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Lara Stalder celebrated her hat trick, scoring with 15 seconds left, as Ashleigh Brykiliuk (13) joined her. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Traditionally, homecoming weekend is a time to round up the alumni and the boosters and try to ignite the spirit behind winning athletic programs. This is UMD’s homecoming weekend, and rarely have any Bulldog sports teams been as anxious to be home as the football and volleyball teams.

The men’s hockey team is home after a trip to Massachusetts-Lowell, where they tied 4-4 and 1-1, but they only took a bus to the Twin Cities and caught a flight from there.

The football and volleyball teams had no flights to catch. They needed seven and a half hours on a bus to return from Minot, North Dakota. You can do a lot of team bonding in seven and a half hours.

Fortunately, both teams enjoyed huge successes last weekend, which they will hope to duplicate for the home fans this weekend. The football team whipped Minot State 38-7 for their fifth victory after an opening loss. The volleyball team, ranked No. 1 in the country, swept three-set matches at Mary and Minot State to improve their incredible record to 17-0.

“It worked out well,” said volleyball coach Jim Boos. “The football game was at 1, and we didn’t play till 6. It’s not often we get a chance to see the football team play, but a lot of our girls went to the football game out there.”

The Bulldogs swept Minot in three sets, too, then got on the bus. It was suggested that it must have been a much more festive ride home and it must have shortened the ride, having swept, but he said: “No. It was every bit as long. By the time we got everything loaded up, it was about 8:30, and we didn’t get home until about 4:30 a.m.”

In the sweeps, UMD continued to show its skill and balance, with Sarah Kelly continuing to assert herself in a brilliant sophomore season. “Sarah Kelly hit over .600 for us,” Boos said. “She led us in kills, and got 12 kills in only 14 swings.”

In fact, homecoming will be a huge weekend at UMD. Last weekend, only the UMD women’s hockey team was home, and this weekend, the UMD women’s hockey team will be about the only one out of town.

For UMD loyalists, you can catch the volleyball match against Northern State Friday night at 7, then get rested up and head on up to Malosky Stadium about noon on Saturday, to get in a little tailgating before the 1 p.m. game against Northern State. When that ends, it may be chilly enough that you’ll appreciate going inside Romano Gym for the 4 p.m. The volleyball match against Minnesota State-Moorhead should get done just in time to hustle down to AMSOIL Arena for the UMD men’s second game of the hockey series against Notre Dame at 7 p.m.


“With both our games, and football and hockey, it should be a fun homecoming weekend,” said Boos.

If you still need more local sports attractions, St. Scholastica also has homecoming, at 4 p.m. Saturday at Public Schools Stadium. The Saints, after dropping their nonconference opener at St. John’s, has reeled off four straight victories in the UMAC.