skate, UND found out that their All-American goalie Cam Johnson was unable to go this weekend. That\u2019s could have been catastrophic for a young hockey team. Let’s think about this for a minute, UND basically threw an untested backup goalie, that\u2019s never played a minute of college hockey game to the wolves. There was no layup game to get his first win. I think it\u2019s safe to say that freshman goalie Peter Thome passed his midterms.<\/p>\n
If anything, Thome proved that he can play at the college level. I thought positionally, he\u2019s very good and did a good job cutting down the angles and he doesn\u2019t have a lot of wasted movement. I also like his size. Frankly, he covers a lot of the net. Except for the first period of Friday’s game where he let in two goals on four shots, Thome was solid. Now, the UND coaching staff has some decisions to make. Cam Johnson’s status is still unknown. The Fighting Hawks coaching staff will worry about that when they get back to Grand Forks.<\/p>\n
“Not a clue,” Berry told the media after Friday’s game<\/a>. “I would say it’s one of those questions where we’ll have to get back and evaluation him on a day to day basis. We’ll make sure he’s taken care of first, then we’ll make a decision.”<\/p>\n Not a bad debut for the Minneapolis, MN native. Thome\u2019s line for the weekend, 1-0-1, GAA 1.92, .935 save percentage. <\/span><\/p>\n With the tie, the Fighting Hawks are 8-2-2 in the last 12 games against the Badgers. UND hasn\u2019t lost a game against the Badgers in Madison since November 22, 2011. With the tie, UND improves to 6-2-2 on the season.<\/p>\n Next weekend, UND entertains the Miami RedHawks in their conference home opener.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we get ready for Miami in the NCHC,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n Injuries are part of college hockey and under coach Berry, it\u2019s pretty simple.\u00a0\u201cNorth Dakota is about next man up,\u201d Berry said. After Johnson, Thome was the next goaltender on the roster.<\/p>\n So far this season, UND has gotten better every week. Defensively, they’ve given up more than two goals only once. The Fighting Hawks are ranked 4th nationally giving up 1.70 goals against per game<\/a>. That’s the best of any NCHC team.<\/p>\n Credit junior forward Shane Gersich with the game-tying goal. Another example of good things happening when you go to the blue pain.<\/p>\n VIDEO: Shane Gersich gets his third goal of the season to even the game back up at 2-2 in the 3rd. @UNDmhockey<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MstSTqyS7o<\/a><\/p>\n — UND Insider (@UNDinsider) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHighlights X2<\/h2>\n
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