First, good morning and the holiday season is finally here. The University of North Dakota hockey teams received an early Christmas present by beating the Boston College 4-3 in the first-ever College Hockey showdown.

Division I college hockey is full of storied rivalries. Historically, the Fighting Hawks and the Eagles are heated rivals. The two teams have played 24 times, at many different venues. With the win, UND holds the series edge 12-11-1 (.520).

Many of these 24 games have been during the NCAA tournament. As of late, it hasn’t been close, the Eagles have owned the Hawks. During the last 10 games between the two teams, B.C. has an 8-2-0 (.800) record against UND. Three of the last four games between the two teams haven’t been close. During those four games, UND was outscored 18-7.

Coming into Saturday’s game, the Hawks were looking for some redemption and with the win, the Hawks were able to stop the five-game winless streak against the Eagles. While none of the players on either team had played against each other, the players from both teams knew what the rivalry was all about.

Sioux fans, you truly are the best fans in the world. Thanks for supporting the fellas and taking over NYC. What an experience pic.twitter.com/esozjywOCz — Tyson Jost (@josty_17) December 4, 2016

With Saturday’s 4-3 victory against the Eagles, it was the first time that UND had come out on top in 11 years. Obviously, the two teams hadn’t played each other since the 2011 season, but UND had lost four of the last five games the two teams had played against each other. The game they didn’t lose was called after two periods due to fog.

Saturday’s win gave the Hawks a much-needed non-conference win that will help them in the final Pairwise Rankings that mimic the NCAA tournament selection. With the win, UND is now 6-2-2 in non-conference play, unfortunately, they’re 2-3-1 in NCHC play.

Moreover, the win should give UND some much-needed confidence going into this weekend’s series against the Western Michigan Broncos. The second half is almost here and UND is going to need to keep winning if they want to qualify for the NCAA tourney.

(Photo Credit: Russell Hons Photography)