By: Steve Eckert
Duluth, Minn—Tonight was a scary start for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. They haven’t won a game since January 18th. They hosted the Alabama Huntsville Chargers at Amsoil Arena tonight. The Chargers gives the Bulldogs a run, but UMD ends their long drought with a win tonight.
“Kind of frustrating when you can’t get a win,” said Justin Crandall “Boosted the confidence tonight”.
The Bulldogs gives the crowd goose bumps when the Chargers get the first goal of the night. UMD was careless with the puck and turned it over at neutral ice and Alabama took advantage of the turnover and makes it 1-0. Bulldogs were playing sloppy hockey in the first period. They weren’t connecting on their passes and turning the puck over. UMD had a two man advantage power play and couldn’t execute. The crowd was in complete shock and became very quiet in the first period. How the looks of things Alabama was going to have a 1-0 lead, but with 12 seconds left Tony Cameranesi makes it a 1-1 game. Cameranesi didn’t give up, he played until he saw the red light go off and tied the game up. At the end of one period, UMD and Alabama are tied at one apiece.
UMD played a completely different game in the second period. The Bulldogs played a very impressive second period. After Cameranesi’s goal, the Bulldogs carried a lot of momentum into the second. With just over two minutes into the period Chris Casto receives a beautiful pass from Justin Crandall and Cal Decowski and goes upstairs making it a 2-1 game.
“We have been building up the last few games getting better and better,” Decowski said.
Everything was going the Bulldogs way in the second period until Adam Krause gets a five minute penalty plus a game misconduct for contact to the head. The Chargers had some great opportunities on the power play. Derik Johnson saves the day by clearing the puck out of the crease keeping the game 2-1. The puck was just sitting in the crease and Alabama had players in reaching distance for the loose puck, but Johnson comes out of nowhere and helps out UMD goaltender Matt McNeely. UMD comes up strong on the penalty kill and kills the five minute penalty. With about 17 minutes into the second period Senior Cody Danberg scores for UMD making it 3-1. The Bulldogs completely dominated the second period having a 3-1 lead going into the third period.
Alabama picked it up a notch in the third period trying to get back in the game. With just over a minute into the period and the Chargers score a goal. The UMD crowd was stunned thinking not again, since the Bulldogs are known for not finishing up the game strong. UMD didn’t want to give up this game to Alabama, two minutes later Crandall gives the Bulldogs another goal making it 4-2. Both teams played a strong third period, but the Bulldogs played better. They were outskating and outshooting the Chargers. When the buzzard went off, the crowd goes roaring when UMD gets their first win since the middle of January.
“It was a fun game, it was a fun win,” Decowski said.
The Bulldogs will be looking for their first sweep since the Michigan Tech series in January. UMD needs this sweep, they need to keep their confidence going just the way they played tonight. The Bulldogs will go against Nebraska-Omaha next week at Amsoil, and they need to have momentum going against them. The Bulldogs must come out of the first period flying and getting that first goal against the Chargers in tomorrow night’s game. UMD will battle against Alabama Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. going for the sweep.
Posted by: ecke0150 on Saturday, March 2nd, 2013 0 comments Post your comment
By Nate Bauer
DULUTH, MINN---Things went from bad to worse for the UMD Bulldogs this Saturday as they were utterly outclassed 5-1 on their home ice. The loss is UMD's fifth straight and second consecutive series sweep---on home ice nonetheless. That's zero out of eight possible points on the homestand. Crucial points in the tight WCHA standings. The loss puts UMD in ninth position. A point behind the CC Tigers for eighth and three points ahead of Michigan Tech. Most importantly, getting no points on the homestand puts UMD 6 points out of the final spot for home ice in the first round of the playoffs. With only 6 conference games remaining, that virtually seals UMD's fate as far as the home ice goes. UMD would need to sweep pretty much every series from here on out and get some teams to lose for them as well. Considering the fact that the Bulldogs aren't playing great hockey combined with the teams UMD has left on the schedule, that seems unlikely.
