For a second time this season, the No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team and No. 3 University of North Dakota needed overtime to solve their differences, and for a second time, the Bulldogs came out on top.

Zam Plante scored his second goal of the game with less than seven seconds left in overtime to secure the 3-2 win and National Collegiate Hockey Conference win in front of 6,668 fans at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. 

"I thought our first two periods were really good, didn't really give them a whole lot, took advantage of a couple of opportunities,' said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin.?"I was a little unsure, you get few power plays in the first period and don't capitalize against good teams, you know, you got to capitalize on one of them hopefully, but you know, found a way to get two goal lead. But they've done that to us, when we played there, they're not going away. But the killers and Dahlmeir, you know, a couple huge saves and give him a ton of credit and the penalty killers. Then you get a fresh Zam out there, and got a nice goal. So, yeah, it's a big win for us." 

After a scoreless first period that UMD dominated on the shot chart 12-5, Hunter Anderson kicked off the Bulldog offense with his third goal of the season early in the second frame. Anderson carried the puck into the zone and unloaded it past UND goaltender Jan Spunar's shoulder to put UMD up 1-0 at 3:06 for the game's first lead.

The Bulldogs doubled up that lead late in the same period, connecting on their fourth power play of the contest. After a rebound came out to Jayson Shaugabay in the slot, the winger didn't hesitate to one-time the puck over to a wide open Zam Plante sitting on the back post to put UMD up 2-0 at 17:30. Plante's 12th goal of the year gave Shaugabay his 27th helper, and the secondary assist to Ty Hanson – his 20th of the season.

After they were held to just 10 shots in the first two frames by the Bulldogs, the offensive damn broke in favor of the Fighting Hawks in the third. Ellis Rickwood took advantage of a breakdown on UMD's power play for the shorthanded goal at the 10:25 mark to cut the Bulldogs lead to a single goal. Then, with his goaltender pulled and an extra skater, Jack Kernan drew North Dakota even with 1:31 left in regulation to push the Bulldogs into their third overtime in four games.

Just 1:42 into extra time, UMD's Max Plante was called for tripping, setting up 4-on-3 advantage for UND. While the Bulldogs had held the Fighting Hawks without a single shot attempt in their previous two power plays, the Bulldogs leaned heavily on Ethan Dahlmeir in overtime. The sophomore goaltender had four saves on the penalty kill and six in extra time to set UMD up for their final offensive rush. 

That rush came with less than seven seconds remaining on the clock when Grayden Siepmann dropped the puck off to his left inside the blueline to Zam Plante. Plante skated in and wristed a shot from the left circle past Spunar to deliver the Bulldogs first win in five games and second overtime triumph over North Dakota of the season.

UMD outshot the Fighting Hawks 32-24 in the game, but UND owned a 6-1 advantage in overtime. Dahlmeir – who is now 3-0 on the season – finished the game with 22 saves, and the Bulldogs, who were 1-of-3 on the power play held North Dakota scoreless in three attempts.

The Bulldogs (18-11-0, 9-10-0) and Fighting Hawks (20-7-0, 12-5-0) will do it all over against at AMSOIL tomorrow night. The puck is set to drop at 6:07 p.m.

BULLDOG GOAL: Zam Plante had his 12th multiple point game Friday night and third two-goal effort of the season … it also marked Plante's third game-winner of the year … Friday marked UMD's fifth-straight game decided by a single goal … while the Bulldogs have played in three overtime games over their last four, UMD is now 3-4 in overtime … with an assist, Ty Hanson moved back into a tie for the top-scoring defenseman nationally with 28 points (8g, 20a) … Jayson Shaugabay is tied for second in the NCAA with 27 assists – just one helper from the top-spot.