Friday

First Period

The Bulldog fans and players were fired up for their in-state rivalry matchup against the Gophers. Amsoil Arena was filled with heavy noise while the puck was about to be dropped.

At just the 1:34 minute mark, Minnesota’s Brodie Ziemer caught a pass from Oliver Moore and took a shot past UMD’s Adam Gajan to open up the scoring in the game. The Gopher fans suddenly made themselves noticeable after this goal with team chants. 

UMD struggled to get anything going early, not getting a shot on goal until about three minutes into the game. To add salt to the wound, UMD’s Carter Loney put himself in the penalty box with a tripping penalty at the 3:32 mark. 

Duluth had a great shorthanded look on the penalty kill but just couldn't cash it in. Like great teams do, Minnesota took advantage of Duluth’s error and buried one. The goal was by Brody Lamb on a pass from Jimmy Clark. The crowd was stunned by the early deficit.

Halfway through the period, the Bulldogs were trailing the Gophers in shots 3-10. UMD was getting stuck defending a lot of odd man rushes throughout the period. 

The high control throughout the first part of the period continued for the Gophers as Matthew Wood put one home with passes from Oliver Moore and Jimmy Clark. At this point it seemed the Gopher fans were slowly taking over the arena with their chants after every goal. 

Another goal by the Gophers at the 17:45 mark by Sam Rinzel pushed the deficit even further. Jimmy Clark picked up his third assist of the game on the snipe from Rinzel. 

After one, UMD trailed 0-4. They also struggled to put shots on goal, only having four in the period while MInnesota had 23. 

Second Period

Just over a minute into the game, Minnesota’s Matthew Wood gave the Bulldogs some hope with a slashing penalty. 

This is when Duluth got the much needed first goal of the period by Aiden Dubinsky on passes from Matthew Perkins and Blake Bechen. The goal was at the 3:20 mark, just as the powerplay expired. The Duluth crowd started to inch back into the game after the goal. 

Although being down three, Duluth fought throughout the period as Adam Kleber was blocking shots all game and Ty Hanson was protecting his goalie from after-whistle shenanigans. 

No pucks in the net halfway through the period, but at the 15:41 mark, Minnesota’s Aaron Huglen picked up a rebound on a shot by a teammate and pushed their lead back to four. At this point in the game, the Gophers had eclipsed 30 shots on goal before Duluth had 10. 

It seemed that UMD couldn't keep themselves out of trouble in this game, getting another penalty – this time for hooking – on Jack Smith. Again on the shorthand chance, UMD had a great look but unfortunately couldn't convert but at least killed the power play to hold the score.

After two, UMD trailed 1-5, behind in shots 11-33. 

Third Period

The Gophers were looking to put this game away for good, firing off seven shots on goal in the first five minutes of the period including the Gopher’s Beckett Hendrickson, who had a great look but Gajan fully extended to high blocker side to rob Hendrickson of a goal. 

These saves by Gajan gave the Bulldogs a spark as Aaron Pionk took a slapshot to the facemask of Gopher goaltender Nathan Airey, leaving him confused on the location of the puck and the net open. Dubinsky saw this from the point and ripped the puck toward the open goal at the 6:31 mark, cashing in on the opportunity. 

Halfway through the period, Minnesota’s Jimmy Wood and two other teammates had a three on one opportunity when Wood hit one off the iron, keeping the puck out of the net.

The Gophers put themselves in the penalty box again at the 12:48 mark and gave the Bulldogs another chance to get themselves back into the game. 

They did just that when Dominic James scored just 12 seconds into the powerplay on passes from Owen Gallatin and Pionk, cutting the score to 3-5. The crowd was as loud as they had been since the beginning of the game.  

At the 14:51 mark, Minnesota answered back with a goal of their own to make their lead back to 3, then 27 seconds later stunned the crowd with yet another score. This made the score 3-7 and the Duluth fans started filing out of the arena.

The Duluth players, on the other hand, were not ready to give up. Joe Molenaar got a pass from Pionk and Loney to give them their fourth tally of the night at the 16:21 mark. 

Just over two minutes later, at the 18:25 mark, Duluth pushed the game to two scores again on a goal by Jayson Shaugabay from James and Pionk. This was Pionk’s fourth assist of the night. This also marked the fight goal in 5:29 of game time.

Unfortunately Duluth's effort was too little, too late and they ended up falling on a final score of 5-7. 