The Dogs travel to Bemidji next weekend to play the eleventh place Beavers. However, UMD was beaten by Bemidji this year in their own building 1-0.
"We know their a good team...it's going to be a hard fought battle just like it was this weekend," said freshman Tony Cameranesi who scored the only UMD goal on the evening.
UMD then travels to play their biggest rival the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. A series most Bulldog fans are nervous for right now to say the least. It's no secret that the Gophers are having a good year and have a very talented team. If you think fans of UMD are on this team right now for their play, just watch what happens if the Dogs show up to Mariucci with anything less than their A+ game.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season at home against the other Mavericks of the WCHA, Nebraska-Omaha. UNO is tied with Minnesota for third place with 26 points and if the regular season ended today, UMD would be making a trip to Omaha for the opening round of the playoffs.
Not much more to say here ladies and gentleman. We were just swept at home by Minnesota State. We lost because of the same reasons I and other have been harping on for weeks now.
Before I go I want to publicly give props to a couple players whom I was very impressed with this weekend. Danny DeLisle had himself a hell of a weekend. While most of the team decided not to show up for parts or all of the weekend, he was a guy who I never saw take a shift off. He attacked the puck, he got thru the neutral zone with speed and he created chances. He also drew multiple penalties thanks to the amount of hustle and heart he put forth. And another guy who really impressed me was Senior Mike Seidel. There was a time in Saturdays game when he was in on the forecheck all alone while the rest of the team sat in the neutral zone and watched him create a scoring chance with literally no puck support from anyone else. He also scored a nice goal on Friday and set up Cameranesi's goal Saturday. Anyway that's all for me for now.
More to come later in the next week or two.
Posted by: NateBauer07 on Sunday, February 10th, 2013 1 comments Post your comment
By Nate Bauer
DULUTH, MINN--- Another WCHA game, another loss for a degraded UMD hockey team. The Bulldogs' Friday loss to MSU-Mankato marks it's fourth consecutive loss as UMD continues to plummet down the standings.
The Bulldogs gave up the first goal off a bad rebound by Matt McNeely. However consecutive goals by freshman winger Austin Farley and senior Mike Seidel gave the Dogs a 2-1 lead heading into the final stanza. But for the second time in as many games, UMD was not able to hold onto it's lead in the third period. Three unanswered goals by the Mavericks in the final period gave MSU it's first road win in Duluth since 2006.
"I guess you could call it bad luck... maybe a couple bad bounces in front of the net," senior winger Dan DeLisle said. "We gotta start closing games out better than that."
The Bulldogs' ultimate nemesis this game was the complete lack of puck control. There were double digit turnovers in the first and third periods by UMD. The Bulldogs were outshot 17-4 at one point in the third period so it should come as no surprise that the Dogs couldn't hold onto that lead.
UMD's biggest problem it seems right now is that not everybody is tugging on the same rope. Or at least not tugging in the right direction. It's a matter of mental focus, preparation and compete level. The Bulldogs have gotten into a bad habit of laying down when the opposing team pushes back during the course of the game. It's a matter of doing the little things right now. Grinding it out in the corners and in front of the net, not turning the puck over, not taking any shifts off. In short: getting to a place where they are much harder to play against.
"There's nine game left in the regular season and we need to kinda pull around and try to get as many points as we can before the playoffs... Home ice is kind of our goal right now," said DeLisle.
The Bulldogs look to avoid the sweep this Saturday at 7:07 at AMSOIL. UMD is 2-8-2 in Saturday games this year.
Posted by: NateBauer07 on Saturday, February 9th, 2013 0 comments Post your comment
By Nate Bauer
DULUTH, MINN--- I want to preface this article by apologizing for the tardiness of it. In my defense, I made the decision to go ahead and not write this article the night of the game because I think it would have angered more than a few people and I did not want to call anybody out and write this based on my emotions as a fan. And then of course was super bowl Sunday and a guy just cannot miss that. Nevertheless, thanks for the patience.
