Photo by Kelsey Lee / Violet Turtle Photography. Post-game video by Seamore Sports.

Once again, the Chargers were close entering the third period against the No. 1 team in the country, but North Dakota showed why it’s No. 1 and eventually denied UAH the chance of an upset.

The Fighting Hawks won 5-2 for the second straight night in Grand Forks on Saturday.

Still, considering the struggles the Chargers have had this season, UAH head coach Mike Corbett found the experience beneficial for his club.

“It was a one-goal game pretty much for both nights,” Corbett said. “I think that’s against the legit No. 1 team in the country. It’s a confidence booster. It’s not the end result, but our process was pretty good.”

“We want to go after the top guys. It’s a great opportunity for our program. Read the box score it’s supposed to be read. We were in it and our guys played their butts off.”

UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair did all he could again, stopping 33 of 37 shots.

“Sinclair’s been good since Thanksgiving,” Corbett said. “He’s seeing about 75 shots this weekend, he’s hanging in there and giving us a chance to win.”

“It’s always tough coming in and playing the No. 1 team in the country,” Sinclair said. “Our guys competed right through. Our penalty kill was great, guys blocking shots, battling for pucks.”

The Chargers resume league action at home this Thursday and Friday against Bemidji State.

“I think it shows that we can compete with anyone,” Charger forward Josh Latta said. “North Dakota is like the pinnacle of most programs that you want to strive towards. Playing against Bemidji, we have to play the exact same way with the same intensity.”

North Dakota (16-1-2) opened the scoring when Sinclair could not pick up a Matt Kierstad blast up the middle that was tipped by Westin Michaud. The goal came at the 4:54 mark.

UND made it 2-0 with 10:52 left in the first period on a power play goal. Collin Adams beat Sinclair stick side from the right circle.

The Chargers cut the lead in half about four minutes later on a similar goal by Connor Merkley. His third goal of the season was over Adam Scheel (11 saves) after a nifty cross-ice pass from Jack Jeffers, who notched his fifth assist of the season. Peyton Francis got his second assist.

UAH tied the game early in the second period. Latta was robbed by Scheel from the slot, but Austin Beaulieu back-handed the rebound in for his second goal of the season.

Latta had his team-leading ninth assist of the season and third of the series.

“It was our whole line,” Latta said. “Christian Rajic and Austin Beaulieu are great guys to play with and go to open ice really well. They support the puck and put forth a lot of energy, so it makes my job easy.

“We capitalized on the chances we got for the most part. We could have had a few more.”

“We’ve got a freshman (in Latta) who’s starting to be able to put up some points for us,” Corbett said. “We’re not a scoring juggernaut by any means, so more guys chipping in for us, the better.”

UND regained the lead at 3-2 at the 3:51 mark of the second with a highlight-reel goal. A shot off Sinclair trickled to the right post, and Jordan Kawaguchi put it in from behind the goal line and his stick between his legs.

In the handshake line following the game, Sinclair, who played with Kawaguchi at Chilliwack of the BCHL, said to Kawaguchi, “You had to do that, hey?”

“I played with him in Chilliwack so I got to see it a lot in practice,” Sinclair said. “His work ethic is unbelieveable. He’s very tough to knock off the puck.”

Three minutes into the third period, the Hawks extended their lead to 4-2 when Ethan Frisch blasted one up the middle from inside the blue line.

Shane Pinto, just back with North Dakota after playing for Team USA in the World Junior Championships, put in an empty-net goal with 20 second remaining.

Perhaps indicative of the number of close losses the Chargers have had, it was the eighth empty-net goal UAH has allowed this season.

North Dakota won its 13th straight game at home, a Ralph Engelstad Arena record. The Fighting Hawks are unbeaten in their last 15 games overall.

One battle the Chargers did win was in faceoffs, 30-29.

UAH scored twice in the first period, then relied on Mark Sinclair to hold on for a 2-2 tie against Ferris State on Friday.

The Chargers (1-13-3 overall, 1-9-3-1 WCHA) got two points in the WCHA contest after Liam Izyk scored in the 3-on-3 second overtime period. UAH has ties in its last two games.

