The University of Minnesota-Duluth will engage in its final two non-conference road assignments of the 2003-04 regular season Friday and Saturday (Nov. 21-22) when the Bulldogs pay a first-ever visit to Schenectady, NY, for a two-game series with Union College. Opening faceoff time is set for 6:05 p.m. (CST) both nights at Achilles Rink (1,500) on the Union College campus.

THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs are an even 5-5-1 overall and 4-2-0 in WCHA play (second place) while Union College is off to a 7-2-2 start in all games and sports a 2-1-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference mark (third place tie with Dartmouth College, Harvard University and Rensselaer).

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Here is how UMD and the Dutchmen stack up in this week’s USCHO.com and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine polls:



Team USCHO.com USA Today

UMD 15th(Tie) 15th

Union College Rec. Votes Rec. Votes

ON THE AIR: For the 44th consecutive year, all Bulldog home and away games are being carried live by KDAL-Radio (610 AM). Kerry Rodd handles the station's play-by-play duties with Rik Jordan providing color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com.

THE COACHES: Scott Sandelin (University of North Dakota, 1987) is in his fourth year at UMD where has compiled a 47-72-13 record -- including a 2-0-0 lifetime mark vs. Union College. Last winter, Sandelin's Bulldogs racked up their best overall mark (22-15-5) and WCHA finish (fifth place on a 14-10-4 record) in a decade while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any WCHA club. One year earlier, he directed the Bulldogs to a 13-24-1 record in all games-- nearly doubling the number of victories from the previous season (7-28-4) -- while going 6-19-3 in the WCHA. Sandelin officially became a member of the Bulldog staff on March 31, 2000 after six years of assistant coaching duty at North Dakota. Prior to joining the Fighting Sioux (who won two NCAA titles during his tenure), Sandelin, 39, spent the 1993-94 season as the head coach of the Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings of the Junior Elite Hockey League after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the American Hockey Association's Fargo-Moorhead Express. A native of Hibbing, MN, Sandelin capped off his four-year playing career at North Dakota in 1985-86 by being named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. An All-WCHA first team pick and an All-American second team selection, Sandelin went on to play seven years of professional hockey, which included National Hockey League stints with the Montreal Canadiens (1986-88), Philadelphia Flyers (1990-91) and Minnesota North Stars (1991-92). Sandelin, one of just two current WCHA coaches to do time in the NHL, was the second round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1982 NHL draft (40th selection overall).

Nathan Leaman (Cortland State University, 1997) was named the Dutchmen’s head coach this past July after spending the past four years as an assistant coach at ECAC-rival Harvard. He previously was employed with assistant coach at the University of Maine during its NCAA title-winning 1998-99 season.

THE SERIES: This weekend’s series will mark only the sixth and seventh meetings ever between the Bulldogs and Union College. UMD has won all five of the previous confrontations, topping the Dutchmen one year ago at the DECC (5-2 and 4-1 on Dec. 28-29), 4-2 in the opening round of the Marine Midland Bank Holiday Tournament in Troy, NY on Dec. 28, 1998, and 6-3 and 4-3 in Duluth back on Dec. 28-29, 1994.

LAST WEEKEND: UMD split a home-and-home non-conference series with Bemidji State University, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Beavers Friday in Bemidji, MN, before bouncing back to win 3-2 the next night at the DECC.

Junior center Evan Schwabe accounted for the lone UMD goal in Game 1 while sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth stopped 35 of the 37 shots the Beavers sent his way. Three different Bulldogs scored on Saturday, including senior right wing Junior Lessard, who also was credited with an assist the previous evening. Freshman Josh Johnson made 24 saves to earn the win between the UMD pipes.

Union College launched a six-game homestand by skating to a 1-1 overtime deadlock with Dartmouth College on Friday and ambushing the University of Vermont 5-1 Saturday in a pair of ECAC engagements.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Senior Beau Geisler, UMD’s top scoring defenseman from a year ago, will serve as the 2003-04 team captain while senior right wing Junior Lessard, who topped the Bulldogs in goals last winter with 21, and junior right wing Luke Stauffacher, who collected a club-leading five game-winning tallies as a sophomore, have been entrusted with alternate team captain responsibilities.

UMD THIRD IN WCHA COACHES POLL: The Bulldogs were predicted to finished tied for third place in the 33rd annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches Poll. The last time UMD was picked to place this high by the WCHA coaches was in 1992-93. The Bulldogs were also pegged for third that season and eventually went on to win the WCHA regular season title. The 2003-04 poll is as follows:

Team Points

1. Minnesota 81

2. North Dakota 73

3. UMD 58

3. Colorado College 58

5. Denver 48

6. MSU-Mankato 46

7. Wisconsin 31

8. St. Cloud State 28

9. Michigan Tech 17

10. Alaska Anchorage 10

A STACKED DECC: The 2003-04 season marks the 38th year the venerable DECC has served as the home of Bulldog hockey. UMD has rolled up a 391-300-36 record (for a .561 winning percentage) at that downtown facility, including an 11-8-3 mark one year ago -- its first winning home record in five seasons.

