UMD Athletics

OMAHA, Neb. – The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey continues to dominate in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Pod. The Bulldogs topped the No. 9 University of Denver 4-1 on Saturday (Dec. 12) afternoon. UMD is now going on 11-games unbeaten dating back to last season.
 
"It was a good win for our team. We won the 2-1 game against them last time with two late power play goals but we didn't play a great 60 minutes," said head coach Scott Sandelin. "Tonight was a better 60 minutes and we feel a little bit better about the win. They're a tough team and I thought our guys stepped up and scored some big goals".
 
Sandelin now sits just four wins away from the 400 win mark.
 
It was a quiet first period, with each netminder going perfect for both sides. Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti finished the first frame with 12 saves and the Pioneers goalie Magnus Chrona had 11.
 
Junior forward Jackson Cates found the back of the net for the first tally of the day on the man advantage 5:32 into the second. Senior forward Nick Swaney gathered the puck on the red line and fed it to junior forward Noah Cates. N. Cates sauced a pass to J. Cates who rushed into the zone and put the puck through Chrona's five-hole. Denver struck back with a power play goal of their own three and a half minutes later. A clear attempt was blocked by the Pioneers, who turned up ice and created an open weak side on the rush. DU forward Connor Caponi ripped a one-timer past Fanti's far side pads. Senior forward Koby Bender gave the Bulldogs the lead back before the end of the period, scoring with 8:09 remaining in the second. Bender found a rebound from a shot off of junior defenseman Hunter Lellig's stick. Bender pounded the free puck into an open net as Chrona dove to stop the shot. UMD carried a 2-1 lead into the locker rooms.
 
Less than two minutes into the third, junior forward Tanner Laderoute made a stellar pass on a 2-on-1 odd man rush to junior forward Jesse Jacques.
 
"I caught a good chip from Koby Bender. If he didn't get that out, the play never happens so have to give a little credit to him," said Laderoute. "Jesse beat his guy up the ice and was yelling so I thought I'd try to get it to him."
 
Jacques finished the play with a short side snipe between Chrona's blocker and hip to put the Bulldogs up 3-1.
 
"It all started in the D-zone. We got it to Bender and he had a nice chip out," said Jacques. "Tanner went down, had a beautiful pass behind the back and I was just fortunate enough to put it in the net."
 
During a plethora of power plays, junior forward Cole Koepke found his way on the scoresheet again with a power play goal. Koepke blasted a one-timer far side to put UMD up 4-1. The Bulldogs played steady defense from there on out, playing 5-on-6 hockey from the 4:50 mark until the end.
 
Fanti finished with 26 saves on the day and collected his fourth win on the season, carrying a 4-0-1 mark for the year along with a 1.97 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. Bender, J. Cates, Jacques and Koepke all scored a goal in the win, with Bender adding an assist to the scoresheet. Laderoute and Swaney each had two assists while Lellig, N. Cates and senior forward Kobe Roth each had one assist.
 
UMD is back in action tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 13 at 12:05pm to take on Colorado College for the first time this year.