Saturday

First Period

Less than 24 hours later, Duluth got the chance for revenge on the Gophers. They hoped to cover up their 5-7 loss on Friday with a good showing on Saturday. 

From the jump, UMD looked like a different hockey team. They showed it in their skating, puck battling, and overall effort. No goals this time within the first couple of minutes. Minnesota had a great chance early on with a 2 on1 but Perkins hustled back to break it up and keep the game scoreless.

UMD got the next great look when James received a pass from Shaugabay that put him all alone in front of the net. Minnesota's goalie, who didn't play last game, was there to make the pad save. 

Déjà vu hit when the Gophers’ Brodie Ziemer lit the lamp for the first goal of the game again. It came at the 9:24 mark with a pass from Oliver Moore. The goal was set up nicely and was an easy finish for Ziemer.

Duluth got their first look at the power play unit just a couple of minutes after the Gopher goal when Minnesota’s Erik Påhlsson went to the penalty box on a tripping call. 

Duluth only managed to get two shots on their power play but luckily for the team, Minnesota committed another penalty. This time it was Cal Thomas for interference at the 13:54 mark. There was only one shot during this powerplay that rang the post but stayed out of the net. 

After UMD’s extra-man advantage, they looked to keep the efforts high but were discouraged when the Gophers’ scored another goal to make their lead 2-0. 

At the 19:27 mark, Duluth’s Dubinsky went to the box for interference, sending the Bulldogs to the penalty kill. Interference calls were abundant in the third period as Gophers’ Rinzel got his own just 21 seconds after Dubinsky.

UMD was able to cash in on the couple seconds of 4 on 4 left in the period when Gallatin ripped one that got deflected into the net with just three seconds left in the period. The momentum was on Duluth's side going into the first intermission. 

After one, UMD trailed Minnesota 1-2, while also being behind in shots 14-15. 

Second Period

The 4 on 4 continued for a couple more minutes to start the second period, with no goals coming from it. Duluth’s Smith got a great look early on into the period going from his left to right, but saved nicely by Minnesota’s Liam Souliere.

A bouncing puck that made it through UMD’s goalie was jumped on just in time by Gajan, then followed quickly by a scrum around the net, led by UMD’s Ty Hanson and Minnesota’s Brody Lamb. 

Just over seven minutes into the period, the visitors from Minneapolis scored the first goal to extend their lead to 3-1. The goal came from Jimmy Snuggerud, who whiffed on his original attempt, then took a slapshot that zipped to the back of the net. 

An interference call snuck its way into the period again and UMD’s Owen Gallatin headed to the penalty box for two minutes. The Bulldogs stayed strong and killed the power play opportunity for the Gophers. 

After the penalty kill, Duluth had a hard time finding any control or flow, almost looking like they did in the first period yesterday. They couldn't get a puck in the net but they also did not allow any more in theirs for the rest of the period. 

After two, UMD trailed Minnesota 1-3, while also being behind in shots 20-26. 

Third Period

The Bulldogs must have gotten the right talk in the locker room because they came out looking like they did in the first period, showing fire and high energy. Just a minute in, Gallatin put a puck on net and a rebound came out to Smith, who unfortunately couldn't put it in. 

The Bulldogs managed to get four shots on goal in the first three minutes of action in the third period. 

Minnesota committed yet another interference penalty at the 4:00 mark, giving UMD a prime chance early to get back into this game. Duluth couldnt convert on the power play with a series of missed passes and clears from Minnesota.

Luckily for the Bulldogs, the Gophers Ryan Chesley committed a high sticking penalty and gave Duluth two more minutes to try to capitalize. Lazy passes from UMD cost them the power play chance as they did not have a ton of time in the zone.

Arguably the best chance of the period came from Pionk when he was all alone and zipped one off of the post. 

Duluth then put themselves into a bigger hole when Anthony Menghini went to the penalty box for tripping. Minnesota converted with just eight seconds left in the powerplay, on a goal from Jimmy Clark. 

With about five minutes left in the game, Duluth decided to pull their goaltender and hope for a tally with an extra man. Instead, Minnesota took the puck the distance and scored an empty net goal. This put the cap on things for the game, with UMD losing 1-5. 

“It's like I told the guys, we are back to work Monday… we are going to keep getting better. The beauty when you play teams every weekend, you see some good things in your team and then you see areas where you gotta work,” said head coach Scott Sandelin. 

The men’s team will have another chance at victory with a weekend series against Stonehill College on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26.