UMD Men Skate Past Denver

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

DULUTH, Minn. — Noah Cates ripped a one-timer with an extra skater on the ice for the No. 7-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team late in the third period as the Bulldogs skated to a 3-3 tie with No. 1 Denver to start their National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) season at AMSOIL Arena on Friday night.

The Pioneers’ Brett Stapley scored in the first round of the sudden-victory shootout while Magnus Chrona stifled Jackson Cates on the other end to earn an extra conference point. Noah Cates’ third period goal came with just 0:31.2 remaining in the third allowing the Bulldogs to force overtime. The two teams skated a scoreless 3-on-3 overtime period as well prior to the shootout.

After no. 7 UMD (3-3-1, 0-0-1-0 NCHC) could not take advantage of an early power play opportunity following a scary hit along the boards by the Pioneers’ Jaako Heikkinen, no. 1 Denver (8-0-1, 0-0-1-1 NCHC) would strike first off the stick of Liam Finlay at 3:58 of the first, assisted by Tyson McLellan. The two teams continued to show their fiery sides early with a Pioneer player checked over the boards and into the Bulldog bench. Denver took advantage of a turnover at center ice moments later when Brett Edwards flipped home a rebound on an odd-man rush. Tyler Ward and Stapley tallied the assists as the Pioneers made it 2-0 at 11:45 of the first.

UMD had an answer moments later when Cole Koepke rocketed his first of the year from just inside the left face-off circle at 14:22 to put the Bulldogs on the board and trim the lead by one. Kobe Roth and Matt Anderson added assists on the play. While Denver held the early lead on the scoreboard, each team had nine shots in the first.

Finlay and Denver added to the lead late in the second period, with the senior scoring his second of the gamet at 15:34 of the frame. Hank Crone added an assist as the Pioneers took a 3-1 advantage to the locker room after two. Despite that, the two teams remained tied at 22 shots each early in the third.

UMD continued to hang around late in the third before finally making good on a power play chance when Roth scored his second of the season at 11:35.  Scott Perunovich and Nick Swaney each added a helper as the team pulled within one. The Bulldogs would pull goaltender Hunter Shepard for an extra skater with 1:10 remaining in the period before Cates tied the game up late.

The University of Minnesota Duluth closed out their opening National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season series with a convincing 5-2 triumph over the University of Denver Saturday evening at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn.

After a penalty-filled first eight minutes, Sophomore forward Jackson Cates picked up a loose puck in front of the net and beat Denver goaltender Magnus Chrona on the power play for his fourth goal of the 2019 campaign. Cates’ 12th career goal was set up by a rebound from junior forward Nick Swaney’s attempt on goal and would give the seventh-ranked Bulldogs (4-3-1 overall; 1-0-1 NCHC) their first lead of the weekend. The top-ranked Pioneers (8-1-1 overall; 0-1-1 NCHC) wouldn’t take long respond. With 4:41 remaining in the first period, Brett Stapley batted in a deflected puck in front of the Bulldog net to knot the game back up at one. Stapley’s equalizer would be reviewed but was still ruled a good goal. The Pioneers outshot the Bulldogs 21-10, 12-9 shots on goal respectively, in the opening frame with senior goaltender Hunter Shepard racking up 11 saves.

Two-and-a-half minutes into the second period, Jaakko Heikkinen would turn the Bulldogs over deep in their own zone and a few seconds later cash in on a rebound to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead. Five minutes later, junior forward Koby Bender beat Chrona with a wrister from the right circle to tie the game back up at two. Bender’s second goal of the season was assisted by freshman forward Quinn Olson and came off of a 2-on-1 break. The Bulldogs would turn the tables back on the Pioneers when freshman forward Luke Loheit maneuvered right-to-left around Chrona for a backhand finish. Loheit’s first collegiate and go-ahead goal was assisted by Bender and would put the Bulldogs up 3-2 with 8:35 remaining in the second period.

The Bulldogs would lock down defensively in the third period. Shepard closed out the game with eight more saves to shut out the Pioneers in the final frame. UMD would send the Pioneers home with two more goals late in the period. The first came with three-and-a-half minutes to go when sophomore forward Noah Cates snuck the puck under Chrona’s legs to give the Bulldogs a two-goal cushion. Less than a minute later, sophomore forward Cole Koepke converted from the blue line on a Pioneer empty net to extend the Bulldog advantage to 5-2.

Notables:
UMD and Denver would combine for a total of 27-penalty minutes in the first period with the Bulldogs claiming 21 of the minutes … The Bulldogs controlled the faceoff circle Saturday, winning 37 faceoffs compared to Denver’s total of 25 … junior forward Justin Richard’s was responsible for 17 of those faceoff wins while J. Cates chipped in another 14 … En route to his 58th career win, which is two shy of a program record of 60 wins, Shepard picked up 29 total saves (.935 save percentage) in Saturday’s victory.