Fun day at Amsoil, thanks to dramatic wins by the UMD men AND women. It was a day that had everything, including traveling fans who missed a relatively important memo, and entertaining hockey games that featured periods of dominance by the visitors where we were reminded that the home team has good goaltending.
More than anything, though, we saw important wins, for different reasons. The UMD women needed and received a nice reward for a game where they got better as it went on against another of the best teams in the country. The UMD men got a stabilizing performance from the back end, led by a goaltender who took advantage of the opportunity he was given to bounce back.
8 THOUGHTS
1. Ladies first. Wisconsin got off to a great start, peppering UMD with constant puck possession in the first period. Lacey Eden intercepted a pass and beat Emma Soderberg on a breakaway for the only goal of the period. The Badgers held that lead for a while, obviously, but UMD gained more and more traction as the game went on. The Bulldogs generated periods of offensive zone possession in the second period, at one point forcing UW coach Mark Johnson to use his timeout.
UMD kept grinding and stuck with the game, and it paid off late in the third. With less than three minutes to play in regulation, Ashton Bell fed Maggie Flaherty in the left circle. Flaherty partially fanned on her shot, but the puck got to the top of the crease, where Naomi Rogge sent it across to Gabbie Hughes on the backdoor, and she wasn’t missing from there. That tied the game, and UMD carried much of the play into overtime.
In that overtime, the teams went up and down the ice, but there weren’t a lot of great chances for either side. In the final minute, Nina Jobst-Smith got a shot through that appeared to hit the stick of Badgers goalie Cami Kronish and bounced into the net.
After probably deserving better than the one point it got at Ohio State last weekend, UMD was able to secure two big points Friday and will try to sweep the Badgers Saturday.
2. Before Friday night’s game, UMD men’s coach Scott Sandelin talked about the need to almost re-program his new players, most of whom played in different systems for teams prior to joining UMD.
“Sometimes, I’ll just take a Dash (Derek Daschke). He played a system for four years, sometimes that can be difficult to change right away.”
Sandelin still thought his team could play harder than it’s displayed through most of its first six games, even if he thought they played harder (“just not smarter,” he said again in the pregame) in Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin.
It’s a point worth thinking about. Daschke played 133 games at Miami, where he clearly had some freedoms that aren’t necessarily baked into UMD’s system. Part of this process is adjusting to the players around him, while they adjust to Daschke. He’s a smart, well-spoken dude, and I don’t doubt he’s going to figure things out and be a major asset to this team. Especially if he can do what he did late in the third period Friday.
Daschke activated into the offensive zone as the reunited James Gang generated some possession time. After Blake Biondi got tied up in front, the puck made its way to Daschke in the high slot, and he fired a low wrister past Cornell goalie Ian Shane to break a 2-2 tie and set up UMD’s 3-2 win that snapped a four-game losing streak.
ALMOST INSTANT HIGHLIGHT
Daschke's second winner as a Bulldog. pic.twitter.com/S6X6orGMa6
— Bruce Ciskie (@BruceCiskie) October 29, 2022
3. This was a really good start from Zach Stejskal. He wasn’t to blame for the 6-0 loss in Mankato, not at all, and I thought it was a good move by Sandelin to go back to him the next night. That said, Stejskal wasn’t great last Friday against Wisconsin. Not that anyone else in white was, but Stejskal took Saturday off and Matthew Thiessen played very well in that 3-0 loss.
Stejskal was sharp from the hop against Cornell, but he really had to stand strong in the second period. Yes, Cornell got a tying goal, but the Big Red pushed hard after tying the game. Cornell ended the second with 20 shots on goal, and Stejskal got 19 of them. He made a couple of nifty stops, including one on an Ondrej Psenicka tip that looked labeled for the five-hole.
Sandelin gave Stejskal a chance to respond, and the big goaltender did just that.
4. Broadcast partner Kraig Karakas makes a ton of good points every night, but he was right on when he talked about UMD’s defensive game. Yes, there were mistakes, but the Bulldogs did a better job staying above the puck than they had in previous games.
There are other hallmarks of UMD hockey that we still aren’t consistently seeing, but it all starts in the defensive zone. If UMD is defending the way Sandelin wants it to, there are layers of defense between the puck and the goal. For the most part, this was the case Friday in ways we hadn’t seen yet. Major step forward, and a good building block as the league season starts next week.
5. Cornell is big. Like, holy moly. Saw them downstairs doing their warmup. The pads and skates make them even bigger on the ice. But UMD didn’t cede ice easily. The Bulldogs weren’t afraid to hit or be hit, with numerous guys taking hits to make even little plays.
Again, little signs of progress, right? UMD got hemmed in the defensive zone a few times, but rarely lost structure even when things got a bit scrambly. I liked most of what I saw, but while it’s a good sign that the sky is not falling, it’s also only one game.
Expecting Cornell to bring it again on Saturday. UMD has to match or exceed.
6. Ugh, just ugh for Luke Mylymok. The junior forward was hit hard by Psenicka in the second period, drawing a boarding minor that was reviewed for the possibility of a major penalty. Mylymok was tended to on the ice by athletic trainer Sarah Miller, and did not return to the game. He missed most of last season after shoulder surgery, and I just feel awful for the guy. Sandelin didn’t have an update after the game.
Hopefully, whatever is wrong is not major, but the penalty probably should have been. I wasn’t livid over the decision, despite the awful outcome, but it felt like a hit that likely merited a five-minute penalty. Psenicka hits Mylymok right in the back while skating at full speed, and Mylymok has little chance to avoid injury on board contact.
7. The NCHC season opened with Denver winning 4-0 at Miami, behind a Carter Mazur hat trick. He has eight goals in seven games, which seems good. Non-conference, Bemidji State beat St. Cloud State 3-1 in Bemidji, Michigan picked up a 5-4 home win over Western Michigan, and Colorado College trampled Air Force 8-0 at home. Rematches at the other venues to close those home and home series Saturday. Also, Omaha won 2-1 at Long Island. Arizona State and North Dakota play Saturday night in Vegas. Prayers to the beer taps, hope they hold up.
8. All’s well that ends well? UMD freshman Isaac Howard is suspended for the weekend. It was obviously a bad play and a bad result, and it stinks not having him.
Especially if you’re a Tampa Bay Lightning fan who traveled from Florida to Duluth to watch Howard play, blissfully unaware that he was suspended.
Luckily, the word got to Howard, and he did what he could to enhance the fans’ experience.
Let’s go Dogs! pic.twitter.com/pmLyjAEiGB
— Crystal Howard (@4hockeyboys4) October 29, 2022
Certainly not the way any of us would want this to happen, but glad they got to meet the young man they came so far to see.
Maybe someone can find a way to get them to a future game that Howard actually plays in.
Tripleheader of UMD sports on KDAL Saturday. Football at noon, then it’s to Amsoil for women’s hockey at 3pm and the men at 7pm. Really fun day, hope you can tune in for at least some of it!
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