University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey coach Scott Sandelin altered his linechart Saturday night to face the No. 2 University of North Dakota in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's Frozen Faceoff Semifinal, and the result was a postseason upset of epic proportions.
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The Bulldogs bullied the Hawks 5-1 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., knocking out the top-seeded host in their own rink. UMD – who had five different goal scorers and seven different players with assists – will head to Denver, Colo. next weekend to face the second-seed University of Denver.
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"We've done it before, we tried it," said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin about breaking up his first line Saturday night. "It's great when it works, it's great a couple of those guys got goals, that we got early goals and this guy (Adam Gajan) was great, and certainly in the first period. He made some key saves, and then we got the next one, which was good. We expected a push in the third period and we got a couple more. Real good road win for us against a good team. Now we go back to work Monday and see who play next weekend."
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After building up to big comebacks over their past three games, the Bulldogs offensively landed the first punch early in the form of Callum Arnott just 2:14 into the first period. Arnott followed in a scoring attempt by Joey Pierce and banged in the rebound for the early 1-0 lead.
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UMD doubled that lead after killing off a penalty when Max Plante carried the puck over two lines, dragged the puck around a Hawk defender in the slot, and beat Jan Spunar blocker side to put the Bulldogs up 2-0 7:16 into frame.
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A quick 1:26 out of the second period gate, Jayson Shaugabay, playing apart from the Plante brothers for the first time since January 31, buried a Ty Hanson drive to net rebound to extend UMD's lead to 3-0. Shaugabay's goal came against an only seven shot on goal period for the Bulldogs, who even had a six minute span without a single shot on goal midway through the frame.
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UND finally found a way to get through Gajan 27 shots into the game at 1:59 into the third period when Dylan James benefited from the screened UMD goaltender unable to see his shot from the point. But the Bulldogs again responded at the 8:09 mark on Harper Bentz's fifth goal of the season. Bentz, who skated on the first line Saturday night, Jan. 31,split the first line against denver, redirected on a shot from Adam Kleber from the right point to rebuild UMD's three goal lead.
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The Bulldogs weren't done, however, and 4:40 after the Bentz goal, Kyle Gaffney, from an impossible angle above the extended goal line, popped the puck up and over Jan Spunar to ice the game at 5-1 for UMD, clinching a spot in the NCHC Frozen Four championship for the first time since 2022 and fifth time since the league began play in 2014.
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Gajan had 33 stops for the Bulldogs in net, who were outshot 34-22 in the game but kept the Hawks scoreless in three attempts. Spunar had 17 saves for UND (27-9-1), who will await its seeding in the NCAA Tournament in a little over a week.
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The Bulldogs (23-13-1) will face the Pioneers in Denver, Colo. for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship next Saturday. Game time is not yet set.
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BULLDOG NOTES: Callum Arnott (1g, 1a) and Luke Bibby (2a) each had two points Saturday night … Bibby not only notched his first point as a Bulldog but first multiple point game … UMD now has the most wins since it posted 29 in the 2018-19 NCAA title winning season … the Bulldogs went 29-11-2 that season (and also won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff title in overtime against St. Cloud State) … Zam Plante extended his current point streak to four games … the sophomore forward has seven points (6g, 1a) over that span … Ty Hanson is also on a four-game scoring streak … Jayson Shaugabay has a three-game scoring streak currently … the winger has three points (1g, 2a) … UMD is unbeaten in its last four games (3-0-1) … UMD is now 5-2 all-time in NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinal games, and 22-14 all-time in the NCHC postseason … the Bulldogs will be playing for their fourth title next Saturday … Denver and UMD each enter the title tilt tied for the most championships – three.
