Hopes always run high, at the start of a hockey season, but when the University of Minnesota-Duluth rallied from a 3-2 first-game loss against Notre Dame last weekend to whip the Fighting Irish 4-1 in the rematch, it served notice that any and all optimism for the Bulldogs this season might be well-placed.

In the first game, the teams engaged in a penalty-killing duel through a scoreless first period, then Jeff Costello of Notre Dame and Cal Decowski of UMD exchanged goals, before Notre Dame jumped ahead 3-1 on Mario Lucia’s power-play goal and a tally by Peter Schneider before the second period ended.

Early in the third period, an odd play evolved when there was a scramble at the Notre Dame goal. Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays grabbed UMD co-captain Adam Krause and wrenched his helmet off by the facemask. That is worth a major penalty and a game misconduct, so Summerhays was summarily dispatched to the dressing room. Another Irish penalty left the visitors two men short and with a freshman goaltender, Chad Katumar, who had never faced a shot.

The first shot he saw was from Andy Welinski, and it whistled past him to cut UMD’s deficit to 3-2. He stopped five more shots, though, and Notre Dame held on to take the 3-2 victory out of AMSOIL Arena.
“Our goalie had neaver played a game in college hockey,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “I was thinking about playing him at some time this weekend, but putting him in when we’re down 5-on-3 wasn’t what I was thinking about.”
UMD coach Scott Sandelin said he liked the first and third periods, but not the second, although that gave his team a test. “It was a good measuring stick for us,” Sandelin said.

UMD had three seniors in the lineup, including goaltender Aaron Crandall, while Notre Dame had nine seniors -- most of whom played when UMD rallied from a couple of early deficits to beat Notre Dame 4-3 in the NCAA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul as the Bulldogs went on to win their first NCAA title the next night against Michigan. Conversely, UMD deployed six freshmen, while Notre Dame started only two skaters, and then Katumar as its only freshmen.

But facing the No. 2 ranked team in the country, the Bulldogs did well by outshooting the Irish 8-5 in that third period and making a run at winning the first game. It all made Game 2 an even better test for UMD, and the Bulldogs did a lot more than merely continue on from that strong third period.

UMD dominated the first period of the second game, but it was scoreless until 14:24, when Joe Basaraba, one of those rare UMD seniors, carried in on the right, cut across the slot and scored with a backhander. The crowd was still cheering when Caleb Herbert scored, nine seconds later, and it was 2-0. A minute later, another Notre Dame penalty led to a strong rush with Alex Iafallo and Austyn Young taking the puck to the net, and freshman Dom Toninato smacking it in for his first collegiate goal at 17:49, just after the power play expired.
The 3-0 lead was impressive, but a 14-3 edge in shots was equally as impressive. In the second period, Herbert made the play of the game, carrying up the right side and cutting to the net as if to shoot. “I was definitely trying to sell the shot,” said Herbert, who instead passed across to the left edge, where freshman Kyle Osterberg scored.

The 4-0 cushion was reinforced by Crandall in the nets, as Notre Dame tried to fashion a rally with a 13-7 shooting edge in the middle period. The crowning touch on the victory came when UMD took command again in the third period for a 9-4 edge in shots, although a power-play goal by Austin Wuthrich spoiled the shutout bid.
“It was nice to get back-to-back starts,” said Crandall. “It really gives you confidence you can build on. We answered our coach and came out hard.”

Sandelin said, “I didn’t like some of the penalties in the third period, and giving up the shutout, because I thought Crannie played well enough to deserve it. We’re making progress. We all want to win. This group listens. Sometimes you don’t take big leaps, just small steps.
“But it’s there. W’ve just got to make sure it’s there all the time.”

Big Football Games

There were a couple of big football games down in the Twin Cities last weekend. The second one was on national television Sunday night, when the Minnesota Vikings were pretty thoroughly embarrassed in a 44-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Packers scored on eight consecutive possessions at one point, and never punted in the entire game.
Also, Aaron Rodgers could point to a day when he hit 10 of 10 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns -- on third-down plays alone. He also ran three times for 29 yards and for first downs on other third-down plays. The Packers ace gave a tutorial on how to play quarterback all day long.

However, despite taking all sorts of flak, Christian Ponder showed some signs of hope for the Vikings. At least he may have bought himself another chance. After all, while the Vikings opened with a 109-yard kickoff return touchdown, they also put up 31 points against the sizzling Packers, which are more than enough points to win against anybody, had there been even a hint of defense. And Ponder deserves credit for helping put up those 31 points.
The other big game came when the University of Minnesota stunned Nebraska in a fantastic upset. Once again, it wasn’t just the victory but how the Gophers did it. They ran all sorts of surprise formation shifts, and neat plays that have not been seen by this or any Gopher team in recent years. The result was a 34-23 thumping that could be the springboard to an actual successful Big Ten season if the Gophers can build on it this weekend at Indiana.

Speaking of big games, the UMD football team narrowly escaped at Bemidji State with a 31-21 victory, and this Saturday, when they play Minnesota-Crookston at 1 p.m. at Malosky Stadium, it will be the Bulldogs final home game of the regular season. There can be no slip-ups for the Bulldogs in this or the following two road games, if the team is going to take its assigned place in the Division II playoffs.