AVOIDING THE WHITEWASH: The Bulldogs haven’t been shut out in their last 93 outings -- their longest such streak in nearly 17 years (102 games from Dec. 28, 1984-Jan. 31, 1987). The last time UMD came up empty on the scoreboard was on March 11, 2001 (a 4-0 setback to North Dakota in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs).

DRAWING FIRST BLOOD: UMD has scored the opening goal in all but two (vs. St. Cloud State University on Nov. 7 and Boston College on Oct. 10).

ROSTER UPDATE: The 26-man UMD roster contains four seniors, 12 juniors, seven sophomores and just three freshmen. The Bulldogs lost only four players to graduation, including two individuals (center Jon Francisco and wing Drew Otten) who played in more than half of the club’s games one year ago.

GREAT GAINS: UMD experienced the greatest one-year turnaround of any WCHA club in 2002-03, accumulating 17 more points than it did the previous season. Minnesota State University-Mankato was next with a 13-point improvement.

BULLDOG BITS: Saturday’s 3-2 win over Bemidji State snapped UMD’s three-game losing streak -- its longest such skid since the end of the 2001-02 season ... Senior right wing Junior Lessard, one of only two Bulldogs to pick up at least one point in both ends of last weekend’s home-and-home series with Bemidji State (he had a goal Saturday and an assist the previous night), continues to pace the Bulldogs in scoring with nine goals and five assists. Lessard, who has already twice been named the WCHA’s Offensive Player of the Week this season (Nov. 3 and Oct. 13), is within seven points of becoming the 47th member of the UMD’s Century Club (51-42=93 in 126 lifetime games) ... UMD has scored first in all but two of its 11 engagements thus far in 2003-04 ... Freshman goaltender Josh Johnson received his first collegiate start last Saturday night and responded to that challenge by making 24 saves, 22 of which came in the final two periods of play. Johnson, the first Bulldog rookie to post a win in his inaugural start since Rob Anderson turned the trick on Nov. 13, 1999 (4-3 at St. Cloud State), has compiled a 2.06 goals against average and a .919 saves percentage in 87:15 of work in 2003-04 ... The Bulldogs are outscoring their opposition 15-6 in the opening period of play this season ... Junior center T.J. Caig, who is tied for second on the current WCHA scoring charts and is first in game-winning goals (two), has collected half of his eight league points while UMD has been on the power play. Caig the only 2003-04 Bulldog who is averaging a point a game or better for his career (14-20=34 in 34 outings) ... The Bulldogs have trailed at the second intermission on only two occasions in 2003-04 ... In two lifetime appearances against Union College, sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .927 saves percentage mark ... UMD is averaging a WCHA-leading 4.33 goals a game in league play thus far in 2003-04 .... Senior defenseman Jay Hardwick, who one of Scott Sandelin’s first recruits after Sandelin assumed the UMD head coaching reins in the spring of 2000, is expected to skate in his 100th Bulldog game Saturday night at Union College ... 22 of a possible 24 skaters who have suited up for the Bulldogs this season have tallied at least one point in 2003-04. That includes sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth who was credited with a pair of assists (a Bulldog single-game record for a netminder) in UMD’s 8-1 triumph over Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 31 ... UMD has not scored on the power play in its last four games, going 0-for-12 with the manpower advantage during that stretch ... Junior left wing Tyler Brosz returned to the Bulldog lineup Saturday after sitting out the previous night while battling the flu and was credited with two assists ...The 2003-04 Bulldogs are carrying their fewest number of freshmen (three) since they joined the NCAA I ranks in 1961-62 ... Junior center Evan Schwabe, one of seven Bulldogs to see ice time in all 11 games to date, has racked up three goals and six assists for nine points in 2003-04. That’s only one point less than he managed all of last year (in 39 contests) ...All but three of the Bulldogs’ 20 losses during the past two seasons have been by two or fewer goals ... Senior defenseman Beau Geisler is expected to skate in his 80th consecutive game Friday night in Schenectady ... The Bulldogs have managed to win just two of their last 17 games (2-7-8) which have required overtime. Both of the victories during that stretch have come at the expense of the University of Minnesota (5-4 on Feb. 22, 2003 at the DECC and 4-3 on Oct. 24, 2003 in Minneapolis, MN) ... Senior left wing Jesse Unklesbay, the oldest member of the 2003-04 Bulldogs, will turn 25 next Monday.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will return to WCHA play on Nov. 28-29 by hosting Minnesota State University-Mankato. The Mavericks were the only team to sweep UMD one year ago.

THE SCOTT SANDELIN SHOW: The Scott Sandelin Show airs every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. throughout the 2003-04 season on KDAL-Radio (610 AM). Long-time Bulldog play-by-play announcer Kerry Rodd hosts the one-hour program.