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All five Bulldogs on the ice – Jason Shaugabay (13), Dominic James (17), Aiden Dubinsky (28), Owen Gallatin (20), and Zam Plante (27) – defended goaltender Adam Gajan against Gopher attackers in Game 2. (Photos by John Gilbert)

There were nuggets of promise that the UMD men’s hockey team could take away from the 7-5 and 5-1 beatings administered by the University of Minnesota last weekend at AMSOIL Arena. But they were small nuggets, the sort of thing only a coach could appreciate.

And Scott Sandelin did find those nuggets. 

“We were more involved and we played better defensively,” said Sandelin after the second game, in which the Bulldogs competed hard throughout even though the final score was ironically more lopsided. “Every time we made a little mistake, that team could take advantage and put it in our net.”

Defenseman Aaron Pionk said, “It definitely felt better tonight. We were mentally engaged.”

Pionk was joined by fellow-defensemen Owen Gallatin, Aiden Dubinsky, Joey Pierce, and freshmen Ty Hanson and Adam Kleber in playing much stronger games Saturday than on Friday, when the entire Bulldog team appeared to be in a fog until the game was all-but decided. 

UMD's Dominic James had a clean shot at Gopher goaltender Nathan Airey in Game 1, but whiffed on his shot.

Up front, the forwards also were “more engaged” Saturday, although the Bulldogs only got three goals from the 12 forwards combining both games. Dominic James, Jayson Shaugabay and Joe Molenaar got those goals, while they were matched by the two goals from Dubinsky and one from Gallatin on defense.
Meanwhile, Sandelin’s record of 13-4-2 against the Gophers since they bailed on the WCHA and started the Big Ten Conference implies domination, but domination was the best word to describe Minnesota’s first period Friday night, when the Gophers took command with a decisive two goals in the first five minutes and a 4-0 lead by intermission. 

Outshooting UMD 23-4 in the first period, Brodie Ziemer scored at 1:34, the Bulldogs took a penalty at 3:32, and Brody Lamb scored from right in front at 4:27.

As if impersonating pylons, the shell-shocked Bulldogs stood around when Matthew Wood got loose in front. He tried a backhander, but goaltender Adam Gajan blocked it. 

No problem, because Wood had time to pull the rebound back and backhand it again for a 3-0 lead. Sam Rinzel walked in from the right point, caught a cross-ice pass, and drilled an unmolested shot into the upper left corner at 17:45 and it was 4-0.

Dubinsky scored at 3:17 of the second period for UMD to bring the sellout crowd to life, but Aaron Hugely converted a Cal Thomas pass at the crease at 15:41 to offset that spark. 

There was a bizarre flurry at the end of the third period that provided some hope for the Bulldogs. 
First, Dubinsky was at the right point and fielded the long rebound of left-point shooter Aaron Pionk to score at 6:31, then James scored from the right point on a power play at 12:56 to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Again, the Gophers brushed off that threat when Oliver Moore and Erik Pahlsson scored 27 seconds apart to make it 7-3 with less than five minutes remaining. But Sandelin, juggling line combinations like a mad scientist, kept his charges inspired and pulled Gajan, his prize freshman goaltender from Slovakia, after Joe Molenaar converted Pionk’s goal-mouth pass at 16:21. 

With the extra attacker, Shaugabay rapped in a Dominic James shot at 18:25. At 7-5, the Bulldogs were charging, but a holding penalty on Matthew Perkins with 11.1 seconds left curtailed the enthusiasm.
Having been outshot 49-22 in the first game, the Bulldogs sounded convinced they’d pick up where they left off Friday night, and they did hit the ice with much more confidence and fire, battling on all four lines and skating with the Gophers from the outset. 

Gopher Connor Kurth (10) scores for 2-0 lead in Game 2.

But Gopher goalie Liam Soulier from Montreal stopped an opening chance when Shaugabay set up James alone in front, and again the Gophers took a 1-0 lead when Ziemer converted a goal-mouth feed from Oliver Moore at 9:24. Connor Kurth took a pass right in front at 17:23 and made a quick move to his right before firing the puck behind Gajan for a 2-0 lead.

With both teams short a man, Zam Plante pulled a corner faceoff back to Joey Pierce, who fed Gallatin on the right point for a one-timer at 19:56 to cut the lea to 2-1. 

Midway through the second period, Jimmy Sniggered tried a snapshot from 30 feet straight out, and when it was blocked back to him, he tried again from 35 feet, this time connecting for a 3-1 lead.

But even though they were competing for every loose puck and battling every shift, the Gophers held the Bulldogs off, and Jimmy Clark notched a power-play goal at 13:37, before Sandelin pulled Gajan with five and a half minutes remaining, and Matthew Wood scored an empty-net goal with 0:09 left. 

But outshot only 34-32 in Game 2, the Bulldogs came away empty, and were definitely impressed with Minnesota’s skill and depth, with four look-alike forward lines and a posse of defensemen who also contribute to the offense.

“We’ve got a good group this year,” said Gopher coach Bob Motzko. “I could tell from the start of practice these guys all care about learning and about pulling together.”

In stark contrast to the men, the UMD women’s team breezed to a sweep against St. Thomas, winning 3-0 Friday afternoon as Eve Gascon got the shutout while the Bulldogs outshot the Tommies 44-27, then winning 2-0 on Saturday afternoon as Tindra Holm notched her first shutout in her first game for UMD. 

In the first game, Caitlin Kraemer scored in the first period, and it stayed 1-0 until Olivia Mobley and Clara Van Wieren scored 70 seconds apart in the third period. All three goals came on power plays. In the Saturday game, Danielle Burgeon and defenseman Devyn Millwater got the goals.

Olivia Mobley was first to goalie Eve Gascon to congratulate her on shutting out St. Thomas 3-0 in Friday's game.

Coach Laura Schuler gave credit to St. Thomas. “They’re a good team, and they are a very structured defensive team,” she said. “We have to be ready to play every game, and every game gives us a chance to re-hone our work ethic.”

On Sunday, it was a busy time catching up with other major sports events, starting with the Vikings game against Detroit — a fantastic, even battle that went down to the final tick of the clock, with the Lions winning 31-29 on a 44-yard field goal by Detroit rookie Jake Bates with 15 seconds left. 

Jered Goff and Sam Darland put on a great show of how to play quarterback for a championship team. The two teams are now tied for first, with a rematch coming in Detroit later.

Through the second half, I had to keep switching my remote to also watch the U.S. Grand Prix from Austin, Texas. 

At the start, pole-sitter Lando Norris knew Max Verstappen would try to get the inside edge at the top of the hill, left-hand turn, so he swerved in front of the series points leader in a move that allowed both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., to blast past them for a 1-2 Ferrari edge. 

That maneuver stood up all the way for a 1-2 Ferrari finish, but the most dramatic stretch was when Norris fought his way up and passed Verstappen for third. On the way, Norris was squeezed off the track at one point and got back on ahead of Max. 

He finished precisely 4.1 seconds behind Norris, but gained third when Norris was given a 5-second  penalty for going off the track to pass Max.

Then Sunday night, I watched the rejuvenated Pittsburgh Steelers beat Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets 37-15. Russell Wilson, left on the scrap heap by Seattle, and Denver, came back from an injury to play his first game for the Steelers, and he completed 16 of 29 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns, running in for a third as the Steelers vaulted to 5-2 and in full playoff contention.