It was the Bulldogs' fourth-consecutive win since pushing pause due to a positive COVID-19 test within the program, and fourth over the RedHawks this season, with the first two coming in December in the NCHC Pod in Omaha, Nebraska.
UMD and Miami have two more regular season games scheduled against each other, both next weekend — on Friday and Saturday — at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
“We kind of hit that reset button on that break,” said UMD assistant captain Nick Swaney. “We came back and we knew what we needed to do down the stretch here. That's winning some hockey games and we put ourselves in a great position after these four games. That being said, we got to play these guys again next weekend and we know that they're going to be hungry to come out and get a few wins so we just have to keep building every single day.”
In addition to Koepke’s two goals, four other Bulldogs found the back of the net Saturday. Swaney and junior center Jackson Cates scored power-play goals in the first period for UMD. Sophomore Quinn Olson made it 3-0 just 1:57 into the second period and sophomore wing Luke Loheit got a goal in the third.
Despite the scoring, UMD was never able to run away with the win, however, as Miami stayed within striking distance throughout the night.
Olson’s score was neutralized by sophomore wing John Sladic, who pulled Miami back within two 5:14 into the second period with a power-play goal.
RedHawks senior center Casey Gilling scored 22 seconds after Loheit put UMD ahead 4-1 six minutes into the third period. And freshman wing Matthew Barbolini pulled the ‘Hawks back within two again via a 5-on-3 power play goal less than four minutes after Koepke got his second goal of the weekend to put UMD ahead 5-2.
The only three-goal margin to stick for UMD was the final score, after Koepke scored on an empty net with seven seconds left.
Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said it’s been nice to see Koepke find the back of the net lately — the Hermantown native has four goals in the last three games — but it also helped that UMD had all four lines rolling and contributing Saturday.
“I thought our whole group played much better as a group tonight,” Sandelin said. “That’s what we needed to win. It’s tough to win back-to-back games. Certainly they are a team with a lot of pride too. They played hard, they never went away. We kept reminding our guys, ‘They’re going to keep coming.’ Overall a good team effort.”
Sophomore goaltender Ryan Fanti, making back-to-back starts this weekend for the first time since Jan. 2-3 at St. Cloud State, finished with 32 saves on 35 shots. Freshman Zach Stejskal, who started each of the prior two Saturday games, did not make the trip to Oxford this weekend due to injury.
Fanti said he enjoys the consistent starts as it gives him a better feel for the puck. He started eight of nine games in the Pod for UMD.
The native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, said he also enjoys the competition in goal that not only Stejskal provides, but from redshirt junior Ben Patt as well. Patt served as Fanti’s backup all weekend in Oxford.
“All three of us, we push each other in practice every day and we're good teammates about it,” Fanti said. “That's what makes us successful in net every night that we play. It doesn't matter if it's Zach, myself or Ben that's going to be in the net. Our guys are confident in who is back there that they can make a big save, a timely save when they need to.”
Minnesota Duluth 2-1-3—6
Miami 0-1-2—3
First period
1. UMD, Jackson Cates (Kobe Roth, Koby Bender), 5:21 (pp)
2. UMD, Nick Swaney 7 (Wyatt Kaiser, Jesse Jacques), 14:20 (pp)
Second period
3. UMD, Quinn Olson 3 (Swaney, Noah Cates), 1:57
4. MU, John Sladic 2 (Derek Daschke, Casey Gilling), 5:14 (pp)
Third period
5. UMD, Luke Loheit 3 (Blake Biondi), 5:58
6. MU, Gilling 1 (Jack Olmstead, Hampus Rydqvist), 6:20
7. UMD, Cole Koepke 6 (Tanner Laderoute, Jacques), 12:27
8. MU, Matthew Barbolini 3 (Derek Daschke, Sladic), 16:21 (pp)
9. UMD, Koepke 7 (Louie Roehl), 19:53 (en)
Saves — Ryan Fanti, UMD, 4-13-15—32; Ben Kraws, MU, 2-12-12—25.
Power play — UMD 2-4; MU 2-5. Penalties — UMD 5-10; MU 4-8.
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January 31, 2021 at 09:00AM
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UMD men's hockey: Power play, Koepke score as Bulldogs hold off Miami for fourth-straight win - Duluth News Tribune
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