The story of the 2012-2013 UMD Bulldogs is very simple. They simply have not learned from their mistakes.
The biggest one being that in this league (arguably the deepest, most talented in all of college hockey) you cannot take shifts off. If you play anything short of a full 60 minutes night in and night out, you are going to lose 90% of the time. Teams are that good and when you give them a chance, they will jump on you.
Saturday night was another lesson in this school of thought. For about 57 minutes, the Bulldogs dominated the visiting Pioneers who were making their first ever trek to AMSOIL Arena. Caleb Herbert scored less than two minutes in after a brilliant play. Herbert got a pass at the top of the right circle, skated in on Olkinuora and put a water bottle shot over the Finnish netminders right shoulder to give UMD an early 1-0 lead. Freshman Austin Farley and Tony Cameranesi both scored power play goals for UMD and by the 16:00 mark of the second period the Bulldogs had a 3-1 lead and were really controlling the game. In the third, Denver started to take some undisciplined penalties and UMD was gift wrapped a 5 on 3 for just over a minute but the Dogs couldn't capitalize. A power play that had gone 3 for 3 in the first half of the game looked unorganized. There was plenty of zone time but in the 5 on 3 passes weren't as crisp as they should have been and opportunities for goals were missed. The Pioneers successfully killed off the penalties and the Bulldogs missed a golden opportunity to bury the Pioneers early.
With 7:00 remaining in the third frame, UMD still lead Denver by a 3-1 score. In a flash it all changed. The Pioneers silenced the AMSOIL crowd of 6,600. At the 13:40 mark of the third period, a poor defensive zone turnover lead to Shawn Ostrow's second goal of the night as he deaked out Matt McNeely and put a snap shot high glove the cut the lead to one for the Dogs. From there the game completely changed. The goal gave Denver some momentum and some good zone time and just 36 seconds later, Chris Knowlton snuck a soft goal through McNeely's five hole and just like that the game was tied. A deflated Bulldog team took a penalty and Denver put its talent on display. A tic tac toe passing play mirroring Austin Farley's earlier goal for UMD resulted in Nolan Zajac burying the eventual game winner for the Pioneers.
This was a prime example of how making stupid mistakes in a league this competitive wind up getting you in the loss column. This game was essentially a microcosm of the Bulldog's season thus far. Inexcusable turnovers, a complete lack of mental focus and discipline at times and the biggest sore thumb of them all, untimely penalties. Those are the reasons this game was lost and they are in large part the culprits of this season's failures as the Bulldogs flirt with their first losing record since George W. was still in office.
UMD is a young team to be certain and mistakes are to be expected as that is the nature of the beast with younger teams. What's concerning is the fact that the freshman are UMD's best players right now. They are the ones contributing the most offensively, you don't see them taking a lot of penalties and they are basically leading the team. Matt McNeely came in as a freshman and has clearly earned the starting goaltender role.
This team simply needs to be better. It is a talented enough and smart enough team to have a much better record than it has now. The number of losses that the Bulldogs have because they gave games away is a hell of a lot higher than the number they have because they played a solid 60 and were just flat out beat by a team was just better that particular night. At some point, you don't get to hide behind the fact that WCHA refs might have been randomly plucked off the streets without regard being paid to any level of training they may (or may not) have. At some point, "bad bounces" and "unfortunate twists" during the game are not excuses for poor showings on the ice.
This has been a season of missed opportunity for a team that at its best is capable of beating any team in the nation. Denver is a very good team and the Bulldogs dominated Saturday's game. But as we also have seen too many times this year, this is a team that can lose to any team when it is not at its best.
