A sophomore defenseman's first-career goal provided a heartbreaker for the UAA hockey team Saturday.
The Seawolves battled back from a two-goal deficit only to fall to seventh-ranked North Dakota 3-2 in overtime on Casey Johnson's goal 81 seconds into the extra period.
UAA goaltender Olivier Mantha's clutch play kept the Seawolves in the game for the second straight night. He racked up 42 saves a day after notching 38.
That let the Seawolves (0-1-1) keep pace with the Fighting Hawks (1-0-1) despite getting outshot 45-16 in front of an announced Sullivan Arena crowd of 2,506.
After a scoreless first period, North Dakota scored twice in a 38-second span in the second period for a 2-0 lead. Matt Kiersted struck first and Collin Adams followed with a power-play goal.
UAA made it 2-1 with a second-period goal by junior forward Jeremiah Luedtke. Freshman forward Joe Sofo earned an assist on the play.
The Seawolves knotted the score with a little more than eight minutes remaining on junior forward Nicholas Erb-Ekholm's goal. Nils Rygaard assisted.
UAA hits the road this week for a two-game series against Colorado College.