After coming back from Alaska 1-0-1, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks were able to take a little bit more than a win and tie away from it. They seemed to learn a bit more about the team they have.

“We learned a lot about our team. One of the words we use is depth and we have it,” head coach Brad Berry said to the media at the mid-week press conference. “Guys coming in and out of the line-up, it was good to see that they were ready. As far as the trip, it’s good to get that out of the way. Our longest trip of the year and the team did a great job in focusing given the circumstances. We didn’t accomplish everything we needed to, winning two games, but we’re getting very close to that.”

“We learned no games are easy,” mentioned senior Johnny Simonson. “It was good for us to have a tough couple games. It’ll help us the next couple weekends ahead. Last year, we had a lot of success really early, then we played tougher competition. It was hard to get up Monday after a really hard Sunday. Tuesday, we really got our feet back underneath us.”

With that adventure out of the way, UND looks forward to more conference action with St. Lawrence coming into town Friday and Saturday. The Saturday game will have a lot of pomp and circumstance, as the 1987 National Championship team– known as the Hrkac Circus– will be in honored pregame.

“It’s great, it’s hard to believe 30 years went that fast,” said Berry. “For our guys, it’ll be great for them to see faces from the past who build the foundation for this school. It’s nice to have that collective group of guys coming through here at the same time.”

However, the Fighting Hawks will need to keep their eye on the prize, especially with St. Lawrence coming off of two losses to Big Ten opponents in Michigan and Penn State.

“I heard they’re a real strong, big, physical team,” Simonson said. “We’re expecting a pretty chippy weekend, so we have to be prepared for that. We’re expecting a hard series.” 

Coach Berry continued, “We’re coming back home and when you have 11,000 fans helping you out, it aids to the success. We’re looking at team from the east, they play fast, and they’re going to bring their A-game. Yeah, we’re at home, but we got to make sure we’re ready.”