At this point, UMD is basically out of the PWR picture altogether. If the Dogs wanted to get into the NCAA tournament via that avenue it desperately needed 4 points this weekend at home. It got 0. It's unlikely that even a clean sweep from here on out would get UMD into the tournament based on PairWise Rankings. And to do so, UMD would have to go into Mariucci in 3 weeks and knock off Minnesota twice. Again, this is a team that is capable of doing it, but it is hard to have any faith in an outcome like that after a showing like we saw this weekend. That leaves only one other avenue for UMD: Get hot at the right time and make a run through the playoffs. Getting the automatic qualifying bid by winning the WCHA final five tournament is virtually the only hope UMD has of seeing the NCAA's this year.
But you have to walk before you can run and the Bulldogs need to start by consistently showing up and playing a full game. Until that happens... or rather, if that happens... this season will be a short one.
Posted by: NateBauer07 on Monday, February 4th, 2013 0 comments Post your comment
By: Steve Eckert
Duluth, Minn--Well some things will never change and this is the tough love between the UMD Bulldogs and the Denver Pioneers. Both of these teams like to give one another a hard time. There were 19 penalties during tonight’s hockey game, and UMD had ten of those penalties.
The Pioneers started off flying at their first-ever appearance at Amsoil Ice Arena. The Bulldogs had to go into tough defensive mode right away. Denver is a bigger team than UMD and they sure acted like it. The Bulldogs' defensive game wasn’t its normal self tonight. The Pioneers took control of the game, even though the shots don’t show it; it was all Denver tonight. With just over 11 minutes into the first period Denver makes it one to zero. Larkin Jacobson gets a good shot off and UMD goaltender Matt McNeely gives Jacobson a big rebound off his own shot for an easy goal. After one Denver will have a one to zero lead. McNeely didn’t play his best game tonight, he had a hard time controlling his rebounds, giving the Pioneers multiple scoring chances off his rebounds.
The Bulldogs didn’t have a terrible first period, but didn’t do well as expected. The second period gets worse for UMD. It was a slow start from both of the teams and eventually the Pioneers started taking over the period again. They were out skating the Bulldogs and pushing them around on their home ice. Just near halfway into the period Denver adds another goal to the scoreboard making it two to zero. Freshman Austin Farley tries to get the Bulldogs some momentum by getting a little breakaway but gets tripped up by the Pioneers’ defenseman drawing a penalty near the end of the period. UMD had multiple chances on their power play but couldn’t catch a break. Mike Seidel makes a beautiful pass to Tony Cameranesi for an easy top shelf goal but shoots the puck directly at the Pioneers goaltender’s pads. Later on the power play Farley gets some space on top of the face-off circles and tries to go upstairs but nails the crossbar. Pioneers will kill the power play and take two to zero lead at the end of two periods.
The third period was basically identical to the second period. The period started off really slow, and the Pioneers took control of the third eventually. Everything was going Denver’s way in tonight’s game.
“Wasn’t a great game for us,” Mike Seidel said.
UMD showed a lot of frustration and there were a lot more penalties in the third. There were ten overall penalties in the period. The Bulldogs are known for having a lot of penalties at the beginning of the season, but they have been showing progress the past few weeks and getting better with penalties and tonight just wasn’t their night.
“It’s frustrating,” Seidel said.
With just over halfway through the third the Pioneers decide to crush the Bulldogs’ soul and make it three to zero game. UMD couldn’t get any momentum at all after that goal and Denver got to enjoy their first game at Amsoil Ice Arena. Coach Scott Sandelin tries to get his team some momentum saying the game isn’t over and takes a time-out with only 36 seconds left of the game.
“There is 36 seconds left, you never know,” Coach Sandelin said.
Bulldogs couldn’t get anything going after the time-out and the Pioneers will get their first victory at Amsoil Ice Arena.
Tonight’s game wasn’t a good game for UMD. They had a descent first period, but after that it was all downhill. The Pioneers played great and had complete control of the game. Denver showed UMD why they’re ranked number ten in the nation. Tomorrow night’s game will probably have a different outcome though, because Coach Sandelin wasn’t happy the way they played tonight.
