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Bemidji’s Jackson Jutting flicked his shot over UMD goalie Zach Sandy’s shoulder to give the Beavers a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday. Photos by John Gilbert.

The good news is that the freshman-filled UMD Bulldogs hockey team looked every bit as exciting as a lot of us have predicted. 

The bad news is, playing exciting hockey— and getting three goals from the all-freshman line of brothers Zam Plante, Max Plante and Jayson Shaugabay (who plays as though he might be an adopted Plante brother) — doesn’t guarantee a victory.

Shaugabay scored two goals in his first college game and Zam Plante scored one, but all three of their goals were counterpunches, gaining 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 ties. 

That was good enough to force overtime against the Bemidji State Beavers in the season opener at AMSOIL Arena, but in 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime, Zam Plante mishandled the puck along the boards near the corner, and Jackson Jutting pounced on it, skating directly to the net and, after a slick move at the crease, flicking his shot over goalie Zach Sandy’s left shoulder and into the upper right corner of the net.

UMD celebrated freshman Jason Shaugabay's second goal against Bemidji State, tying the game 2-2 in the second period.

“I tried to poke it away from him when he mishandled it,” said the fifth-year center, the nephew of former long-time Minnesota State Mankato coach Troy Jutting, who transfered to Bemidji State from Colorado College, to attend grad school. 

“I don’t even know if I hit the puck, but it came to me and I went for the net. I went across the goal-mouth, then pulled the puck back and shot high.”

Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore knew his Beavers had been outshot (40-23), and was impressed with UMD’s youthful quickness and skill. 

“That one line, what speed they’ve got,” said Serratore. “They’re really fun to watch, and they’re going to be really something by midseason. Today, I was just hoping to get out of here with a tie.”
The 6,587 fans at AMSOIL Arena for the opener also had to be impressed with UMD’s performance, as Scott Sandelin rotated five freshman forwards, two defensemen and his backup goaltender for eight rookies. 

Zam Plante, who centered the most colorful line, had 6 shots on goal, while Shaugabay had 3 and Max Plante had 2, for 11 of UMD’s 40 shots.  Midway through the third period, after a flashy rush where Zam fed Shaugabay, who immediately relayed the pass across to Max for a shot, Max ended up leaving the game in pain and went to the dressing room.

Bemidji State relief goalie Raythan Robbie blocked the breakaway shot by UMD's Carter Loney during Saturday's overtime.

In an ironic twist, captain and first-line center Dominic James, making his return after missing all of last season with an injury, had 6 shots on goal and double-shifted to fill in for Max on the rookie line. 
With 1:42 remaining in regulation, James flew through the Bemidji defense and shot, with backup goaltender Raytheon Robbins making a big save, but he had no chance on Zam Plante’s quick conversion of the rebound to tie the game.

Max Plante came back and tried to go one shift in overtime, but couldn’t. On Sunday, as UMD raced past the University of Manitoba 7-1 in an exhibition game, Max didn’t dress, and he was spotted with his hand in a cast, as the school officially called it an “upper body injury.” 

Sandelin used 10 freshmen against Manitoba, moving Callum Arnott up from fourth line to play right wing with the Zam/Shaugabay combination for a different all-freshman line, tried freshmen Trevor Stachowiak and Harper Bentz on the fourth line, and split time between freshman goalies, Adam Gajan from Slovakia, and Klayton Knapp from Waterville, Ontario.

After spotting Manitoba a 1-0 first-period lead, UMD found some rhythm and got second-period goals from Kyle Bettens, Dominic James, Harper Bentz, Jack Smith and James again for a 5-goal outburst. 
In the third period, defenseman Aaron Pionk and Anthony Menghini — both sophomores — hit the net to finish the game 7-1, with a 61-25 shot advantage

The flashy play by the freshmen, including defenseman Ty Hanson from Hermantown, was eye-catching, but the Saturday loss was part of a disastrous day for Bulldogs sports. 

To start the day, the UMD football team lost a heartbreaker 28-24 at Augustana, while the women’s hockey team lost 3-2 at Colgate, and the volleyball team continued a rare tailspin by losing 3-1 to Southwest Minnesota State, and then duplicating it with a 3-1 loss to Sioux Falls on Sunday. 

The UMD soccer team waited until Sunday to lose 4-0 to Concordia of St. Paul.

In the tangled world of NSIC football, Augustana held off UMD 28-24, while Northern State surprised Bemidji 14-13, while Winona State shocked MSU Moorhead 33-6, and Sioux Falls beat MSU Mankato 40-36, with Concordia toppling Mary 19-13 in two overtimes. 

After its first loss, MSU Mankato leads the league at 4-1, with Wayne State and Augustana both 3-1, followed by Bemidji State, Minot State and Sioux Falls all 3-2. That leaves UMD and Concordia of St. Paul tied for seventh(!) at 2-2.

The NSIC volleyball chase is even tighter than usual, with St. Cloud State and Wayne State leading with matching 6-0 records, while Southwest Minnesota State, Concordia and Augusta all 5-1, and Sioux Falls 4-2 make the top six, one jump ahead of Northern State and Winona State at 3-2. 

Chasing that group of eight are Mankato and Moorhead, both 2-3, UMD at 1-4, and Bemidji and Crookston both winless.

There were a lot of other high-entertainment games on the football fields of the world, not the least of which was the University of Minnesota beating Southern California 24-17, thanks to a late touchdown and a last-minute interception by Esko freshman Koi Perich, who earlier had stopped another Trojan drive by jarring a fumble loose that the Gophers recovered.

That may not have been the biggest upset in the world — that goes to Vanderbilt, which surprised the football world by beating No. 1 ranked Alabama 40-35 — but if the Gophers had gone down to USC, it would have surprised no one.

Meanwhile, football fields of the world also include London’s huge soccer stadium, where the Sam Darnold led the Vikings to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter, but the very impressive Vikings defense had to rise up to thwart Aaron Rodgers and a New York Jets comeback before the Vikings could win 23-17 and sail into bye week at 5-0.

Denfeld junior Trae Manns finished a 60-yard interception return in last week's 38-22 victory over Cloquet.

On Duluth’s home front, Denfeld put its spectacular rushing tandem of Taye Mann and Deon Bergner to work to get ahead and stay ahead of Cloquet for a 38-22 victory at Mars Heikkinen Field at Walt Hunting Stadium. 

Cloquet quarterback James Wilmot directed the Lumberjacks on an opening touchdown drive, but Denfeld responded when Lee Brooks fired a 79-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Nault, who proved the vulnerability of covering the rushing tandem. 

On the other hand, trying to cover Mann, the area’s top scorer, left room for Besrgner to go to work. He ran for 37 yards, 34 yards and on an 80-yard run for a 24-7 halftime lead.

Manns had an easy night — for him — with only two touchdowns, but one was an 80-yard interception runback in the fourth quarter, after Cloquet had closed the gap to 24-15 in the third. Manns had made an earlier interception, when Denfeld trailed 7-6, and it set the stage for Bergner to speed 37 yards for his first of three straight TDs.

Hunters coach Erik Lofald was asked how easy it is to have two such game-breaking runners. “Taye is unbelievable, and I think Deon might even be faster,” Lofald said, with a smile.

Cloquet quarterback Wilt went out with an injury, and sophomore backup Max Jaxdewski came in and wound up directing the Lumbrerjacks to the only touchdown of the third quarter, cutting the Hunters margin to 24-15. and also leading a drive to the game-ending score.  

Between those two touchdowns, however, Manns picked off that pass and sprinted up the left sideline, and followed it up with a short touchdown plunge to reestablish 38-15 dominance.