Box Score | Highlights from NCHC.tv

North Dakota scored four goals in the first period and cruised to a 5-1 victory over Colorado College Saturday night to sweep the NCHC quarterfinal series and end the 2015-16 season for the Tigers.
 
The second-ranked Fighting Hawks (30-5-3) opened the scoring at the 3:55 mark thanks to a fortunate bounce. The puck deflected off Trey Bradley's skate to Keaton Thompson, whose shot from the slot was saved by Jacob Nehama, but the rebound went right to Nick Schmaltz, who put home his third goal of the weekend.
 
Joel Janatuinen made it 2-0 just 17 seconds later when his shot from the slot went past the line as Nehama was laying in the back of the net after a collision with teammate Jake Emilio.
 
Hayden Shaw scored his second goal of the weekend at the 13:36 mark and Drake Caggiula scored with 5.7 seconds left in the first period for a 4-0 advantage. Schmaltz had one goal and two assists in the first 20 minutes while linemate Brock Boeser assisted on three of UND's four tallies.
 
"I didn't mind our start tonight," head coach Mike Haviland said. "After they scored, we let up a bit. It's not the end of the world when one goes in."
 
Each team scored once in the second period, including a power-play goal by junior Matt Hansen with 1:43 left in the frame. Hansen's fourth goal of the season was his fourth point in the last two weekends (2g,2a). Austin Poganski had given UND a 5-0 lead early in the period after taking a pass from Rhett Gardner and beating junior Derek Shatzer, who replaced Nehama after the first period.
 
"Nehama was hurting all weekend," Haviland said. "He was pretty banged up but he gave us everything he could. Derek came in a played very well for us tonight"
 
The Fighting Hawks haled a 28-23 advantage in shots. UND goalie Cam Johnson made 22 saves, while Nehama had 10 and Shatzer finished with 13 in the final two periods. Colorado College finished the season with a 6-29-1 record.
 
Saturday's game was the final contest for the three CC seniors, Hunter Fejes, Cody Bradley and Michael King, as well as student assistant Jared Hanson.
 
"It is difficult, no matter what the score is, knowing it is the last time we'll wear the Tiger emblem," said Fejes, who led the team in scoring with 22 points on a team-high 13 goals and nine assists. "I wish we had a better run, but nobody gave up on this team and we need to live and learn from our experiences."