Overtime has been basically Bulldog-time during the past three seasons and that extra-session magic continued for the University of Minnesota Duluth Friday night in Glendale, Arizona.

Sophomore right winger Nick Swaney scored 2:17 into sudden death to lift the No.4  Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over No. 3 Minnesota State University-Mankato in the opening round of the Desert Hockey Classic. UMD, which is now unbeaten in its last 22 games that have gone into overtime (going 10-0-12 since March 25, 2016), will now face Clarkson University  -- a 3-0 semfinal-round winner over host Arizona State University --  in Saturday's title bout.

The Bulldogs (11-4-2 overall) bolted out to an early 2-0 first-period lead on goals 54 seconds apart by sophomore defenseman Louie Roehl and sophomore center Justin Richards. Roehl's score (his first of the season) came off a shot from the right point that was deflected out front while Richards went five-hole on Minnesota State netminder Dryden McKay for his fifth goal of 2018-19.  The Mavericks (14-5-0) cut the deficit in half at 8:39 of the first period  -- a little over two minutes after Richards had struck -- before adding two more unanswered goals in the second. After coming up empty on their first four man advantage opportunities of the night, the Bulldogs made the next one count as sophomore left winger Kobe Roth banged in a rebound with 6:05 to go in regulation and ultimately forcing overtime. Swaney and senior center Peter Krieger both helped set up the game-tying tally while Krieger was credited with the lone assist on the overtime deal-sealer.

Minnesota State, which fell 3-2 to the Bulldogs in overtime the last time the two former Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals butted heads (in the 2018 NCAA West Regional semifinals this past March), went 0-for-3 on the power play and failed to score on a five-minute man advantage after Roehl was whistle for a major cross checking penalty in the third period. UMD has killed off 25 consecutive power plays over the past six games.

Although he wasn't in Glendale, Ariz. Friday night, Scott Sandelin (who is currently serving as a U.S. assistant coach at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in British Columbia) did become the winningest coach in UMD hockey history with the triumph over Minnesota State. Sandelin is 351-303-86 in 18-plus seasons as the UMD bench boss while his predecessor, Mike Sertich rolled up a 350-328-44 record from 1982-2000.  Associate Head Coach Jason Herter is filling in during Sandelin's absence.

"They found a way to get it done tonight," said Herter. "They did some gritty stuff in front of the net. I thought that it was going to be a greasy and grimy goal that was going to even it up and that's exactly what happened with our last two goals."

NOTES: The Bulldogs are a perfect 10-0-0 when they've drawn first blood this season.  UMD has won 15 straight games in which it's gotten on the scoreboard first, a run that began on March 9, 2018 versus visiting Western Michigan ... Of sophomore right winger Nick Swaney's 11 points this season, nine (three goals and six assists in eight games) have been accumulated away from AMSOIL Arena. That puts him first among 2018-19 Bulldogs in road scoring (All-American sophomore defenseman Scott Perunovich is next with eight points in 10 outings) ... Freshman Andrew Dietrich, who tended goal last winter for Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School, has joined the Bulldog program and dressed Friday night in Glendale. He replaces redshirt freshman netminder Ben Patt, who is out for the season with an upper body injury ... Rookie defenseman Jake Rosenbaum, the first California native to ever skate for the Bulldogs, made his second collegiate appearance -- and first since Oct. 7 -- and was cited for the night's first penalty ... Nick Swaney finished with a UMD 2018-19 single-game high eight shots on target.