ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Goals haven’t come in bunches very much for UMD this season. It’s been trying year offensively, with scoring sporadic and sometimes nonexistent. To make matters worse, UMD has hit a patch where it feels like every made mistake is ending up in the back of the net, while it’s unable to capitalize on similar errors at the other end of the ice when they happen.
For at least one night, the Bulldogs used their offense to turn a close game on its ear. UMD scored four second-period goals — in clumps 30 and 34 seconds apart — and cruised to a 5-2 win over St. Cloud State in the opener of their best-of-three NCHC playoff series.
United on a line together for the first time since early in the season, fifth year senior Koby Bender and two-year captain Noah Cates had huge nights for UMD, which posted its first four-goal frame since the second period of a 5-0 win over Colorado College on Nov. 12. It was UMD’s first four-goal period on the road since the Bulldogs exploded for a four-spot in the second period at Colorado College on Feb. 29, 2020 (6-1 win).
Bender’s first career hat trick was of the natural variety in the second period, as he scored consecutive goals at 9:09, 9:39 (power play), and 16:44 to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead. It’s back-to-back days with natural hat tricks by UMD hockey players after women’s senior Gabbie Hughes posted one Thursday night against Harvard.
The last postseason hat trick for @UMDMensHockey was scored by MacGregor Sharp in a 4-0 win vs Denver on March 21, 2009 en route to claiming the Broadmoor Trophy that season.
— Drew Smith (@drewsmith_08) March 12, 2022
Cates set up two of Bender’s three goals and scored in the first period when he found a loose puck in the right circle and had virtually nothing but net to shoot at against St. Cloud State goalie Jaxon Castor. Castor started in place of David Hrenak, the SCSU fifth year goalie who sat out — as did two-year captain Spencer Meier — because of what is reportedly a non-COVID illness. Status for both players is up in the air for Saturday, to our knowledge.
Cates had no points and eight shots in five games since his return from the Olympics in Beijing. Coach Scott Sandelin talks a lot about the things Cates does away from the puck and how important he is to UMD’s overall game. But a productive Cates makes this team a hell of a lot more dangerous. He had a goal, three points, and a game-high six shots with a plus-three on Friday. That’s a smidge on the lofty side, but it’s certainly a great sign going forward in what most expect to be Cates’ swan song in UMD’s colors.
******
UMD had to shake off some adversity in this game. After controlling most of the first period and getting the goal from Cates for a 1-0 lead, Kevin Fitzgerald answered back after UMD lost coverage in front of Ryan Fanti in the final minute of the first.
Those late goals can be momentum changers, and UMD hurt its cause further when Dominic James took a cross-checking penalty at the 20:00 mark. James was involved in a scrum that broke out after SCSU won a late faceoff and tried to kill the clock with the puck on the corner boards. James got a bit too aggressive and was flagged for it.
The mistake was compounded when UMD missed on a clear late in the power play to start the second, and Nolan Walker tipped home a long shot by Nick Perbix to give St. Cloud State a 2-1 lead. Castor then got in on the act, robbing Kobe Roth on a great save a few minutes later. He had the St. Cloud student section — much smaller than usual but still plenty loud — chanting his name and cheering basically his every move.
Unfortunately for Castor, who was making his fourth start of the season and appearing against UMD for the first time, this was not going to be his night. Instead, the night belonged to Bender and the Bulldogs.
UMD shredded St. Cloud State’s defense. I’m not even sure I’m exaggerating to say that UMD got more shots off inside the faceoff dots in the second period alone (13 total attempts) than the Bulldogs did all last weekend. I mean, that’s probably an exaggeration, but it’s not outlandish. Expect Brett Larson and his staff to work with their players to clean this up on Saturday, because if they don’t, it might not matter who starts in goal. Sandelin talked this week about players doing a better job of staying alive for pucks in front of the goal, but SCSU’s defense made it too easy for UMD at times on Friday.
******
Outside of this road win by UMD, it was straight chalk on night one of the first round. Top seed Denver conceded early but blew past Miami 5-2. North Dakota was strong defensively and beat Colorado College 2-1 in Grand Forks, and it was Western Michigan using a Luke Grainger hat trick to rally for a 4-2 home win over Omaha. The Mavericks led 2-1 into the third before WMU came back for the victory.
Meanwhile, the UMD women are a win away from the Frozen Four. UMD faces Minnesota Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis, with the winner heading to Penn State for a national semifinal game against either Wisconsin or Northeastern on March 18. The Bulldogs fell 5-1 to Minnesota in the WCHA semifinals last week, and they know they’ll need a much more composed performance this time around. Fifth-year forward Naomi Rogge said this week she felt UMD gave Minnesota too much room, too much respect. UMD is an in-your-face style of team, so we’ll see if they can adjust and get to more of their style with so much on the line this time around.
The UMD men’s basketball team plays an NCAA Central Region first round game Saturday at 2:30 in Sioux Falls against Washburn (Kan.). Shoutout to the UMD women, who fell to Nebraska Kearney 77-70 in the Central Region tourney Friday in Kansas. UMD says goodbye to three fifth-year seniors — Ann Simonet, Payton Kahl, and Sarah Grow — who were culture-builders and program-changers during their time as Bulldogs. All three will be missed, but there’s no question they’ve left the women’s basketball program better than they found it.
*****
Rematch here Saturday. 5:30pm pregame. Plenty of hockey before then, with the women competing for a trip to the Frozen Four, and Hermantown battling Warroad at noon for the state Class A boys’ hockey title.
Looks like a nice Saturday. Get to Ridder and support the UMD women, then head up I-94 for an hour and watch this game. Based on Friday’s relatively sparse gathering (2,594 announced), there will be plenty of good seats to be had at the Brooks Center.
Comments