“We made some opportunities, but not enough,” Coach Sandelin said. “We got to score.”
The Bulldogs doesn’t like being swept on home soil, so they’re definitely going to be hungry in tomorrow night’s game. Even though they don’t have the best Saturday record, they really need this win.
“They need to be hungrier,” Coach Sandelin said.
UMD isn’t that far in WCHA points from Denver so they need to split this series with Denver. The Pioneers will give them a run, but the Bulldogs will not back down and play tough hockey tomorrow night’s game. UMD is definitely capable of beating the Pioneers, they just need to do some adjustments and come out hungry the same way as the Pioneers did at the start of the game. UMD will go at it again with Denver tomorrow night at 7:07 p.m.
Posted by: ecke0150 on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 0 comments Post your comment
By: Steve Eckert
Duluth, Minn--Very quiet hockey game at the Amsoil Ice arena, a lot of people would say a very impressive defensive game. Both goalies played an amazing game. These were one of those games when you would wish that both goalies would get the win. Matt NcNeely the freshman Minnesota Duluth goaltender had his best game of the season and will probably be his most memorable game. UMD is known for their Friday night games since most of their wins of the season come from Friday nights. The Michigan Tech Huskies gave the UMD Bulldogs a fight but they fall short.
The Bulldogs played a great first period, but the Huskies goalie Pheonix Copley played extraordinary. Copley stopped 14 shots of the 15 shots the Bulldogs took. UMD had two power plays in the first period but couldn’t capitalize. They took control of the Huskies zone but couldn’t catch a break. Copley controlled his rebounds and didn’t give the Bulldogs any second chances. About eighteen minutes into the first period Max Tardy passes the puck to Joe Basaraba for a little breakaway and he sneaks the puck through the five hole of Copley making it one to zero. Basaraba will get his sixth goal of the season and the lead for the Bulldogs at the end of the first period.
“Tardy made a beautiful pass to me, and was able to bring her down,” Basaraba said.
You would think Basaraba’s goal will bring a lot of momentum into the second period, but the Huskies defensive game was amazing. The second period was all about the defensive game on both teams. There weren’t that many great opportunities for neither of the teams. There were a lot of blocked shots by the Bulldogs and the Huskies. It was a great defensive battle by these hockey teams. There was only one power play for the Huskies in the second period that would carry over to the third period. Michigan Tech didn’t give UMD any power plays, it was a very quiet second period. The Bulldogs will be outshooting the Huskies 32 to 19 after two periods.
The Bulldogs ran into some trouble at the beginning of third by giving the Huskies a quick five on three power play. UMD stayed strong and killed off both of their penalties keeping the game one to zero. The third period was a lot like the second period, a defensive game brawl. Both teams keeping each other out the zone and making them take long bad angle shots. In the final minutes of the game the Huskies try to tie the game up, McNeely gives up a huge rebound right to another Huskies player, but the UMD defensemen help McNeely out and block the shot which could have been an easy goal for Michigan Tech. UMD comes up big at the end and starts the series with a victory and McNeely’s very first college career shutout.
“We played a solid game,” said McNeely “First shutout in two years, back when I was on the Development team.”
This was a huge victory for the Bulldogs, puts them at a 6-6-3 record in conference play. UMD definitely needs to step up their offensive game for tomorrow night. The defense played great, but the offensive players need to help out and put the puck in the net more. McNeely played great stopping all 28 shots by the Huskies. UMD’s defense helped out a lot for McNeely blocking 11 of their shots. The Bulldogs needs this sweep to keep their season alive if they want a chance in the WCHA tournament at the end of the season. UMD needs to stay out of the penalty box and not give Michigan Tech any chances for tomorrow night’s game. It will be very interesting to see how the Bulldogs will react to tonight’s game since they have been having problems closing the series out this season.
