ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Jake Livanavage acknowledged that defensemen usually want to stay back while killing a penalty.
“But I just saw an opportunity and took it,” he said.
Livanavage scored a shorthanded goal with 7:04 left in the third period, then finished a 4-2 UND victory over St. Cloud State with an empty-netter Saturday night in Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
On the winning goal, freshman center Cole Reschny started a rush up the ice, dropped a pass for Mac Swanson, who froze goaltender Yan Shostak before sending a pass from the left circle to Livanavage in the right circle.
Livanavage one-timed it past Shostak, skated toward celebrating UND fans along the glass and gave a fist pump.
“It’s just two good players making a play — Resch dropping it to Swanny and sliding it over,” Livanavage said. “It’s one of those you don’t want to miss.”
It was UND’s first shorthanded goal by a defenseman since Ethan Frisch in December 2020.
“That was high-end,” UND coach Dane Jackson said. “Sometimes, when you have guys that are penalty killing, you have guys who are maybe not your high-end offensive guys. But we have everybody doing that. That’s the advantage of when you get a chance and it’s not your grinders there. It’s your high-end guys with the vision and skill and ability to make the next play and one-time pucks. Pretty cool for those guys to step up in that moment.”
Cade Littler scored UND’s first two goals of the game. Reschny finished with two assists and now leads UND in scoring.
UND (12-4) kept rolling on several fronts.
The Fighting Hawks won for the eighth time in nine games. The only loss in that stretch was a game in which they outshot their opponent, Arizona State, 41-15.
“There are a lot of selfless guys who play a hard, two-way game,” Jackson said. “When you have a lot of guys buying in and playing the right way, good things happen.”
They won their sixth road game in a row and improved to 7-1 away from Ralph Engelstad Arena this season.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s at home or on the road, we’re ready to play,” Reschny said. “It was kind of half-and-half with the Sioux fans in here. That was pretty sweet.”
UND’s unbeaten streak against St. Cloud State is now eight games, tying the school record. UND has done that two other times — the first eight meetings after the Huskies moved to Division-I in the late 1990s and from January 1998 to November 1999.
“It was a gritty win,” Reschny said. “It’s tough to sweep, and sweeping on the road is even tougher. We stuck with it and got it done.”
UND forward Cade Littler celebrates one of his two goals against St. Cloud State on Dec. 6, 2025, in Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Kayden Kircher / SCSU athletics
Freshman goaltender Jan Špunar improved to 8-0, stopping 35 of 37 shots. He has a .929 save percentage and a 1.75 goals-against average.
Špunar was put to work as St. Cloud State had six power plays, including a five-minute major on UND freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff for butt-ending Husky forward Gavyn Thoreson late in the second.
The Huskies had 11 power-play shots and scored once on the major when defenseman Finn Loftus sniped one with 1:45 to go in the second period. UND killed off the rest of the major.
“We have guys that are bought into the team culture and identity, which is hard skill and coming out every single day and being best friends with each other and battling for each other,” UND defenseman Abram Wiebe said. “It showed tonight with Hoffer going out tonight. It obviously sucks, but everyone bought in and fought for him. That just shows what our group is.”
St. Cloud State tied the game with 8:50 to go in the third when Ryan Rosborough poked one home on a scramble.
Then, the Huskies got a power play with 7:32 to go with an opportunity to take the lead.
But the nation’s No. 2-ranked power play gave up the shorthander to Livanavage, who has four goals and nine points in eight college games against St. Cloud State.
“It’s big, just being resilient and sticking with the process and bearing down in the third period,” Livanavage said. “It was a big period for us and an all-around big game.”
The Fighting Hawks finished off their first two-game sweep in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center since November 2016, when Cam Johnson posted back-to-back shutouts.
“I think we’ve done an unbelievable job of sticking to our game and playing to our identity,” Wiebe said. “We’re kind of going on a roll right now and we’re just excited to celebrate this win. Then, on Monday, we’ll come in and focus on Omaha and get ready to have a big weekend before Christmas break.”
Notes: UND remains without four injured players — center Ellis Rickwood (fifth missed game), winger Josh Zakreski (10th missed game), defenseman Bennett Zmolek (fourth missed game) and defenseman Jayden Jubenvill (third missed game). . . St. Cloud State played without injured defenseman Tanner Henricks, who is out longterm with a lower-body injury.
UND defenseman Abram Wiebe controls the puck against St. Cloud State on Dec. 6, 2025, in Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Kayden Kircher / SCSU athletics
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.