PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Last year, Team North Dakota won its first Boys NIT hockey title.
North Dakota did it again this weekend in dramatic fashion.
Jamestown's Nolan Nenow, the state's leading scorer during the high school season, scored a game-tying goal with 3 minutes, 1 second left in the third period of Sunday's championship game against Minnesota Seniors. Then, Nenow finished it off by scoring the decisive shootout goal as North Dakota won 3-2.
It was the second-straight title for North Dakota, which needed dramatics just to get back into the final.
On Saturday, North Dakota needed a regulation victory against Minnesota HP 18 to win its pool and get to the final. The game was tied 4-4 late in the third period, so North Dakota pulled its goalie.
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Grand Forks Red River's Carter Sproule scored with 30 seconds left to win it 5-4.
In North Dakota's other pool play games, it beat Michigan Seniors 5-0 and lost to Wisconsin HP 18 4-3.
The NIT is an annual event where prep hockey players showcase themselves in front of junior hockey scouts and college hockey coaches. It features players who don't join up with United States Hockey League or North American Hockey League teams at the end of their high school seasons.
There were eight teams at the tournament this year — two from Minnesota, two from Michigan, two from Wisconsin, one from Colorado and one from North Dakota.
North Dakota's Sproule and Nenow tied for the team lead in goals with four.
Nenow led the event with seven points. Sproule and Grafton-Park River's Landon Carter had five points.
Grand Forks Central's Dillon Kuntz finished tied for second in defenseman scoring at the event, tallying four points in four games.
Other North Dakota team members from Grand Forks included Red River's Wyatt LeDuc (three points), Mikey Coleman (three goals) and Mason Reynolds.
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