ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team finished their first weekend series of 2021 this evening. The Bulldogs took on No. 6 St. Cloud State University, falling in a tightly contested battle 3-1. UMD now sits 6-3-2 on the season while the Huskies improve to 7-4-0.
 
"I think we had an opportunity in the first period with the power plays to take the lead and we didn't do that and I thought they got some momentum off that," said head coach Scott Sandelin. "It felt like we chased the game the rest of the game and made a fairly big push in the third. We got caught on a line rush and they capitalized and that was the difference."
 
The Bulldogs and SCSU broke even for shots on the night, with each side hitting the net 29 times. Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti made 26 saves, while Huskies goalie David Hrenak made 28. Fanti now sits 5-3-2 on the year while carrying a .910 save percentage and a 2.36 goals against average.
 
The first period was back and forth, with UMD getting three chances on the man advantage and taking four shots. The Bulldogs were unable to strike while up a player and kept SCSU in check during the first 20 minutes.
 
The Huskies would strike first, however, just 55 seconds into the second period. UMD cleared its zone, but SCSU forward Veeti Miettinen regrouped and turned back up ice. He came into the Bulldogs zone and ripped a shot past the shoulder of Fanti for a 1-0 lead.
 
Things would quiet until the 6:25 mark of the third period. While on the power play, senior forward Nick Swaney shot a puck that missed the net, and came to junior forward Jackson Cates. J. Cates moved the puck up to freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, who shot a puck that again missed the net. J. Cates picked up the loose puck and moved it back to Kaiser. Kaiser waited patiently, and moved it back down to J. Cates, who was able to sneak in a shot on the short side, tying things up at one a piece.
 
The Huskies regained the lead with 5:23 left in the game, netting a goal off of some tic-tac-toe passing on an odd man rush. SCSU finished the game off with another goal, this time on the power play with 1:08 to go in the game and took a 3-1 lead.
 
J. Cates finished with the only goal for the Bulldogs, with Kaiser and Swaney grabbing the assists on the play. Swaney leads the team with 10 assists and 14 points, and is tied with J. Cates with four goals on the year. J. Cates took six shots in the game, with junior forwards Cole Koepke and Jesse Jacques each taking three.
 
UMD will take the ice again on Jan. 8, against St. Cloud State University at 7:30 PM at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. It will be the Bulldogs' first game in Amsoil of the season.