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BULLDOGS BLAST MAVERICKS 6-0 IN FINAL WCHA SERIES EVER

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Bulldogs give a stick salute following Saturday's 6-0 victory over Nebraska-Omaha

Credit: Dave Harwig

Talk about going out with a bang.

The University of Minnesota Duluth put an exclamation point on its 48th, and final, season of Western Collegiate Hockey Assocation play by throttling the University of Nebraska-Omaha 6-0 Saturday night at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth.

The Bulldogs equalled a school record by scoring five times on the power play and goaltender Aaron Crandall stopped all 32 Maverick shots in the victory, their most lopsided since a 6-0 blanking of the University of Alaska-Anchorage. UMD tallied two times in each of the three periods, getting a pair of goals from right winger Joe Basaraba, and one each from defenseman Andy Welinski, left winger Austin Farley, center Cal Decowski  and left winger Mike Seidel, one of seven Bulldog seniors who made their final collegiate home appearance.

UMD, which closed out the regular season unbeaten in six of its last seven games (4-1-2), improved to 14-17-2 overall and finished 10-13-5 the WCHA.

"I thought our guys played smart and with a lot of passion tonight," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, whose club rallied for a 5-4 win Friday. "It was also great to see Aaron get the shut out."

The Bulldogs went 5-for-8 on the power play and cashed in on seven of their 12 man advantage opportunities over the weekend. Over the past six games, they have connected at an eye-popping 43.7 percent (14-of-32). UMD got points from 10 different players, including center Caleb Herbert (three assists), defenseman Chris Casto (two assists), center Tony Cameranesi (two assists) and right winger Justin Crandall (two assists). Farley also helped set up one goal to complete a six-point weekend while Seidel racked up three goals (giving him a team-high 17 on the year) and two assists in the sweep.

The shutout for Crandall, a fourth-year junior, was his second in as many starts. Ryan Massa and John Faulkner combined to make 21 saves for the Mavericks (18-16-2 overall; 14-12-2 WCHA).

The Bulldogs will be at either the University of Wisconsin for next weekend's WCHA playoffs.

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