UMD wins fourth straight to topple top-ranked Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS – The two had met 224 times previously. Minnesota strongly held the edge with a 134-73-17 all time record before Friday night. But when it came time for the puck to drop on the 225th meeting between No. 1 Minnesota and No. 13 Minnesota-Duluth, it was all Bulldogs as they captured a 3-0 victory.

UMD set the tone early, using its first power play of the night to take a 1-0 lead. It was all they really needed. At the 2:07 mark of the first, with the game still in its infancy, UMD forward Austin Farley tapped home a loose puck in the crease off an Andy Welinski point shot that Gophers’ goaltender Adam Wilcox couldn’t fully reel in.

The goal set the tone for the rest of the period and game. UMD limited Minnesota’s chances and maintained possession in their offensive zone. The effort brought an abrupt end to the Gophers 17-game unbeaten streak on home ice.

Encapsulating the meaning of tonight, as the clock wound down to zero, Farley skated up to freshman netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo and gave him a giant hug, as the rest of the Bulldogs skated in to celebrate. Kaskisuo made 17 saves en route his first career shutout.

“We got a good lead and made it pay off,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “That’s what you need against this team. You can’t let your guard down and I thought our guys did a good job the whole night for the 60 minute game that we needed to play.”

Sandelin did admit his surprise at how the night started — mainly because of how strongly the Gophers normally start. He did add that getting a fast start was something he focused on all week.

Gophers coach Don Lucia wasn’t certain what led to the Gophers slow start, but he noted the early penalty that directly led to Farley’s goal caused things to “go downhill” in the opening ten minutes. As a result the frustration was palpable on Minnesota’s bench, leading to some undisciplined and embarrassing penalties, according to Lucia.

“We couldn’t get anything going all night long. … It wasn’t our night tonight,” Lucia said. “They played very well and deserved to win.”

On the other side of the puck, the Bulldogs used those undisciplined penalties to their advantage, netting two power play goals on the night. While Farley’s counted as the first, forward Dominc Toninato picked up the second man advantage goal, banging home a Farley feed backdoor for the resulting 3-0 score.

Meanwhile, UMD gave up only one power play, which Sandelin credited to moving their feet.

The Bulldogs second goal of the night came off a snipe from defenseman Dan Molenaar, who sent it top shelf through Wilcox. The goal was the first of the sophomore’s career, and it was extra special coming at Mariucci for the Eden Prairie native.

“I’ve played quite a few games here over the years,” Molenaar said. “Now that I actually get to score my first college goal here, it was pretty sweet. I had a lot of family and friends up there. It’s awesome.”

The series shifts to Duluth for Saturday night’s 7 p.m. rematch at Amsoil Arena.

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Featured Image:
Dominic Toninato battles it out with CC’s Jeff Collette in UMD’s 5-1 win on Oct. 19, 2013 in Colorado Springs. (Photo: Casey Gibson)

Family season tickets got Dom Toninato and Adam Krause into the DECC for most Minnesota-Duluth hockey games when they were kids growing up in the Duluth area.

“Growing up, I don’t think I ever missed a UMD game my whole life if I could help it,” said Krause, who grew up in Hermantown. “The only games I missed were when I had my own hockey games.”

Tonitato and Krause are grown up but haven’t missed a Bulldogs game yet this season, now suiting up for the hometown team.

“We had season tickets when I was a kid and we never really missed a game unless we were on the road for hockey,” Toninato said. “UMD was at the top of the list. I couldn’t leave home because it’s a great place to play and I liked going to the rink to watch UMD play.”

Krause, a right winger, is the captain and scored two goals to help UMD beat North Dakota, 6-3, Saturday on the road and salvage the series split.

Krause is used to playing the grinder role but Saturday, he was able to showcase his shooting accuracy. He scored on a one-timer from the slot trailing on an odd-man rush in the first period. In the third period, he was open in the slot and ripped another one-timer into the net.

“Tonight was the first time since I’ve played here that I was on a first scoring line,” Krause said. “I’ve been a grinder but Coach (Scott Sandelin) gave me an opportunity and I was able to capitalize. Hopefully I can stay on that line.”

The win improved the Bulldogs to 5-4-1 overall and 2-2-0-0 in the NCHC after two consecutive losses.

“We have to just keep working and the effort has to be consistent,” said Toninato, a center who entered Saturday’s game with a four-game point streak.

“We have to get that fire going on Fridays and keep it rolling into Saturday night.”

Toninato has two goals and three assists in 10 games and is one of three former players from Duluth East. Forward Max Tardy and defenseman Andy Welinski also played for the Greyhounds.

Defenseman Tim Smith grew up across the harbor in Superior, Wis.

“If we have top (high school) players in our area, we want to get them in our program,” UMD coach Sandelin said. “It’s really important to get kids like that, especially if they fit in your program and these kids have so far.”

Sandelin lost defenseman and Duluth East graduate Derek Forbort in a recruiting battle to UND.

The Bulldogs have two more recruits coming in via the local pipeline – Hermantown’s Neal Pionk and Karson Kuhlman, a forward from Cloquet who left high school hockey after his sophomore season to play for Dubuque of the USHL.

“It was my dream to grow up and play for the UMD Bulldogs,” Krause said. “When I was a kid, those guys were the best hockey players in the world to me.”

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