Posted by: ecke0150 on Saturday, January 12th, 2013 0 comments Post your comment
I wanted to take a quick second to thank you all for contributing to this site for the past 6 years. Who would have thought we would have ever won a national title with some of the UMD hockey we grew up on. This season I decided to try and take this site in a different direction to try and revive it. Linking to a facebook page, having the twitter account, and also adding two very good writers. Hell I have even attempted to stop posting in order to keep people from souring on the site when I may get a little too opinionated. What I am seeing is the site just isn't taking off again as I would have liked. With my 2 kids turning 3 this year, work, and just life in general, I have decided it is time to call it quits on the message board. I will keep the board going until the end of this season, and at that point I will shut it down.
I want to thank all of the great people I have met over the years via the site, and other aspects of UMD hockey and life. I look forward to seeing you all at games in the future. In the mean time, please continue to use the site as it will be working for a few more months anyway.
I will continue to run the twitter account, as it appears people do seem to follow that account, somewhat anyway.... I do hope our writers continue to finish out the year. Heck, its a free pass to see hockey, anyway!!
Last but not least, I want to thank Jupiter (GPL founder and board admin) for the hard work he has put into my site over the years. I owe you a beer, old timer!
Posted by: DrunkHockeyGuy on Monday, January 7th, 2013 6 comments Post your comment
By: Steve Eckert
DULUTH, MINN—The University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs came up big in tonight’s game making it their third straight Friday win against the Bemidji State Beavers. The Bulldogs had a very slow start in the beginning of the game, but they came up huge at the end of the game.
The first period was sloppy hockey by both of the teams. None of the teams could really hold the zone and get there offensive game going. Bemidji State played great defensively and only allowing UMD getting six shots on goal. The Bulldogs had a rough start getting a penalty three minutes and thirty-seven seconds into the period. UMD is known for their indiscipline playing being one of the top teams in the WCHA in penalty minutes. The Bulldogs come up big and kill the Beavers’ power play. After the power play the first period went slow. A lot of miss passes by the Bulldogs and they had lack of care for holding the puck. Just over fifteen minutes into the first period the Bulldogs get a lucky bounce and Jake Hendrickson makes the impossible happen and scores from behind the net. Hendrickson was there at the right time, a shot from the point goes wide and high, and Hendrickson somehow knocks the puck down and shoots the puck at the goaltenders pads from behind the net and goes in. The Bulldogs will take a one to zero lead going into the second period.
UMD didn’t carry that much momentum from Hendrickson’s goal into the second period. The Beavers came out to play in the second period outskating and winning the battles against the Bulldogs. The freshman defenseman Andy Welinski for the Bulldogs makes a horrible mistake and coughs the puck up in their own zone to the Beavers. Bemidji State takes advantage of the UMD turnover and gets a lucky bounce off the boards behind the net confusing the freshman goaltender Matt McNeely for an easy goal.
“I should have followed the puck better,” McNeely said.
Beavers make it one to one about five minutes into the second period. The Beavers tried to take advantage turning the game around after their goal but McNeely came big for the Bulldogs. McNeely making incredible saves keeping the game one apiece. Towards the end of the second period Beavers ran into some problems giving the Bulldogs two power plays. UMD usually has a strong power play but the Beavers defense came up big and shut out the Bulldogs on both of the power plays. At the end of two periods the game is tied one to one.
After watching a slow first two periods you would think the third period was a complete different game. The Bulldogs came out flying in the third period and taking control of the game. Just over one minute into the third, Hendrickson beats the Beaver defensemen and goes top shelf scoring his second goal of the game. The Bulldogs were playing at a whole new level in the third. They were moving the puck and making opportunities for themselves in the third period. The senior line Cody Danberg, Jake Hendrickson, and Keegan Flaherty was the hero line in tonight’s game. They played big tonight and showed a lot of heart in tonight’s game.
“Controlling the puck,” said Hendrickson. “We did a good job moving the puck around.”
