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News
News
OLEKSUK'S LATE OT GOAL PROPELS NO. 20 UMD PAST MINNESOTA
Friday, November 20, 2009
During its historic postseason run a year ago, the University of Minnesota Duluth found some magic in key moments at Mariucci Arena, the site of the 2009 NCAA Tournament's West Regional and home of the Bulldogs' rivals form the University of Minnesota. UMD came up with more good fortune in a big spot Friday night when sophomore center Travis Oleksuk buried the game-winning 4:48 into overtime to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 victory over the host Gophers.
The game appeared to be headed for a draw when UMD mounted a late forecheck in the Minnesota end. Junior winger Justin Fontaine worked the puck out front to Oleksuk, who released a quick shot that slipped past Minnesota goaltender Alex Kangas.
"The puck trickled out to me and I just tried to get rid of it as quick as I could," Oleksuk said of his second goal of the season. "[Beating Minnesota] is big. They're a big rival for us and any time we can come out of this building with two points it's huge."
No. 20 UMD fell behind 2-0 before scoring three straight goals to pull ahead 3-2 in the third period. A power play goal by Minnesota with time winding down tied the game at 3-3 and forced the extra session.
Sophomore center Jack Connolly scored two goals, including one power play tally, for his first career points against Minnesota. The Gophers were the only WCHA squad able to keep Conolly off the scoresheet during his rookie season.
"[scoring against Minnesota] is awesome. It's a huge confidence booster and they're really the one team I wanted to score against," Connolly said.
Connolly's pair of goals runs his season total to 20 points (9 goals and 11 assists), which puts him at the top of the NCAA scoring race, one point ahead of Fontaine. Fontaine, who was credited with the primary assist on Oleksuk's game-winner, has 11 goals and eight assists this year.
The Bulldogs finished the night 1-for-6 on the power play. UMD has now tucked away 23 goals with the man advantage, more than any other squad in the country. The Gophers cashed in on one of their three power play opportunities.
Sophomore Kenny Reiter made 26 saves for UMD as he earned his third win of the season. Alex Kangas turned aside 28 shots for Minnesota.
UMD improves to 8-4-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the WCHA with the win. The loss knocks the Gophers to 4-6-1 overall and 3-5-1 against conference competition.
The two teams will meet again Saturday night at Mariucci Arena with the opening faceoff scheduled for 7:07 p.m.
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