Sinclair made 38 saves for the second straight game. He has made 32 or more saves in his last four starts.

BOX SCORE

Ferris State fell to 5-9-2 overall and 3-6-2-0 in WCHA play. Game two of the series is Saturday at 6:37 p.m. Central Time.

Josh Latta put the Chargers up 1-0 at the 2:24 mark by putting in a rebound around FSU goaltender Austin Shaw (25 saves) for his third goal of the season.

Drew Lennon got his first point of the season with primary assist, and Christian Rajic also got a helper.

Connor Wood was grimacing in pain from the bench after FSU’s Hunter Wendt checked him from behind, but was able to stay in the game. Wendt was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

During the major power play, UAH had two shots on goal, but so did the Bulldogs on two shorthanded breakaways. Mark Sinclair made the big saves to keep FSU off the board.

Ferris State survived the penalty, but went down 2-0 after Connor Merkley fired a goal in from the high slot. Lennon got his second assist of the game.

The second period belonged to the Bulldogs, who outshot the Chargers 19-5. Sinclair was still solid, but it felt like Ferris State would eventually break through, which it did with 35 seconds remaining.

Marshall Moise slipped one past Sinclair right in front of the crease to cut UAH’s lead to 2-1 at the second intermission.

The first half of the third period was relatively quiet, but the Chargers finally started generating more opportunities in the second half.

However, Moise, scoring twice in his first game after being out for six weeks, would tie the game at 2-2 for the Bulldogs with a high floater from the left point with 4:45 left in regulation.

No scoring in overtime, but not before Sinclair made a couple of critical saves in the final 10 seconds to seal the tie.

With 1:48 left in the 3-on-3 overtime, Jack Jeffers appeared to score just inside the right goal post, but the official waved it off. Shaw didn’t react quick enough, and Izyk followed up and scored in the open net to give UAH the second WCHA point.

After possibly the worst loss of a trying season, the Chargers showed some fight and refused to leave Ohio empty handed.

UAH and 13th-ranked Bowling Green battled to a 2-2 tie, with the Falcons taking two of the three WCHA points by scoring in the second overtime.

BOX SCORE

It’s a significant yet modest bounce-back for the Chargers (1-13-2 overall, 1-9-2-0 WCHA), who were drubbed 9-3 in the first game of the series.

It was perhaps a bigger turnaround for UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair, who played the entirety of Friday’s loss and allowed all nine goals. This time, he stopped 38 of 40 shots to get back to the form he showed last weekend.

The tie might bring repercussions to Bowling Green (11-5-1 overall, 6-3-1-1 WCHA) down the road when NCAA tournament selections come around. The Falcons sit in fifth place in the WCHA standings.

UAH finishes the calendar year with a trip to Ferris State next weekend.

Bowling Green took a 1-0 lead with 2:17 left in the first period, when Max Johnson’s one-timer from the left circle beat Sinclair.

UAH got the equalizer with 1:00 remaining, as Jack Jeffers scored his fourth goal of the season on a one-timer of his own. Tyr Thompson provided the feed to Jeffers for the primary assist, with Liam Izyk getting the secondary.

The Chargers got the lead at 6:20 of the second period. Christian Rajic’s slapshot rips past Falcon goalie Zack Rose (18 saves) for his fourth goal of the season. Josh Latta and Austin Beaulieu got the assists.

UAH committed back-to-back too many men on the ice penalties, and the Falcons converted on the second one. Connor Ford’s blast from the left point with 2:08 left in the second tied the game at 2-2.

The Chargers had outshot the Falcons 7-1 for the second period at one point, but BG had the last 11 shots on goal for the frame.

Bowling Green finished off UAH Friday night with six goals in the third period, but there would be no scoring in the final period Saturday. Sinclair made 12 saves in the third to keep the game tied at the end of regulation.

In overtime, the Chargers had a power play in the final 1:55 after Daneel Lategan was hauled down while driving to the Bowling Green net.

UAH didn’t convert, officially making the game a tie to give both teams a WCHA point.

In the second, 3-on-3 overtime, Max Johnson scored with 1:17 to go to give the Falcons five of six league points on the weekend.