Kobe Roth, a UMD freshman from Warroad, fired a shot at Alberta goaltender Zach Sawchenko in Saturday’s 4-3 Bulldog loss. Photo credit: John Gilbert

   It’s way too early, but we have no choice. Right here, in the middle of football season, we will be transformed into what should be the pinnacle of the college hockey season - otherwise known as UMD against Minnesota.
The game will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at AMSOIL Arena, and it will be the official season-opener for both teams. A nonconference match that has all sorts of intriguing overtones for national ratings, to say nothing of state bragging rights.
Fifty-some years ago, when the Duluth Arena first opened, UMD faced Minnesota for its first WCHA game in the new facility. The late Glen Sonmor had just taken over the Gopher program from John Mariucci, and, as usual, the Gophers were favored. But Keith (Huffer) Christiansen, whose No. 9 UMD jersey hangs from the rafters of the new AMSOIL Arena, played Pied Piper that night, leading the frustrated Gophers all over the ice rink, and then passing to the goal-mouth for a waiting teammate.

Nobody remembers who scored the goals, but we can never forget that Huffer had six assists that night, and the Bulldogs embarrassed the Gophers 8-1.
 There also was no need to tell the people the importance of the little college on the hill taking on its mammoth parent from the Twin Cities, but the rivalry has remained steadfast forevermore, and always will.
But times change, and the fantastic WCHA was shattered when first, Minnesota and Wisconsin left the best league in college hockey to help form the Big Ten hockey conference. Shortly after that, North Dakota and Denver moved to start another new conference -  the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, and UMD, St. Cloud State, and the rest jumped at the chance to join what appeared to be an elite league.

Ben Patt, a freshman goaltending candidate for UMD, kept the puck wide of the post in his share of Saturday’s game. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Freshman Mallorie Iozzo (6) from Hibbing made it 2-0 Saturday against Penn State in the UMD women’s sweep. Photo credit: John Gilbert

UMD captain Sydney Brodt (14) fired a deflected pass into the Penn State net for a 3-0 victory Saturday. Photo credit: John Gilbert

What remained has kept the WCHA going, and while given little credit, such WCHA members as Bemidji State, Minnesota State-Mankato and Michigan Tech have remained national contenders. The NCHC has, indeed, proven to be elite, with Denver beating UMD in the NCAA final last April, for the most recent evidence. 

The Big Ten has struggled, with Minnesota hanging in there, but elite programs like Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin have faded fron elite status. Penn State and Ohio State have improved, and now the Big Ten has installed Notre Dame as its newest member. Cynics figure Notre Dame might win the Big Ten this season.

Without conference rivalries underpinning them, the old rivalries with Minnesota against UMD, or North Dakota, or St. Cloud State, or Mankato or Bemidji, have diminished greatly. Still, there is something special about the Gophers and UMD facing off, and we’ll learn a lot about both teams Friday night.

It will, however, be in the Ice Breaker Tournament, a preseason opening doublehaader that also pits Union against Michigan Tech, with the winners and losers colliding Saturday. After that, the Bulldogs and Gophers go their separate ways, not scheduled to meet again in the regular season, and only the possibility of post-season NCAA playoffs left.

So we will watch with great interest to see if the youthful rebuilding Bulldogs are ready to tackle the powerful, No. 3 ranked Gophers. We did get a sneak preview last weekend.
Friday night, UMD had an exhibition game against Alberta, and the Bulldogs looked impressive through two periods. A question of how the Bulldogs could replace five seniors and talented sophomore Neal Pionk who departed after last season was answered to some extent. Dylan Samberg from Hermantown scored at 0:52 on a lucky bounce off the end boards -- the first UMD goal on his first college shift nonetheless. Sophomore Riley Tufte knocked in a rebound, and Scott Perunovich from Hibbing, another freshman, scored on a 2-man power play for a 3-1 lead after two periods.

But Alberta turned the game into its own rink-rat game in the third period, outshooting UMD 15-5 and getting three unanswered goals to win 4-3. Luke Philp wound up with a hat trick. Right after the game, Alberta climbed on a bus and headed for Minneapolis.
Facing the Gophers on Saturday, the Golden Bears and the Gopher fans got their first look at Minnesota’s prize freshman, Casey Mittlestadt. He scored Minnesota’s first goal, and when it was still tight in the third period, he racked up three assists in a 4-goal session and Minnesota won 6-2.
Maybe it will come down to the Gophers young guys against the Bulldogs young guys, maybe it will be a strategy duel between Minnesota’s Don Lucia (Grand Rapids) and UMD’s coach Scott Sandelin (Hibbing), but whatever, you can tell the fans that the game doesn’t count for anything, but we know that the intensity will be at overflow level in AMSOIL Arena at 7:30 p.m. Friday. 

UMD WINS TOUGH 
‘EASY’ ONES

Penn State’s women’s hockey team is still in the team-building mode, and the Nittany Lions are doing it with nine players from Minnesota. Still, they didn’t seem to stand much chance against the No. 6 ranked UMD Bulldogs last weekend in their nonconference series at AMSOIL.
First game, Jessica Convery, who transfered from Mercyhurst for her senior season, blanked Penn State and defenseman Jalyn Elmes scored from the point for a tight 1-0 UMD victory.
On Saturday, the rematch also was interesting, as the teams battled 0-0 through two periods, despite a 31-5 edge in shots for UMD. In fact, not much happened on the ice until Penn State got the first penalty of the game in the third period. Then Elmes scored from the point on the power play and it looked like UMD might duplicate their first-game finish.

But Sydney Brodt flipped a neat behind-the-back pass out front and Mallorie Iozzo, a freshman frsom Hibbing, put it past goalie Hannah Ehresmann from the right post at 13:10 for a 2-0 margin. Brodt scored herself by playing a deflected pass and scoring from the left slot at 17:21, and Convery had her second shutout of the weekend. UMD outshot Penn State 41-12.

 “I’m psyched because we generated some offense, and I kept saying it was just a matter of time,” said coach Maura Crowell.
Remarkably, UMD moved up from fifth to fourth in the national rankings, slim as their victory margins were. They hit the road this weekend for Boston College, then play at Ohio State before returning to AMSOIL on October 20-21 for a pair of 3:30 p.m. games - against Minnesota.