UMD keeps the momentum going and keeping the crowd alive when Joe Basaraba scores his fifth goal of the season making it a three to one game with about 17 minutes left of the game. The Bulldogs continue to play strong throughout the third period out playing the Beavers and winning the battles. Bemidji State decides the game isn’t over yet when they score a goal 17 minutes into the third period off a huge rebound by McNeely making it three to two game. The Beavers got multiple scoring chances in the final minutes left of the game but McNeely came big. With 49 seconds left of the game Keegan Flaherty crushes the Beavers’ dream having a chance to comeback and gets an empty net goal sealing a Bulldog victory four to two.
Coach Scott Sandelin was happy with tonight’s victory over the Beavers.
“Good win,” Coach Sandelin said. “We played a good third period.”
This was a huge win for the UMD Bulldogs. They have been on fire the past three Fridays in the hockey series. Hopefully tomorrow night’s game will be different compare to their past Saturdays’ games. The Bulldogs will be looking for their first Saturday night win and first sweep of the season. The Bulldogs have been in this situation for the last two series. Hopefully they have learned from these past series and will take advantage of this opportunity. UMD must come out with that same energy they did in the third period, and if they play the way they did in the first and second period it will be a long game since the Beavers do not want to be swept. The Bulldogs have to improve on some things for tomorrow night’s game if they want to get their first sweep of the season.
“Taking care of the puck,” Coach Sandelin said.
All season long the Bulldogs had some problems taking care of the puck. They haven’t been doing smart passes and not controlling the puck. It will be very interesting to see if the Bulldogs have learned their lesson from the past two weeks. We will find out tomorrow night at 7:07 p.m. if the Bulldogs will bring more intensity into tomorrow night’s game and go for their first Saturday victory.
Posted by: ecke0150 on Saturday, December 8th, 2012 1 comments Post your comment
The UMD Bulldogs have never won a game on Saturday this season. They have been having a lot of problems finishing up the series this season. The Bulldogs didn’t bring the same intensity into Saturday night’s game as they did on Friday night. The Bulldogs played a rough game last night. Ben Hanowski, Minnesota native starts the St. Cloud State Huskies off one to zero with a power play goal just over halfway through the first period. The Huskies took control of the first period and with about four minutes left in the first period they make it two to zero. The Bulldogs gave the Huskies two power plays in the first period and the Huskies only giving the Bulldogs one power play which they couldn’t execute on. The Huskies showing total domination out shooting the Bulldogs nine to seven at the end of the first period.
The Huskies continue with their dominating performance in the second period scoring their third goal in the first five minutes of the period. Two minutes later the Huskies strike again and make it four to zero. The Huskies show no mercy to the Bulldogs and continue taking over the game. Mike Seidel trying to get the Bulldogs back into the game by scoring his sixth goal of the season just about halfway through the second period. The Bulldogs tried to carry their momentum after Seidel’s goal, but Huskies goalie Ryan Faragher made big saves keeping the Huskies up four to one at the end of the second period.
In the third period Bulldogs tried their best to get back in the game. Just after the halfway point of the third period the Huskies stab the Bulldogs in the heart getting a shorthanded goal making it five to one. The Bulldogs completely lose their momentum after the goal and the Huskies seal the deal splitting the series with the Bulldogs winning five to one.
“Didn’t come out the way we should have,” said Seidel “Have to be prepared for the game.”
The Huskies came to play Saturday night. They made changes and capitalize on their opportunities. The Huskies goalie Faragher made big saves and only allowed one goal. Aaron Crandall had a rough game allowing five goals in twenty-two shots.
“Played a lot more emotion last night,” said Crandall “We gave their best plays opportunities.”
The Huskies took advantage of their opportunities. The Huskies wanted the win more and they showed it. Even though the Huskies didn’t out shoot the Bulldogs they were out skating them and winning the battles. The Huskies showed total domination and everything was going their way.
“They were more hungry,” said Senior Cody Danberg.
