Colorado tops UMD

NSO NEWS RELEASE

Colorado College was the last holdout, but Saturday night the Tiger finally got that first victory in their 10th lifetime appearance at the downtown Duluth facility by holding off the University of Minnesota Duluth 2-1. The National Collegiate Hockey Conference triumph also snapped the Tigers’ 11-game winless skid (0-9-2) against the Bulldogs.

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, who skated to a 2-2 overtime tie with their long-time rivals on Friday, got their lone goal of the night 4:45 into the second period when sophomore center Adam Johnson took a cross ice pass from freshman Joey Anderson and buried a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot. The 5-on-3 power play goal was Johnson’s career-high eighth of the year and extended his scoring streak to eight games. It also drew UMD even at 1-1, but four minutes later, the Tigers struck while two men up with Teemu Kivihalme doing the honors.

“It’s disappointing, but give Colorado College credit,” said Bulldog head coach Scott Sandelin. “They came in here and battled hard two nights in a row. Tonight, we just weren’t able to get anything going. We had to claw and scratch for everything. They clogged up the zone and defended well.”

UMD (12-4-4 overall and 8-3-1-1 NCHC) held a slight 27-25 shot edge over the Tigers (6-12-2;  2-6-2-0) while both clubs went 1-for-5 on the power play.

The Bulldogs will remain at AMSOIL Arena next Friday and Saturday night to host St. Cloud State University. UMD swept the Huskies earlier this year (Nov. 4-5) in St. Cloud, Minn.

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