UMD Athletics

The No. 9/8 University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team used a three-goal third period to break free of Bemidji State University for an eventual 4-1 win Friday night in nonconference action inside AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead in a big way over a 7:47 span of time in the final frame, with three goals coming from three different players – Callum Arnott, Zam Plante and Ty Hanson. 

"The first 40 minutes were not very good," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. "We had no choice but to win the third period.  I'll take the win, but I think we got pretty lucky. I thought Carl (Axelsson) was good for us, and I was really disappointed to see him give up the goal, he made a bad decision there, especially closing out a game, but we'll move on from it. ?We'll take the win for sure, but we've got to be a lot better tomorrow."

The biggest save early came not from Axelsson, but from junior defenseman Ty Hanson, who manned the crease after Axelsson came out to play the puck. The puck ended up on a Beaver stick point blank on UMD's net, but Hanson blocked it brilliantly to keep the start scoreless.

The Bulldogs then made it a 1-0 game when Luke Bibby knocked an airborne puck that had deflected off the crossbar out of the air and snuck it through for his third goal of the season at the 6:51 mark.

Outshot in the first period 11-10, UMD turned the shots around in the second with a 11-6 advantage, but BSU didn't budge.

The Bulldogs' one goal stood alone until the third period, but UMD finally found its bag of offense. A mere two minutes into action, Callum Arnott sniped home his third of the season, from between the point and the circle, and almost exactly six minutes later, Zam Plante connected on an even rush from almost the same spot to extend the Bulldogs lead to 3-0.

1:48 after Plante's goal, it was the younger Plante brother Victor that found Ty Hanson for the tap in back post during a 4-on-4 at 9:47 to extend UMD's advantage to 4-0.

It appeared Axelsson would grab his second shutout in five games, but a Beaver goal at 19:39 snapped the rookie goaltender's scoreless streak. With 26 saves in the contest, Axelsson had to settle for his third win and an unbeaten streak that is now at five games.

Neither team struck on the minimal power plays there were – the Beavers went 0-of-2 and UMD 0-of-1. UMD did outshoot BSU 32-27, who got 28 saves from Max Hildebrand.

The Bulldogs (4-1-2) and Beavers (1-3-0) will do it all over again tomorrow night, but this time inside the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. The puck is set to drop at 6:00 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: Nine different players logged points against BSU, including Zam Plante, who led UMD with two points on a goal and an assist … Plante's two points runs his career total against the Beavers to 12 points in five games on five goals and seven assists and a 2.4 points per game average … Plante is now tied with Jayson Shaugabay, who also has 12 career points (6g, 6a) in five games against BSU after recording an assist Friday night … Carl Axelsson's 0.97 GAA is the lowest of any goaltender in the NCAA that has played in four or more games … with 309 minutes, Axlesson has already logged the seventh most minutes in the NCAA.