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When the UMD women’s hockey team opened the season with a pair of exhibition victories over the Minnesota Whitecaps last weekend, it was the first time in the 13-year history of the program that the UMD women were coached by a United States citizen.

   It’s true, after a lot of years of trying and being frustrated by the extensive protocol, Shannon Miller obtained here U.S. citizenship over the summer. “Yes, I now have dual citizenship,” said Miller, who retains her Canadian citizenship as well.

   The victories over the Whitecaps gave the new UMD recruits the chance to get some experience, because the top Bulldog skaters from last season were either graduated or out with injuries. Haley Irwin, the offensive catalyst for the past four seasons, and one of the top skaters for Team Canada, is gone, and so is goaltender Jennifer Harss, an underrated but exceptional goaltender from Germany. Their departure leaves Miller with the simple task of finding someone to put the puck in the net, and to keep it out.

   The top supporting cast last season came down to defenseman Jessica Wong, who got help from rookies Bridgette Lacquette and Tea Villilla, and forwards Jenna McParland, Audrey Cournoyer, Vanessa Thibault, Pernilla Winberg and Katie Wilson. But Wong, Villila and Thibault were out with injuries, and Lacquette was attending a Team Canada camp.

    Their return is eagerly awaited, since the Bulldogs go from the fun of a 5-2, 5-3 sweep over the Whitecaps, who were led by former UMD star Jenny Potter, to the WCHA firing line, facing Ohio State this weekend at AMSOIL Arena at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. The Buckeyes have been a prime challenger for UMD in recent years, and UMD will counter with Team International.

   Freshman Alivia Del Basso is from Perth, Australia, and she gives UMD players from seven different countries. Along with the U.S., Canada, and Australia, UMD has freshman Marie Delarbe from Fuessen, Germany; Aleksandra Vafina from Chelyabinski, Russia; Sofia Carlstrom, a goaltender from Danderyd, Sweden; while sophomore Villila is from Finland. Other freshmen include goalie Kayla Black (Blyth, Ontario); defenseman Jordan Krause (Kelowna, British Columbia); Hannah Bramm (Tampa, Fla.); and goaltender Karissa Grapp (Essexville Mich.).  The Bulldogs have one of their best-balanced blends, with five seniors, four juniors, six sophomores, and eight freshmen.

   “We lost three recruits last year, so we were short on depth all season,” said Miller. “We should be a lot better off this year because we’ve added more forwards and defensemen, and we’ve got freshman goalies who play different styles, but they have championship experience.”

   Of the goaltenders, Black played on Canada’s under-18 team, Carlstrom played for Team Sweden’s U-18 team, and Grapp played for the Ohio Flames. At this point, Miller has to pick one to open against the always-aggressive Buckeyes -- something she hasn’t had to do for four years with the always-dependable and often-spectacular Harss a solid fixture.

    The Bulldogs have been picked for fourth in the WCHA, behind Minnesota, then Wisconsin and North Dakota, which tied for second in the preseason picks by the coaches. It may seem early for hockey, but the Bulldogs face Ohio State this weekend and Wisconsin next weekend in a Saturday-Sunday pair of 3 p.m. games, then hit the road for Minnesota State-Mankato and Boston College, before coming back home Nov. 2-3 to face the Gophers.

    
IMPRESSIVE
VOLLEYBALL SWEEP


   When UMD’s volleyball team opened 13-0 this season, it appeared to my novice eye that the Bulldogs were just a bit off their usual game when they beat a stubborn MSU-Moorhead outfit two weeks ago. But they hit the road and won at St. Cloud State and Sioux Falls before the wheels came off and they lost at Southwest State. That didn’t seem anything more than signaling how tough the Northern Sun is again in volleyball -- clearly the best Division II conference in the nation -- because Southwest moved up to No. 2, Concordia of St. Paul to No. 4, UMD dropped to No. 6, and MSU-Mankato was No. 10. Four teams from the NSIC among the top 10.

