It might have been just an exhibition game victory, but it was just what the University of Minnesota Duluth needed.

Junior center Dominic Toninato scored the third of his three goals 2:18 into overtime to cap off the Bulldogs' 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the U.S. National Under-18 Team Saturday night at AMSOIL Arena. UMD, which had been idle since being shut out twice at home by the University of North Dakota on Dec. 11-12, spotted the Under-18s a 3-0 lead before striking three times in the third period and then sealing the deal with Toninato's power play score in the extra session.

Toninato got the No. 19 Bulldogs on the board 18 seconds into the third period and scored again four minutes later while UMD had the man advantage. Sophomore left winger Blake Young tied the game at the 10:13 mark by one-timing junior left winger Alex Iafallo's feed from the low slot. The Bulldogs outshot the visitors 22-2 in the final 20 minutes of regulation (and 44-17 on the night) and received three-assist performances from both Iafallo and senior defenseman Andy Welinski.  Toninato, who was credited with an assist on Young's goal, put a game-high seven shots on target. Joseph Wall finished with 40 saves for the Under-18s, who are are 23-7-1 overall and 5-2-1 against NCAA Division I competition this season. Sophomore Kasimir Kaskisuo (12 saves on 14 shots in 30:34 of work) and senior Matt McNeely (two stops on three shots for the remaining 32:01) split the Bulldog goaltending duties.

"Obviously I liked our third period, but didn't like our first two periods at all, " said Scott Sandelin, who is now 19-1-0 in exhibition games during his 16 seasons as UMD's head coach. "We got a lucky bounce and got that first goal right away in the third. That gave us a spark and some momentum and then we kept chipping away after that."

The Bulldogs will resume regular season play this Friday and Saturday night with a two-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference series at Miami University.