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MINNESOTA STRIKES TWICE LATE IN THIRD PERIOD TO CLIP BULLDOGS

Friday, February 22, 2013

Austin Farley backhands in one of his two goals in Friday's 5-3 setback to Minnesota

Credit: Jordan Doffing

Third periods haven’t been kind to the University of Minnesota Duluth over the past two months, and that unfortunate trend continued on Friday night in Minneapolis.

After exploding for a three-goal second period to skate into the third knotted at threes, the Bulldogs were unable to maintain their momentum and eventually succumbed to the University of Minnesota 5-3 before a sellout crowd of 10,078 at Mariucci Arena. The loss puts UMD’s current winless streak at eight games (0-7-1), its longest since the 2005-06 season. The Bulldogs have been outscored 15-1 in third periods during that skid, too, a statistic they’d rather not know about. Friday night was the same story, as Minnesota killed any spark the Bulldogs (10-17-4 overall and 8-13-4 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association) had created through 40 minutes and outshot UMD 16-4 and outscored the Bulldogs 2-0 on its way to the win.

“I think we competed and played really hard, and we thought we played well for 60 minutes,” said freshman left winger Austin Farley. “We definitely battled, we put in the effort and we just want to stick together and keep believing.”

Farley scored twice – his third two-goal effort as a Bulldog – and Justin Crandall had the other scorel to put the Bulldogs in a positive position after two periods, where UMD played easily its best 40 minutes of offensive hockey to date.

“I like the way we played, I thought we played pretty well,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “We’re not satisfied with that -- being close. I thought we [got to the net] and had a few chances. We just need to keep getting there and putting them in.”

The Bulldogs generated a steady attack low in the Minnesota end, registered shot after shot from good scoring areas and plowed their way to the blue paint to get in the face of Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox.The pressure resulted in several power plays and costly turnovers by Minnesota, and the Bulldogs took advantage. The power play went two-for-four and knocked a pair off the pipes early in the second period, while great plays by junior right winger Joe Basaraba and rookie center Tony Cameranesi led directly to UMD goals.

After Minnesota’s Nate Condon scored in the first period and Erik Haula knocked home a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0 midway through the second, the Bulldogs got to work.

Basaraba created a turnover behind the Minnesota net when he shouldered Seth Helgeson to the wall just 40 seconds after Haula’s goal. The puck trickled to rookie center Cal Decowski, who made a play to the net before Crandall swooped in a knocked it home. Then five minutes later, Cameranesi picked Budish’s pocket, leading to Farley’s first goal and a 2-all tie. Farley struck again before the second intermission, giving the Bulldogs their first three-goal period since a 7-4 win at Michigan Tech Univerisity on Nov. 30.

Kyle Rau scored the game-winner at 13:25 to put Minnesota on top for good and Haula added an empty-netter with six seconds remaining.

Even with the loss, the Bulldogs know that they can build off the plays made in the first two periods, and, if they can find consistency for 60 minutes, build towards the ever-closing playoffs.

“You got to keep fighting, and I liked our fight tonight,” said Sandelin, whose Bulldogs held the nation's top power play club scoreless on all five of their opportunities with the man advantage.  “Over the course of the last two or three games, I haven’t seen that in a while. If we keep doing the right things and keep competing like we did tonight, sooner or later we’re going to get rewarded for it.”

UMD and Minnesota conclude the weekend series and their longstanding intrastateivalry on Saturday night.

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