Concordia’s Kayla Koenecke (3), Katie Habeck (8) double-blocked UMD’s Kate Lange in second set. -John Gilbert

   All of which meant UMD faced a gigantic challenge last weekend at Romano Gym, with Concordia coming in on Friday and MSU-Mankato on Saturday.

   In Friday’s match, the Bulldogs came out storming, and if star hitter Kate Lange had been even slightly off her best in the past couple of weekends, she was near-flawless against Concordia. In the first set, she had 6 of UMD’s 18 kills and 9 of the 35 total attempts, for a .667 percentage that clearly showed she meant business, igniting a 25-20 victory. The Bulldogs led 16-11 in the second set, before Concordia gathered itself and ran off seven straight points, winning 25-21 to even the match at a set apiece.

UMD’s Kalli Lochner blocked against Concordia’s Kara Pioske (13) in Bulldogs 4-set victory.-John Gilbert

    But despite facing double blockers all night long, Lange led the Bulldogs to a 3-1 victory, blasting 25 kills in the four sets, even though her percentage dipped to .333 overall, a tribute to Concordia’s defense. The Bulldogs outlasted Concordia 25-22 in the pivotal third set, and ended it with a 25-17 fourth set. The 3-1 victory was UMD’s first against the Golden Bears at Romano Gym since 2007, a fact not lost on Lange, who is a senior from Hibbing making her final year special.

    With their rhythm regained, the Bulldogs came back last Saturday to whip MSU-Mankato 26-24, 25-20, 25-14. Lange added 18 kills and hit at a .359 percentage.

    The two victories boosted UMD back up in the national rankings as they hit the road for the next two weekends, playing Mary and Minot State this weekend, and Augustana and Wayne State the following weekend, besfore coming back home October 16 to face St. Cloud State.



FOOTBALL BUBBLE
BURSTS

   UMD’s impressive run through a rugged early football schedule ended at St. Cloud State last weekend in another game that showed how the creative NSIC offenses are embarrassing defenses all over the lead. The Bulldogs, 4-1, are home at Malosky Stadium Saturday to take on MSU-Moorhead at 6 p.m. in a game that is highlighted by the induction of new members to UMD’s Hall of Fame.

    Presumably, the Bulldogs will have found a few answers on defense after last weekend. In their two previous weekends, the ’Dogs tightened to go from 35-24 in a loose first half to a 70-24 victory at Concordia. The following weekend, UMD broke fast for a 35-6 lead at halftime against Augustana, but had to withstand a shaky second half before winning 42-34.

    But last weekend, at St. Cloud, the Bulldogs rolled to a 28-10 lead, but then had to rally themselves to gain a 49-44 lead in the closing minutes. But they left too much time on the clock, and St. Cloud quarterback Phillip Klapshake brought the Huskies all the way back. He finally scrambled around before throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game. The Huskies had snatched a 51-49 victory and UMD’s No. 2 national rating was gone. It was an awesome game for the UMD offense, but also for the Huskies offense, and the Bulldogs defensively simply couldn’t stop St. Cloud State in the second half, and particularly on the pressure-packed final drive.


WALK-ON
TRAMPLES GOPHERS


   Maybe it’s unfair to kick the Gopher football team when it’s down, but the full-scale publicity barrage that accompanied their 4-0 nonconference start seemed to totally overlook the fact that they hadn’t played a single team that would prepare them to face anyone in the Big Ten. I said that on KDAL radio, to the dismay of some disgruntled Gopher fans, but then the Golden ones went to Iowa City.

   The Hawkeyes had lost twice in a nonconference schedule not much tougher than Minnesota’s, although it was no disgrace to lose to Iowa State, even though it was closer to disgraceful to lost to Central Michigan. At any rate, the Hawkeyes have a big running back named Mark Weisman, who had been a walk-on buried on the depth chart at fullback, until they gave him a chance to carry the ball.