Next weekend the Bulldogs will travel to Houghton, Mich. and take on the Michigan Tech Huskies. Hopefully the Bulldogs will get their first sweep of the year, but they will have to do a lot of changes and work extra hard this week to be ready for the next weekend series. Michigan Tech had this weekend off so they will be ready for the Bulldogs. Michigan Tech cannot be taken for granite. They had a split series with the Gophers and last weekend they swept Bemidji State at Bemidji. It should be a good series next weekend and hopefully the Bulldogs come out ready to play.
- Steve Eckert
Posted by: ecke0150 on Sunday, November 25th, 2012 0 comments Post your comment
On Black Friday evening, the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs end their painful one month drought with a victory against the St. Cloud State Huskies on home soil. The last seven games the Bulldogs have played have been rough. The Bulldogs have five losses and two tie games in the last seven games. The hockey team must have had great turkey dinner last night based on the way they played tonight.
The Bulldogs exploded in the first couple minutes in the first period. They had multiple scoring chances and out shot the Huskies four to zero. In the first three minutes of the game Caleb Herbert got a penalty for interference causing to slow the momentum down for the Bulldogs. After killing the power play, Kalle Kossila scored for the Huskies giving them a one to zero lead just under 14 minutes of the first period. The Huskies took control of the first period after the goal. The Huskies go on the power play again when Herbert gets another interference penalty just under half way of the first period. The Bulldogs capitalize again killing another power play. The Huskies out shoot the Bulldogs 11-6 after the first period. Bulldog fans show concern after the first period.
The second period was a slow start. There wasn’t a lot of momentum going on in the beginning of the period. The Bulldogs got into some trouble again with just over 13 minutes left of the second period, and had to go on the penalty kill again. The Bulldogs stepped it up and played big, killing another Huskies power play. Later in the second period, the freshman Tony Cameranesi got free for a short breakaway and tied the game at one a piece. Cameranesi got the crowd back in the game scoring his fifth goal as a UMD Bulldog assisted by senior Mike Seidel and the freshman Austin Farley. The Huskies still had a strong second period out shooting the Bulldogs 19-15.
The Bulldogs carried their momentum from the end of the second period to the beginning of the third period giving the puck to senior defensemen Wade Bergman scoring his first goal of the season on the power play assisted by Tony Cameranesi and Andy Welinski.
“It’s always nice to score a goal,” said Bergman.
The crowd finally goes wild when the Bulldogs get their first lead of the game. With just over 16 minutes left the Bulldogs had to work hard to close the win on the Huskies. The Huskies got frustrated in the third period and got four penalties. The Huskies decided to make it harder on themselves and give the Bulldogs a five on three power play in the closing minutes of the third period.
“Played like we had ate turkey all day,” said St. Cloud State Coach Bob Motzko.
The Huskies had a two week break from games. Coach Motzko changed the lines up in the third period trying to get things going for the Huskies. The goalie Ryan Faragher played a great game, stopping 27 shots.
“We didn’t play well,” said Coach Motzko.
Coach Scott Sandelin had different things to say about his team than what Coach Bob Motzko had to say about his team.
“We played good,” said Coach Sandelin “Making smart plays.”
The Bulldogs capitalized on their chances and put the puck in the net. The Huskies didn’t get any power play goals and couldn’t execute on their chances and didn’t take advantage of their situations. Aaron Crandall, the goalie for the Bulldogs, played an excellent game only allowing one goal and saving 27 shots. The Bulldogs played an excellent game. Coach Sandelin wouldn't change anything the way we played today.
“Just be better,” said Coach Sandelin.
It will be interesting to see how the Bulldogs will react after a big win from tonight’s game. Hopefully the Bulldogs will bring the same intensity tonight into tomorrow night’s game at 7:07 p.m as the Bulldogs will be looking for their first sweep of the season.
-Steve Eckert
Posted by: ecke0150 on Saturday, November 24th, 2012 0 comments Post your comment