UMD Winners in OT

NSO – NEWS RELEASE’

Colorado College rookie head coach Mike Haviland will have to wait at least one more day to secure his first National Collegiate Hockey Conference victory.

Haviland and the Tigers were denied that opportunity Friday night when University of Minnesota Duluth sophomore left winger Kyle Osterberg backhanded in a rebound for a 3-2 come-from-behind victory before an AMSOIL Arena crowd of 6,328.  The Bulldogs, who scored three unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0 early in the second period, improved to 10-5-0 overall and 6-3-0-0 in the NCHC while Colorado College is now 3-9-0 in all games and winless in league play (0-6-0-0).

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on Sam Rothstein’s redirect from in close on the power play and tacked on an even-strength goal from Hunter Fejes 2:57 into the second period. Junior center Tony Cameranesi cut the deficit in half at 7:11 of the second by taking a pass from rookie right winger Karson Kuhlman on the doorstep and firing the puck into an empty net. With 2:53 to go in regulation, sophomore left winger Alex Iafallo followed up a shot from sophomore center Dominic Toninato for his third goal of the year to force overtime. In the extra session, Osterberg’s goal came off back-to-back shots from senior right winger Justin Crandall and junior center Cal Decowski.

UMD, which was held scoreless on the power play (0-for-4) for the third straight game, outshot the Tigers 33-23, including 5-2 in the extra session. Goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo, the reigning Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Rookie of the Month, finished with 21 saves while hiking his 2014-15 record to 9-4-0.

The two clubs, which both were coming off bye weeks, will meet again Saturday night in Duluth.

“We started getting better and better throughout the game,” said Osterberg. “By the end, we were playing like we did before the break.”

Notes: With an assist on UMD’s first goal, Karson Kuhlman hiked his scoring streak to five games (the top active run among Bulldogs) … UMD is 6-1-0 this season when Cal Decowski has marked in the points column … The Bulldogs are 4-3-0 at home this season — that’s just one victory shy of their entire home victory total from a year ago … Tonight marked the second time in the last three games UMD rallied to win after trailing at the second intermission (it defeated the University of Nebraska-Omaha 3-2 on Nov. 21 … The Bulldogs have won seven of its last eight outings.