    Iowa led only 3-0 after one quarter against the Gophers, then he took over the game in the second quarter. He ran off-tackle left, with the end blocking out, and the tackle blocking in, for a nice gain. He did it again for a 45-yard gain. Then again, and again, until finally barreling 9 yards into the end zone. The Hawkeyes marched 85 yards for that touchdown, and Weisman gained 88 yards on the drive, with the oddity coming because the Hawkeyes were penalized on the drive.
   For some reason, Minnesota seemed totally incapable of adjusting to stopping one very large and tough tailback running over and over again on the same play. On the net series, Iowa figured the Gophers would have to adjust, so Weisman started out for left tackle once again, and as the Gopher defenders swarmed to stop him and prevent further embarrassment, he turned and pitched the ball back to quarterback James Vandenberg, who lobbed a pass over the defense to Jordan Cotton, who was all alone, 20 yards beyond any Gopher defender, and jogged in for a 47-yard touchdown.

    It was 24-0 at halftime, and when the Hawkeyes showed some compassion by easing off in the second half, Minnesota came back for a couple of touchdowns, and after losing 31-13, some of them had the audacity to point out that the visitors had outscored Iowa 13-7 in the second half. Weisman the walk-on walked for 177 rushing yards, 155 of them in the first half.

    Minnesota plays Northwestern this Saturday, and it should be interesting. Everyone scoffed when Minnesota and Northwestern both went 4-0 in nonconference play, and as their scoffs turned to laughter at Minnesota’s demise, the Wildcats beat Indiana 44-29 to go 5-0. Now they face the Gophers.


THANKS, JOE


   Football has taken the upper hand in the Upper Midwest, with the Vikings again proving they’re for real with another impressive victory, this time at Detroit, but we also must pay tribute to the great finish by Joe Mauer that made the Twins final week of a dismal season come to life. Mauer made a great run at Miguel Cabrera for the American League batting title, and as the Twins were battling the Tigers at Target Field, it was a chance to watch Cabrera and Mauer head-on.

   Perhaps the highest drama of the Twins season came when Mauer went 3-for-3 to catch Cabrera, who was hitless. With the Tigers trailing 1-0, Cabrera hit a sizzling line drive that might have been the hardest hit ball of the series, but it was speared by shortstop Pedro Florimon, who also happened to have singled home the lone run for the Twins 1-0 lead.  Unfortunately for the Twins, Prince Fielder came up next and hit an opposite field fly ball that barely cleared the left-field barrier for a two-run home run.

    That brought up the top of the Twins order in the last of the ninth. Tiger closer Valverde, one of the most imposing closers in the game, got two outs, and up came Joe Mauer. At 3-for-3 in the game, if Mauer could get one more hit right then he would have tied Cabrera for the batting lead, and inched ahead if you carried their .325 out one more decimal place. I pleaded with Joe on the TV to abandon his style of taking the first strike, because Valverde was throwing 96-98 mph, and you knew he would follow the “book” and groove the first pitch, knowing Mauer would watch it. Sure enough, he grooved it, and Joe took it. Next pitch looked low and outside, but it was called strike two. Next pitch, an eyelash below the knees, and Mauer took that one, too, making it 1-2. Valverde fired another fastball on the low-inside corner, and Mauer had to swing, dribbling it to first to end the game.

    I know Mauer is the best two-strike hitter in the game, and I know he’s been unbelievably successful taking a strike or two and then getting serious. But just this once, with the game on the line, and with Mauer’s chance to overtake Cabrera for the batting lead with three games left in the season also on the line, I wanted Mauer to unload on the first pitch. We’ll never know, of course, but my bet is Mauer would have laced a line drive on that waist-high fastball, which turned out to be the only good pitch he got in the at-bat. It’s not second-guessing, because my television heard me call it out before he stepped up to the plate.

   In the final series at Toronto, Mauer had trouble in the first two games, and dropped off the sizzling pace, while Cabrera sailed on in his quest for the triple crown.