Sometimes, you win ugly.
Sometimes, you win beautifully.
No matter how you win, you don’t apologize for it. Wins are too difficult to come by.
No. 6 UMD grinded out a 2-1 win at Miami Friday night, picking up a third straight win and recording the 400th win under head coach Scott Sandelin.
Scott Sandelin's milestone wins
100: Dec. 2, 2006 at Alaska-Anchorage (259th game)
200: Nov. 18, 2011 vs Minnesota State (457th game, 198 after 100)
300: Jan. 14, 2017 vs St. Cloud State (665th game, 208 after 200)
400: Jan. 29, 2021 at Miami (817th game, 152 after 300)
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Bruce Ciskie
Yes, kids, UMD has 100 wins in its last 152 games. And, yes, it took UMD 259 games to get Sandelin’s 100th win. Pretty incredible how far this program has come.
(Shoutout to hockey ops director Christian Koelling, who has been around for 288 of those wins. I’ve had the pleasure of calling 295 of them, if for some odd reason you’re curious.)
The Bulldogs didn’t have much going early in this game. The good news was Miami had even less going. It was actually looking like one of those “nothing” periods that sometimes happen in hockey, but a Miami turnover led to Jesse Jacques feeding Cole Koepke for a quick shot that got by RedHawks freshman goalie Ludvig Persson for a 1-0 UMD lead with just 11 seconds left in the first period.
After a second successful penalty kill, Miami did generate probably the most momentum it had in the first 40 minutes. But a quality shift from UMD’s top line of Noah Cates, Nick Swaney, and Quinn Olson got the Bulldogs going once again, and on their next shift, that line struck with a snipe by Olson from the right circle to make it 2-0.
UMD would hold on late, in a game that did not lack for more controversy.
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Late in the second period, Miami’s Scott Corbett drove toward the front of the UMD net from the right-wing side. As he did, he started losing his balance and collided with Bulldog captain Noah Cates, who was driving low to cut Corbett off from getting to UMD goalie Ryan Fanti.
The result was an awkward-looking hit that led to a video review and the ejection of UMD’s top-line center.
Two other angles…
#UMDmHky https://t.co/grV1f7kcSd pic.twitter.com/NggfpYqzLD— UMD Hockey gifs (@UMDHockeygifs) January 30, 2021
After looking at it a few times once I got home, I really don’t like this call. I’m also not going to sit here and argue for 500 words. It’s just not worth it. I’ll get all wound up again, and all it’ll do is get you all wound up again. It isn’t going to change anything. Most of you can look at the clips above and see for yourself. You don’t need me to explain what I think the officials saw on this play. It’s pretty clear, and it’s pretty clear why I disagree.
(At the behest of a kind listener, I did ask for a clip of Matt Anderson’s tripping penalty in the second period. Said listener was concered about knee contact, but the replay really confirms there was none and it was a correct call the way it was made.)
What matters most is that UMD did an exemplary job on the penalty kill, holding Miami to one measly shot attempt (wide) in five minutes. UMD outshot Miami 1-0 in that stretch, and the RedHawks’ failure to even test Fanti during a five-minute power play while down 2-0 would come back to haunt them. Michael Holland got Miami on the board inside of four minutes to play in regulation, but his shot was the last Miami would get on goal in the game. The RedHawks’ final two shot attempts were blocked, one by Tanner Laderoute and one by Koepke.
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Sandelin wasn’t happy with his team’s puck management, especially in the first period. Miami is a high-pressure team, and the Bulldogs didn’t handle that pressure well, which led to a lot of turnovers and not much possession. On his postgame Zoom call, the head coach said he thought they improved as the game went on, but look for more emphasis on better handling Miami’s pressure in Saturday’s rematch.
Defensively, UMD conceded only 13 total shots on goal at even strength, the seventh time in eight games that UMD has allowed fewer than 20 even strength shots in a game (and the one time the number wasn’t below 20, it was 20). On average, opponents are getting a scant 16 even-strength shots in a game. When you have a game like this, where there isn’t a ton of special teams time either way, and you can hold a team shotless during a five-minute power play, it really takes a ton of pressure off the goaltender. It also is a sign of this team working towards its identity at that end of the rink. Yes, it ends a one-shot game, but Miami never got that shot off.
3:30 pregame for the series finale Saturday on KDAL. Back pregame with the lines.
