UMD is a team that doesn’t score many beautiful goals. Lots of greasy ones, but the tic-tac-toe-twine stuff is typically not the Bulldogs’ game.
But when UMD goes the “pretty passing play” route, it’s often a Plays of the Week candidate.
Saturday night was no different. Behold the first collegiate goal for UMD freshman Dominic James.
What in the what?! #NCAAHockey x
@UMDMensHockey pic.twitter.com/ch2sRT5eNt
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) October 17, 2021
That’s Quinn Olson with the between-the-legs, backhand pass across the slot. Blake Biondi doesn’t score the goal, but he drove the net hard, and while there were no defenders whose attention he had to divert, he did force Providence goalie Jaxson Stauber to respect his presence instead of cheating across faster, theoretically giving James more room to shoot, and the impressive youngster made no mistake.
The goal gave UMD a 2-1 lead that didn’t last forever, but captain Noah Cates — who was terrific all weekend, outside of the major penalty that got him ejected on Friday — capped the scoring three minutes after Providence re-tied the score early in the third period. The Bulldogs held on for a 3-2 win to claim third place in the Ice Breaker tournament at Amsoil Arena.
After a so-so first period that saw Providence’s Patrick Moynihan give the Friars a 1-0 lead while Providence outshot UMD 15-8, the Bulldogs quickly got their game going in the offensive zone as the second period started. Two great shifts in the offensive zone led to Jesse Jacques tying the game on a scramble play inside of two minutes elapsed. James gave UMD the lead just past the halfway mark, and at that point, the Zamboni wasn’t going to be needed at the other end of the ice.
The Bulldogs were sharper on the penalty kill, though Brett Berard did get one for the Friars on an awesome snipe, short-side shelf on Ryan Fanti. That came very early in the third period to make it a 2-2 game, before Cates scored on a wraparound for the final margin.
All in all, a better effort for the Bulldogs than Friday night against Michigan. Yes, the Cates major on Friday complicated things, but UMD got away from its game, something we just don’t see often, certainly not so noticeably (UMD owned the first 15 minutes before it started slipping away). This was a nice way to bounce back for a team that doesn’t often lose consecutive games.
Cates is off to an awesome start. He’s just so strong over pucks. He’s always in the right place when he doesn’t have the puck, and he’s an absolute beast on the boards. If you plan on engaging in a board battle with Noah Cates, pack a lunch. Or two. Pairing him on a line with Tanner Laderoute is a problem for a lot of teams. Cates is as strong as an ox, and Laderoute has one of those motors coaches dream of. Graduate transfer Casey Gilling, a slick playmaker also unafraid of the tough areas, is a nice fit in the middle.
From a production standpoint, James’ line is a story at this point. Olson and Biondi have points in three of the four games, and they’ve all been big (they combined for the eventual game-winning goal in both games against Bemidji, then teamed up with James for the highlight-reel goal Saturday). The three have good chemistry, and James certainly is benefitting from linemates on a mission. Olson is off to the best start of his college career, and Biondi is determined to prove he belongs in a more regular spot in the lineup after an up-and-down freshman season.
Fanti had a few shaky moments playing the puck in his home start against Bemidji, but he was composed and effective in the Providence game, keeping UMD afloat in a first period where the Friars had two power plays and not much went right for the Bulldogs. It’s complimentary hockey. The offense is struggling to get going? Fine, the defense and goaltending do their job. And once the offense got going, UMD got to playing “north,” as Scott Sandelin is fond of saying.
******
I bumped into Mike Sertich during the Ice Breaker championship game, won by Michigan over Minnesota State. We joked about UMD’s schedule, which features nothing in the way of soft places to land. It’s three weekends of very good non-conference competition, followed by a bye and the start of NCHC play at Western Michigan, a place where UMD has scored nine (9) goals in its last six (6) games, and that’s not so nice.
But before the bye and the trip to Lunatic Fringe, UMD has a home-and-home series with its biggest rival.
Sorry, North Dakota, but it’s still Minnesota.
The Gophers are off a decently controversial win Saturday night in St. Cloud. Oh, you didn’t hear about it? Well, I’m here to help. I’m such a giver. You can thank me later.
That was atrocious. @MarkDParrish said it best. Hopefully the @TheNCHC and the @NCAAIceHockey were watching as the entire #CawlidgeHawkey community saw this awful ending to a great rivalry game (between two top-5 teams nonetheless). @GOHUSKIESWOOOOO pic.twitter.com/lWl76K6aeO
— Caleb Peabody (@CalebJPeabody) October 17, 2021
I’m not here to legislate this. It’s a penalty and it was wrong to not call one. It sucks that the game ended the way it did, because by all accounts, it was a great game and a great weekend series.
But there’s nothing we can do now. The NCHC will deal with it behind closed doors as it deems appropriate. I’m sure the officials are not happy they missed this, and hopefully it doesn’t happen again. But this league’s officials are still among the best in the sport, and the leadership in this league is top notch.
(Also, I hope this doesn’t happen to UMD this weekend.)
Anyway, Minnesota is good. Blake McLaughlin, Sammy Walker, Bryce Brodzinski, and Ben Meyers are all off to fine starts, and goalie Jack LaFontaine is one of the best in the country. Bob Motzko has another talented, smart, formidable team that Sandelin’s Bulldogs will have trouble with all weekend.
It’ll be interesting how different the games are when the series shifts from the big ice in Minneapolis to the NHL ice in Duluth on Saturday. The Gophers have not played on an NHL surface since the NCAA Tournament last season, but Motzko has shown himself over the years to be very good at preparing big sheet teams to move “down,” as it were. I don’t think that will change this weekend, and the Bulldogs will need to be at their level best to win the series.
And, of course, that matters. The Michigan loss won’t hurt much, because the Wolverines figure to be a top team throughout the season. Finding a way to beat Minnesota this weekend could go a long way to help with the PairWise (and the Providence win is huge for UMD, since that will be the only eastern team the Bulldogs face this season; please root for the Friars going forward, Bulldog fans).
6:30 pregames from Minneapolis Friday and what will be a sold out Amsoil Arena Saturday. Should be great fun, and I hope you join us.
