Despite outshooting their opponents 33-31 on the evening, the No. 1 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs fell to the Northern Michigan Wildcats by a score of 5-2 on Saturday night in Marquette, MI. The loss drops UMD to a 10-5-1 overall record and gives them back-to-back losses for the first time this season. 
 
Koby Bender and Tanner Laderoute both tallied goals during Saturday night's loss, while Hunter Lellig, Noah Cates, and Casey Gilling all posted one assist. Making his second straight start in goal, senior netminder Ben Patt turned away 26 Northern Michigan shots on the evening. 
 
Similar to Friday night, the Wildcats wasted no time getting on the board. Just 1:37 into the first, Bo Hanson was left open in the Bulldogs slot and beat Patt high glove side give Northern Michigan an early 1-0 lead. Patt stood tall in the early going as the Wildcats would outshoot the Bulldogs 7-2 through the first five minutes. 7:35 into the first frame, NMU would be charged with a hooking minor, giving the Bulldogs their first man-advantage opportunity of the night. A one-timer chance on the power play from Casey Gilling would be denied by Rico DiMatteo and the score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Wildcats midway through the period. A holding penalty to Quinn Olson would give Northern a power play chance with just over six minutes to go in the first period. Shot blocks from Carter Loney, Matt Anderson, and Hunter Lellig helped UMD kill off the man-advantage. The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission after outshooting Minnesota Duluth 9-5 in the opening period. 
 
Another early period goal gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead just 1:50 into the middle frame. Looking to get on the board, UMD went straight to a power play a few minutes after the Northern Michigan goal. The Bulldogs would control the puck in the Wildcats zone for the entire two-minute power play but would ultimately come up empty. Midway through the period, a massive breakaway save with the glove from Patt kept the score 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats. Northern Michigan kept pressing and would capitalize on a power play goal to make it 3-0 with nine minutes to play in the second period. Under a minute later, UMD would get on the board. After a wild scramble in the Wildcats zone, Laderoute tapped a rebound past DiMatteo to give the Bulldogs some life and cut the NMU lead to 3-1 with eight minutes remaining in the second. Assists on the play coming from Cates and Gilling. A five-minute boarding major to Olson gave Northern a power play opportunity for the remaining five minutes of the second period. The Wildcats would sneak one past Patt on the major penalty and take a 4-1 advantage to the third period of play.  
 
The Bulldogs showed life early in the third period thanks to a goal from Bender just two minutes into the third period. UMD would keep pressing and get a power play chance with 12 minutes remaining after a Wildcat holding penalty. Scoring chances from Gilling and Bender were shut down by DiMatteo and the score remained 4-2 NMU with ten minutes to go in regulation. UMD would outshoot the Wildcats in the third period but come up short. An empty net goal in the final minutes secured a 5-2 win for Northern Michigan. 
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs will return home next weekend for an NCHC conference series against Denver. Puck drop on both Friday Dec. 10 and Saturday Dec. 11 is set for 7:07 PM in Duluth.