It wasn't until just over two minutes remained in regulation before the University of Minnesota Duluth put its first shot of the third period on net.
But the Bulldogs made it count.
Adam Krause took a feed from
Alex Iafallo and swatted in a backhand with 2:11 left in lift No. 7 UMD to a 2-1 victory over the University of Minnesota in the third place game of the North Star College Cup. The victory ended the Bulldogs' winless drought at four games (0-3-1) and gave them their third win in four games with their long-time intrastate rivals this season.
UMD (14-9-1 overall) took its first lead of the afternoon -- and in the last four games (a stretch of 245:39) at 14:04 of the third when Krause jammed at loose puck which snuck under the left leg pad of Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox. It kept that 1-0 lead for 26:27 until No. 17 Minnesota (11-9-2) struck on the power play 31 seconds into the third period. Minnesota outshot the Bulldogs 11-2 in the third period, but were unable to get anything more past
Matt McNeely, who finished with 31 saves while making his first start since Oct. 17. The junior goaltender is now 2-1-1 lifetime versus Minnesota with a 2.20 goals against average and a .933 saves percentage.
Iafallo and team scoring leader
Dominic Toninato picked up assists on both of Krause's goals.
"I was impressed with the whole team tonight," said head coach
Scott Sandelin. "Sometimes you go through struggles where you have keep things simple. We were able to work harder tonight and overall did some things better. Our top (line) players were our best players and we got good shifts from our fourth line as well. It was a good team win."
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"I thought we played solid for the first 40 minutes and we knew that the Gophers were going to make a push. They're a quick-strike team and they can gain momentum in a hurry. Near the end, we weathered the storm and got the saves from Matt that we needed."
The Bulldogs will resume National Collegiate Hockey Conference activity next weekend with a two-game series at the University of Denver.
Note: UMD was outshot (32-26) for the only the fourth time in 24 games this fall ... the multiple-goal night was the second of Krause's collegiate career ... The Bulldogs went scoreless on their lone power play opportunity Friday while Minnesota was 1-for-3. The Bulldogs have collected only four goals in its last 12 games (going 4-for-49 over the time) ... Krause, Iaffalo, Toninatio and defenseman
Derik Johnson and
Andy Welinski all were a +2 ... Krause led the Bulldog in shots with four.
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