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THIRD-PERIOD RALLY EARNS WISCONSIN A 2-2 TIE WITH NO. 14 UMD

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Tony Cameranesi celebrates his first-period goal Saturday night against Wisconsin

There are ties that feel like wins, and there are ties that feel like losses. The latter was definitely the case for the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night.

Despite playing solid hockey all over the rink for the first 40 minutes, the Bulldogs surrendered a pair of third-period markers to the University of Wisconsin and were forced to settle for a 2-2 tie before 6,302 at AMSOIL Arena.

It marked just the fifth time since the beginning of last season that UMD failed to secure a victory when carrying a lead into the final frame (16-1-4 during that stretch), and it was the first time since a series on Nov. 14-15, 2008 that the Bulldogs didn’t earn at least two points in a weekend set against the Badgers.

“It was a great 40-minute effort,” senior Mike Seidel said. “In the third I thought we played a little hesitant. Even when you’re up two goals, you still have to keep playing the way that got you to where you were.”

The display put on by UMD in the opening two periods was one that it would like to duplicate.

Tony Cameranesi started the scoring with a rebound goal at the 18-minute mark of the opening period, and then senior Keegan Flaherty converted on a two-on-one to give the Bulldogs a two-goal cushion entering the third.

At that point, not only had UMD worked its way to a 2-0 lead, but it also had outshot Wisconsin 26-10. But that’s when the Bulldogs went into a shell.

UW capitalized on a pair of bounces that didn’t go UMD’s way, as forwards Mark Zengerle and Michael Mersch found the back of the net in the final period of regulation to knot it. Neither team was able to pop home the game-winner in the 5-minute overtime session.

“It all comes down to hard work, and it’s up to us to make those bounces fortunate for us,” Seidel said. “You got to be able to bounce back. Overall I thought it was a pretty solid game for us. Obviously we got a point and it wasn’t the two we wanted, but a point is a point.”

Rookie goalie Matt McNeely got the start in goal for the second night in a row, and, although he yielded a pair of goals, he made some superb stops in a 19-save effort.

Seidel, Andy Welinski, and Derik Johnson each had single assists for UMD, which will have a weekend off before returning to Western Collegiate Hockey Association action on Nov. 10 and 11 in Omaha.

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