Riese Gaber leaves The Ralph with one final dagger against Miami

Mar. 16—GRAND FORKS — Riese Gaber stood at center ice Saturday night after the UND hockey team dominated Miami 7-1 to sweep their best-of-three National Collegiate Hockey Conference series.

Gaber's UND teammates, one by one, skated up to him and gave him a hug.

The captain eventually made his way to the bench. Louis Jamernik V put an arm around Gaber. They turned toward the center of the ice and gave one last look at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

"It was a little emotional," Gaber said. "It's hard to believe. Four years goes by quick. It was an incredible four years here. It's crazy to think that I won't have another game here, but at the same time, I've got to be very happy that it happened. I got to experience lifting two Penroses here and just all the cool moments that go into those four years. It's something I'll never forget for the rest of my life."

Gaber closed his time in The Ralph by doing something he's done his whole career — throwing daggers at Miami University.

His first-collegiate goal? Miami. It came in the NCHC Pod in Omaha.

His first goal in The Ralph? Miami.

His first-collegiate hat trick? Miami.

His last goal in The Ralph? Miami.

How ridiculous has his dominance of the RedHawks been? Miami coach Chris Bergeron has seen Gaber score 15-career goals firsthand. That's more career goals than he's seen from 16 of the 19 players in his lineup Saturday night.

"I always seem to have success against them," Gaber said. "I was fortunate to do that. At the end of the day, I wish I could do that against everyone."

Gaber opened the scoring Saturday night, converting a turnover by Miami forward Max Dukovac at 13:17 of the first.

It was his third point of the weekend and 129th of his career. He passed the career total of Drake Caggiula and is now the highest-career scorer at UND in the last decade.

"You could tell he was fired up," Berry said. "As a coach behind the bench, you can see the guys that are going and the guys that need time to get going. It didn't take time for him to get going. He was on fire right away to start the game.

"I firmly believe he knew this was his last game here before we go on a journey through the playoffs and other venues here. He cares a lot. We're not done. We want to play a few more games with him through April with Riese Gaber in our lineup."

The next stop for the Fighting Hawks is the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

UND will play in the NCHC semifinals on Friday. Its opponent — Western Michigan, Omaha or Colorado College — won't be determined until Sunday. Neither will the time of the game.

"We're excited about it," Berry said. "It's always been tough. It's hard competition. The only time we've won the NCHC playoff trophy was here in the playoff bubble. We want to prove that we can win in the Xcel Energy Center. There's only a couple more years left of that and we want to make sure we have a chance to do that this upcoming week."

UND (26-10-2) will head to St. Paul after an efficient weekend against Miami.

The Fighting Hawks outscored the RedHawks 12-2 on the weekend and got production from all over the lineup Saturday.

Jackson Blake continued his tear through the second half of the season with a goal and three points. He's up to 57 points on the season — one off the national lead (Boston College's Will Smith). He's also at 99 points for his career. If he gets one more, he'll become the first UND player to join the Century Club since Zach Parise in 2003-04.

Jackson Kunz tallied a goal

and three points, too. He's up to 11 points in his last 13 games.

Logan Britt, Dylan James, Ben Strinden and Hunter Johannes also scored, while Jayden Perron and Jake Schmaltz had two-assist nights.

Goaltender Hobie Hedquist, filling in for starter Ludvig Persson, stopped 28 of 29 shots. Hedquist is now 5-0 this season with a .919 save percentage. In three starts against NCHC teams, he has a .961 save percentage.

UND closed its season at The Ralph with a 19-4-1 record. It only lost once in regulation in those 24 games.

"It's such an advantage having the fans and all the commotion we do," Gaber said. "It's incredible. I can't say enough about that. It's such a special place and the way the crowd gets behind us, the energy and the vibe is unbelievable. It makes us so excited to play. Obviously, that helps a lot."

Now, it's on to the Xcel Energy Center.

"It's an exciting time of year," Gaber said. "We're playing really good hockey. We don't know who we play yet, but we've got to be ready for whoever it is. It's never an easy night in the NCHC. We've been there before. We know what it's like. We're just excited to get down there."

Notes: UND played a second-straight game without Carson Albrecht, who had an illness. Miami played without Albin Nilsson, who suffered an upper-body injury in the series opener.