Hunter Lellig's late third period goal lifted the No. 7 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to a 5-4 victory over the No. 3 Western Michigan Broncos on Friday night in Duluth. The goal is the first on the season for Lellig and pushes UMD to an overall record of 14-9-2 on the season.
On the night, five different Bulldogs found the back of the net. Lellig,
Kobe Roth,
Matt Anderson,
Blake Biondi, and
Jesse Jacques all tallied goals in the win, while Lellig and Biondi each added an assist for multi-point games.
Ryan Fanti got the nod in net and made 24 saves on 28 Bronco shots. UMD would outshoot the Broncos 35-28 in the win.
"Can't let your guard down against good teams," said Head Coach
Scott Sandelin. "We were able to battle back, get some big kills at the end, got a big goal from Lells, and got the win. It was a great play by Quinn to pull up and find the late guy, also a nice shot from Hunter. Tomorrow's going to be a similar game."
The Bulldogs wasted no time getting on the board in the first. Just 14 seconds into the game, Roth was left wide open in the WMU slot and beat Brandon Bussi low blocker side to put UMD up 1-0. Following a failed Bulldogs power-play midway through the period, Anderson let a one-timer go from the blue line that jumped past Bussi to put UMD up 2-0 with eight minutes left in the period. The Broncos wouldn't go away lightly. Late first period goals from Ethan Frank and Max Sasson tied the game at two goals apiece hading to the second.
UMD would again build a two-goal lead in the middle frame. First, Biondi deflected a Lellig wrist shot in the slot to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-2. Following chances at both ends, Jacques finished off a beautiful passing play with three minutes remaining in the second period, putting UMD up 4-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Early in the third period, the Broncos crawled back into the game. Just 12 seconds into the period, Drew Worrad banged home a rebound to cut the lead to 4-3. Just four minutes later, a power-play goal from Jason Polin tied the game at four with 15 minutes left to play. With just about twelve minutes remaining, Biondi gained the Bronco blue line and dropped the puck off for
Quinn Olson. Olson spun and found Lellig with a great pass through the WMU zone. Lellig one-timed the puck under the blocker of Bussi to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead. Two big penalty-kills from UMD would seal a 5-4 victory in game one.
Up Next
The Bulldogs and Broncos will rematch tomorrow evening in Duluth. Puckdrop is set for 7:07 PM at AMSOIL Arena.
