THE MATCHUP No. 19 Minnesota Duluth is set to face-off in a series at home against No. 20 Cornell University. The teams have only matched up for two games, where Cornell leads 0-1-1. The first game was Dec. 27, 1968 where Cornell took the win in double overtime 2-1. The last meet-up was on Dec. 28, 2005 where the game ended in a tie 1-1. This weekend will be the first time Cornell will play at AMSOIL arena.
THE LAST TIMEOUT Last weekend UMD lost its first games at home, being swept by Wisconsin. During Friday's game they dropped the contest 5-2. Scoring for the Bulldogs was
Luke Loheit and
Blake Biondi. Loheit's goal was a power play goal that was set up by
Ben Steeves and
Carter Loney. Loheit gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead in the first period but the Badgers took the lead back 2-1 late in the first. Biondi scored his first goal of the season on a power play to tie the game back up with assists from
Isaac Howard and
Derek Daschke. Wisconsin responded with three more goals to take game one of the series. Looking to come back on Saturday night, UMD fought hard. The Bulldogs out-shot the Badgers but could not get the puck in the back of the net and were ultimately shutout 3-0. Though UMD dropped the series, in both shots on goal and face-off wins. Friday UMD out-shot Wisconsin 40-36 and 31-28 for face-offs. On Saturday the Bulldogs led shots 35-28, and face-offs 35-32.
BREAKING THE STREAK After the sweep by Wisconsin, UMD will go into the weekend with a four-game losing streak. UMD has not had a four-game losing streak since 2015 where they lost four games starting on Oct. 31 and ending with an OT win against Denver on Nov. 14.
FACING OFF WITH BIG RED In the 2022-23 season, Cornell has only played two exhibition games. They won against the University of Ottawa 5-1 and defeated the University of Guelph 8-1. Last season, Cornell went 18-10-4 overall. This season the Big Red's have an even mix of each class on their team, including six new freshmen. Returning for Cornell is Matt Stienburg who led the team in the 2021-22 season with 29 points off 13 goals and 16 assists.
PENALTY STRUGGLES In the last four games UMD has taken over 10 minutes in penalties each game. Statistically, last season when UMD took over 10 minutes in penalties their win percentage was .500. As of now, the Bulldogs are 8-24 on the penalty kill and 6-23 on power plays.
TOP 'DOG Senior goaltender
Matthew Thiessen has been ranked first in the conference and fourth in the nation for both goals against average and save percentage. Thiessen has played in three games, where he has recorded a 1.33 goals against average and .949 save percentage.
HOME SWEET HOME The teams will face off at AMSOIL Arena Friday Oct. 28 at 7:07 p.m. and then again on Saturday Oct. 29 at 7:07 p.m.
