The University of Minnesota Duluth took its first lead of the night midway through the third period, but the University of North Dakota then struck twice in span of 94 seconds and held on for a 3-2 victory Saturday. 

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference series rematch was played before a record AMSOIL Arena crowd of 7,771.

The No. 11 Bulldogs, who throttled the No. 2 Fighting Hawks 7-4 one night earlier, trailed 1-0 at the second intermission before Luke Loheit got the equalizer at 3:42 of the third period. The freshman left winger took a cross ice pass from junior All-American defenseman Scott Perunovich and beat North Dakota goaltender Peter Thome high to the glove side with a wrister inside the left faceoff circle. Then exactly four minutes later, Perunovich put UMD up 2-1, launching a shot from the high slot for his third goal -- and 28th point of the season. 

With 9:36 remaining in regulation, Matt Kierstad drew North Dakota even before Jonny Tychonick potted the eventual game-winner at the 11:58 mark. 

UMD All-American goaltender Hunter Shepard, who set an NCAA record for goaltenders with his 105th consecutive start, made 20 saves for the Bulldogs, who fell to 13-9-2 overall and 8-4-2-0 in the NCHC. Thome was credited with 22 stops as North Dakota won for just the fourth time in its last 14 meetings with UMD.

The Bulldogs will pay a visit to Denver, Colo., next Friday and Saturday (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) for a two-game NCHC series with the University of Denver.