5th-year senior
Kobe Roth's overtime goal pushed the No. 11 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory over the No. 10 St. Cloud Huskies on Friday night in Duluth, Minn. It's the first time all-season that the Bulldogs have posted a come-from-behind win after trailing heading into the third period. The victory gives UMD a 17-14-4 overall record on the year, and guarantees their eligibility for the NCAA Tournament.
On the night, Roth tallied two goals to help UMD to the win, including a third period game-tying goal on the power-play. Both
Wyatt Kaiser and
Koby Bender secured two assists each in the win, while
Owen Gallatin and
Casey Gilling chipped in an assist each. With the assist, Gilling now sits just three points away from 100 for his career.
Ryan Fanti got the call for the Bulldogs in net and made 19 saves for his 15th win of the season. Additionally, UMD defenseman
Matt Anderson tied Jim Johnson for most games played in UMD men's hockey history at 174. Anderson will break the school-record tomorrow evening.
A fast-moving first period would see continuous play and neither side committing a penalty. The Bulldogs would control the play and outshoot the Huskies 13-7 through the first twenty minutes of play. The best chance of the opening frame would come from UMD's
Jesse Jacques. Jacques took a feed from
Luke Loheit at the St. Cloud blue line and broke in alone on David Hrenak. Jacques attempted to beat Hrenak to the five hole, but a quick stick from the goaltender would keep the game tied at 0-0 after one.
In the second, the Huskies broke through. An even-strength goal, followed by a power-play strike gave St. Cloud a 2-0 advantage midway through the period. Down by two, the Bulldogs wouldn't give up. After a strong shift in the Huskies end, Gallatin would throw a harmless shot on the net from the left point. While camping out in front of the SCSU net, Laderoute would pounce on a rebound and beat Hrenak between the legs. The goal was Laderoute's ninth of the campaign and gave UMD some life after two periods of play. Though St. Cloud led 2-1 after two, the Bulldogs held a 16-13 shot advantage through the first 40 minutes.
The third period opened with multiple penalties given to both sides. While playing 4-on-4, SCSU's Josh Luedtke was called for tripping, giving the Bulldogs a 5-on-3 opportunity just under five minutes into the third period. After winning the ensuing face-off, Bender dropped the puck off in the top of the zone for a walking Kaiser. Instead of shooting from the top of the left circle, Kaiser made a beautiful no-look pass to Roth on the back door. Roth one-timed the puck past Hrenak to tie the game at 2-2. The goal was Roth's twelfth of the season and set the teams up for a third period battle. UMD and SCSU would trade chances through the final 15 minutes of the period, but neither team would find the back of the net. For the third time this season, the Bulldogs and Huskies played into overtime. Just 31 seconds into the extra frame, Roth spun out from behind the net a buried a wrist shot over the glove of Hrenak. UMD took a 3-2 overtime comeback win in game one.
Up Next
UMD and SCSU will meet again tomorrow evening in game two of the weekend series. Puck drop is set for 7:07 PM in Duluth, Minn.
